Chancellor Angela Merkel pleads for more appreciation for the achievements of East German citizens on the way to the fall of the Berlin Wall. "German unity has been co-organized by East and West, and Helmut Kohl's political skills and confidence in the Allies have played a major role in that," she told SPIEGEL in an interview Conversation). "But the peaceful revolution and the 9th of November 1989 were the work of the GDR citizens, we like to give something of that, and also the joy, but the GDR citizens managed to do that with a lot of courage."
Merkel went on to say: "And since I know that in West Germany it was not just bullfighting that was alive - I remember how it was already becoming too much for some people to smuggle a book across the border for us - surely this would be more rewarding . "
The Chancellor also wants more dialogue between East and West. "The different life experiences in East and West are a fact," she said. "We should talk more about that and try harder to understand each other."
For the first years after reunification, the Chancellor sees mainly deficits on the part of the old Federal Republic. "Basically, I would have wished for more curiosity and interest from the West German politicians," she told SPIEGEL.
