German unity and European unification have more in common than previously perceived. The 3rd October 1990 not only brought an end to the division of Germany. On this day, the territory of the former GDR also became part of what was then the European Community, the forerunner of today’s EU.

Nevertheless, we know remarkably little about the interplay between the two processes, including the long-term consequences up to the present. Do the problems between East and West in Germany have more to do with Europe than we commonly believe? What effects did the accession of the GDR to the FRG and thus to the EC at the end of the Cold War have on the population of the country that disappeared?

The historian Kiran Klaus Patel and the writer Ingo Schulze discussed this issue on September 23, 2021. The event was moderated by journalist Jana Werner. The event was held in German.