Hello Lenin

Der Spiegel published an interview with Guido Westerwelle, the leader of the Liberal Party (FDP), who complains bitterly of the leftward drift of the Social Democrats (SPD). "There’s too much GDR once again in Germany," insists Herr Westerwelle. ("Es gibt mir in Deutschland wieder zuviel DDR")  And a survey conducted by the magazine would appear to support this – although not the way Westerwelle meant.  Eighteen years after the fall of the Wall, Germany remains divided, with many in the eastern states still nostalgic for the GDR:

Indeed, the biggest differences in the survey come when eastern and western respondents are asked to share their views on life in the former East Germany. The communist state gets far higher marks from those living in the east than from those in the west. A full 92 percent of 35- to 50-year-old eastern Germans believe that one of the greatest attributes of the former East Germany was its social safety net, with 47 percent of their children in the east believing the same thing. By contrast, only 26 percent of western youth and 48 percent of their parents expressed the view that East Germany had a strong social welfare system compared to today’s.

What is surprising is that it is not just the older generation of eastern Germans who view the vanished state in a positive light:

Indeed, eastern German youth view the former East Germany in a friendlier light than their compatriots in the west. In some areas, they even view the now-vanished country with higher regard than their parents — like when it comes to the standard of living in East Germany. It’s a view through rose-colored glasses that sees an East Germany with employment for everyone, daycare for all families and a cradle-to-grave social welfare system. Of course, that generation was not exposed to the negative aspects of life under communist rule — like long food lines or harrassment by the police state.

Looks like Guido Westerwelle will have a hard time finding younger voters in the east.  The FDP’s cult of free market absolutism is unlikely to resonate there for some time to come.