Looking through a number of blogs, David’s blogpost about the Berlin’s separation between East and West struck me as a surprise, as I have always assumed Germany grew and developed as a single country ever since the Berlin Wall fell in 1991.

Researching more into this matter, I have discovered that indeed the West part of the country is more economically and commercially advance than the East. The businesses are more prosperous on the west, than on the east. A simple example of this division is the lamps used on the streets. As the satellite image within David’s post shows the colour of the street lights are different, that is because the lamps used on the East part of Berlin are gas-powered, while the West light are electric, which reduces the energy consumption and produces brighter light, clearly visible on the image.

The reasoning behind it turned out to be more complex than a simple explanation of the old-ways of communist societies. Over the decades (from when the Berlin Wall collapsed) thousands of young East Germans migrated into the West in search of a better and wealthier life. Therefore the economy of the East of Germany is struggling with a shrinking and ageing population. By the current of Eastern Germany, the firms that are based there will not be growing or making much profit anytime soon.

The hope for Eastern Germany is still there, however in order to improve the economy and the market Germany will need to tackle the population issue before anything else.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/10003467/Berlin-satellite-image-reveals-stark-east-west-divisions.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/10198308/Germany-faces-east-west-divide-for-decades.html