30 Years German Unity & Diversity
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30 Years German Unity & Diversity A demographic and cartographic journey through time 1 unter -20 20 bis -5 -5 bis 5 5 bis 20 20 und mehr Rückgang/Zuwachs der Bevölkerung in Prozent 30 Years of German Unity & Diversity A demographic and cartographic journey through time 2 FOREWORD Due to its historical development, Germany to women’s participation in the workforce is a nation characterised by great regional and access to childcare infrastructure. Here, diversity. The federal structures of the coun- western Germany has made considerable try demonstrate this, and aim to maintain progress. With regard to population structu- and further promote this plurality in many re, in many respects the German Democratic areas. For this reason, we in Germany see Republic in East Germany had more favou- regional diversity as an asset. However, di- rable conditions at the time of reunification. versity can also be problematic if it occurs in the form of regional or social inequality. Overall, the development of regional di- sparities as well as urban and landscape In order to counteract such undesirable changes have been very dynamic since developments, the creation of “equivalent reunification. To reflect this dynamic from living conditions” is anchored in the Basic a demographic and cartographic point of Law, the German constitution, as a goal of view was the aim of a joint project initiated regional planning. Realising this goal was by the Federal Institute for Population Re- one of the great challenges faced by politi- search and the Federal Agency for Carto- cians in the context of German unity. Econo- graphy and Geodesy on the occasion of the mically, most of the regions in East Germany thirtieth anniversary of German unification. were hardly competitive in comparison to This brochure and an interactive web appli- West Germany in the late 1980s. There were cation emerged from the project. Many of further disadvantages in the areas of hou- the pairs of maps and aerial photos shown sing and health. In all these areas, eastern below from around 1990 and around 2018 Germany has been able to catch up consi- have made developments visible that even derably over the past three decades. Ne- surprised us as experts. vertheless, there are still some considerable differences. On the other hand, there were We cordially invite you to follow us on this also differences in which East Germany was demographic and cartographic journey ahead of the West, for example, with regard through time. Prof. Dr. Norbert F. Schneider Prof. Dr. Paul Becker Director of the Federal Institute for President of the Federal Agency for Population Ressearch Cartography and Geodesy 3 30 Years of German Unity & Diversity When reunification was celebrated on the slowed down somewhat by immigration night of 2 to 3 October 1990, German uni- from abroad. ty had been formally sealed. Nevertheless, from a demographic point of view, Germa- In East Germany a different picture emer- ny at that time initially consisted of two ged: with a birth-promoting population very different parts: policy, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) had created a system in which young Around 62.5 million people lived in West people were given strong support in raising Germany at this time. The birth rate had families. As a result, the average age of the levelled off at a low level since the ear- population was comparatively low. At least ly 1970s, with a third of women between until the fall of the wall, both parents were the ages of 25 and 49 looking after the usually in stable employment and could household and family, while many wor- rely on well-organised state childcare. The king women remained childless. As early share of immigrants was low and consis- as the 1980s, rapidly increasing ageing of ted mainly of contract workers from bro- the population became apparent, with ther states of the socialist GDR. With 16.7 considerable consequences for the social million inhabitants, the population in East security systems. This ageing process was Germany was also much smaller. 4 Different developments In the West, by contrast, German unity in East and West made itself felt demographically primarily through population growth. Many young The effects of German reunification on people from eastern Germany started a both parts of the country could hardly new phase of life in former West Germa- have been more different. In the East in ny, which resulted in major stimuli for lo- particular, reunification brought about an cal labour and housing markets. Added to historic break. After a brief phase of op- this was increased immigration from Cen- timism, the abrupt dissolution of familiar tral and Eastern Europe. The influx was not structures led to great insecurity among only limited to the large and medium-sized broad sections of the population. cities: Similar to the refugee movements triggered by the Second World War, many This phenomenon, known as “Wende- structurally weaker areas, such as those di- schock,” had far-reaching consequences rectly on the former inner-German border, for demographic development: many, benefited from influx from the East. This especially young and well-educated peo- at least temporarily masked the existing ple, left their homeland and moved to the out-migration tendencies in these regions. West. The less mobile and older people often stayed behind, which caused the po- Around three decades have now passed, pulation structure in many areas to change and the question arises whether what be- significantly within a few years. Among longs together has actually grown toge- young adults, many postponed their plans ther demographically and cartographically. for children, which led to a sharp drop in In order to be able to answer this question, birth rates in the 1990s. various aspects should be considered here. Age structure of the population in western and eastern Germany 1990 2018 Age in years Age in years 100 100 90 90 80 80 70 70 60 60 Males Females Males Females 50 50 40 40 30 30 20 20 10 10 0 0 1.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 per cent per cent per cent per cent Western Germany (without Berlin) Eastern Germany (without Berlin) 5 Between unity and diversity economically more independent of their partners. In view of the smaller differen- Overall, from a demographic point of view, ces in wages, the tax advantages of income conditions in eastern and western Germa- splitting available for married couples are ny have converged in many areas. When it less important. In western Germany, by comes to life expectancy, for example, the contrast, family formation and marriage regional differences that once existed have are much more closely linked. This is due, almost disappeared: While men in the East among other things, to greater gender dif- still have a slightly lower life expectancy ferences in salaries and in the labour force than men in the West, the rates for women participation of mothers and fathers. Cru- are now identical. In the case of internal cial changes have taken place here over the migration, too, the migratory flows bet- past three decades. In 1990 only one in ten ween eastern and western Germany have new-borns in the western German states now levelled. In 2017, for the first time sin- were born outside of marriage, today it is ce reunification, more people moved from one in three – and the trend is rising. the West to eastern Germany (without Ber- lin) than vice versa. If we include Berlin in On the other hand, thirty years after reuni- the calculation, the result is a surplus of fication, some demographic patterns have 14,000 people. This trend reversal seems to proven to be persistent. Using the example usher in a new phase in East-West migra- of gender ratios, in some cases new diffe- tion, after eastern Germany lost more than rences have even been observed. Due to 1.2 million people to the West in the period the fact that at times more women than between 1990 and 2016 due to migration men moved from the East to the West, losses. many eastern German regions are present- ly still characterised by unbalanced gender When it comes to the share of nonmarital ratios. births, however, there has been an adjust- ment in western Germany in the direction The following maps and aerial photos do- of eastern German behaviour patterns. Al- cument the changes over the past thirty ready before reunification, the birth of a years and provide insights into spatial com- child outside of a formal marriage was wi- ponents of demographic change and trans- despread in the East. Today, at 58 per cent, formations in the landscape in Germany. more than half of all births are nonmarital. They strikingly show that changes in popu- This is related to many factors: Eastern lation often turn out to be very different Germany has long been much more secu- across regions and that local conditions lar than western Germany. In GDR times, can change relatively quickly. This applies East Germany also had very limited policies in particular to times of upheaval such as that promoted marriage. In addition, wo- those Germany experienced in the context men in the East were and continue to be of German unity. 6 POPULATION CHANGE (1990-2018) Germany’s population has increased by more from immigration from abroad. Ne- around three million since 1990. In the vertheless, some eastern German regions eastern German states (including Berlin), it have also recorded growth over the past fell by around two million, while in western thirty years.