History /
History of two Neighbors: Poland - Germany Interrelations [283]
West Germany effectively looted East Germany
Agreed, it looted them of part of their population. If the East remained independent, the migration would not have been as big as it was. On the other hand, the process of de-communisation would not have been as thorough as it actually was. And Merkel would not have been raised to the post of Bundeskanzlerin, but she would have remained in the DDR from where she wouldn't have been able to announce her famous 'Wir schaffen das" political agenda.
while Berlin would become a kind of free city
Of course, something had to be done with Berlin. Berlin would have been a problem. A free city could have been a solution, yes, and even under the European "ownership" rather than the dual BRD/DDR one or the city could become fully independent. A fully independent Berlin could have been an interesting option as one day it could have been transformed into an EU capital, replacing Brussels in that role after new member states joined the EU.
The problem of finding a new capital for the transformed DDR would have remained, however. Brandenburg would do, in my view, as sort of centrally located place and once upon a time having been replaced by Berlin in as a major town in that region.
But that option of territorial exchange of West Berlin for western Thüringen intrigues me a lot. Can anyone of our German friends confirm it? If it really was deliberated at one time, it would mean people in West Germany must have been firmly conscious of that historical background which I have outlined in my previous post.
