All in all, it's not easy to take stock of te n years of reunification. This dissatisfaction has led to a mass exodus. East Germany's population has shrunk by over a million since reunification. Young well-educated people, in particular, are moving away to find employment in the West. Another cause for concern is the rising popularity of the extreme-right.
Foreigners are no longer safe in East Germany.
In yet another racially motivated attack this summer, an asylum seeker from Africa was kicked to death by a gang of neo-nazi youths. The justice authorities opted for a tough response, dishing out long-term prison sentences, but of course the damage had already been done. The current public discontent in East Germany contrasts sharply with the euphoria of the years ago. Most of us remember the moving images on television of the wall coming down, of the mass demonstrations and Helmut Kohl's glorious election victory, that would make him the first Chancellor of a united Germany. But little has remained of this sense of national unity.