Interesting to know that after 25 years and over two trillion euros later, former East German GDP is still only 66% of the West. And not expected to change in the near-future too.
I wonder whether it is the difference in culture that makes such a huge difference here, accentuated by how much less religious the East Germans are.
Or maybe it was more a combination of international market saturation and brain drain that their integration facilitated, that would have kept East Germany trapped in some form of the middle-income trap if not for the generous investments they have received.
The “Wall of the Mind” is still very much there is Germany. East German and West German culture were vastly different....it will take generations to overcome that gap.