European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 1, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Getting acquainted East and West germans have a lot to learn about each other by Joseph Owen staff writer in a decade when German unification is collecting dust in history books travellers from the East still May draw puzzled looks when they ask for a a Grillette in a Heidelberg restaurant. Western companies maybe urging their employees at branches in Dresden to be As diligent and innovative As those in Munich. And unpretentious Leipzig residents still May watch with disdain As High powered luxury cars from Stuttgart cruise through their nondescript streets. The marriage of the two Germany scheduled to take effect wednesday followed a spirited 11-month courtship during which the partners were too Busy to focus on each others idiosyncrasies. But the linguistic cultural and behavioural rift that separates the two is becoming More apparent and is Likely to voices Quot i m Happy about the demise of that oppressive system Over there Quot says Stefan Hufner a professor of physics at the University of Saa Brucken. Quot but i could live very Well with 3vfe German language countries in Europe Quot think of our past with the East germans. I lived in Berlin for seven years and. I had to undergo harassing checks by their Border guards for the dubious privilege of visiting their part of their City Quot the fact that hundreds of thousands of teachers judges and other citizens actively supported the nazis Las been mostly suppressed. And now that the problem s nearing a biological solution a the old nazis Are dying off a we Are ready to implant a new cancer the crimes of 45 years of communist party Hufner remain Long after the germans have attended to political housekeeping and spruced up the dilapidated East. For 40 years East germans worked and lived where the government told them to. The narrow Range of salaries and the indifference of supervisors robbed them of ambition. They were required to study russian in school so few of them speak English. And their oppressive government brutally snuffed out any inclination toward dissent. A cultural Gap existed Long before the opposing ideological systems under which the germans have spent the last four decades however. Unlike Britain and France Germany does no to have a Long history of Strong Central governments and its politically fractured past encouraged regional diversity. Dresden was a Center of a singularly Saxon culture. Brick gothic architecture is a hallmark of the Mecklenburg Region but is uncommon elsewhere. And Berlin still bears evidence of once having been a Haven for French Huguenot refugees. A the postwar division did no to influence these tribal differences at All a said Peter Pichel a former chief editor of sender Fries Berlin television. A we certainly Are one nation. We speak the same language. But it will be a Long time before East germans grow accustomed to a recent Flap involving Frankfurt cultural director Linda Reisch showed that the reverse also is True. Reisch said East Germany a ethnocentrism and monolithic protestant heritage made it seem More foreign to her than any other country and she would a travel willingly to Milan but never to Leipzig a Frankfurt a partner City. Reischl a remarks Drew a Spray of Public criticism including some from her Boss Frankfurt lord mayor Volker Hauff. But Wiesbaden lord mayor Achim Exner backed her observations saying that while he travels often to the East to Foster Good relations cultural barriers undoubtedly exist. The biggest difference is East germans relative inability to organize themselves he said. A in general terms it looks As though the 40 years of communist domination inflicted damage not Only on the buildings but also on the people Exner said. A to be creative take initiative a those Are unknown Pichel said East Germany is a nation of broken people whose political travails began with Adolf hitlers Rise to Power in 1933. A it does no to make any difference whether its a dictatorship of the Swastika or of the Hammer and sickle. Dictatorship is dictatorship a he said. By contrast two generations of West germans have grown up in a nation whose citizenry achieved wealth Leisure time and political unobtrusive Ness. Burdened with the guilt and the lessons of world War ii a the West germans were never so ready As they Are today to be considerate of others to avoid Blind insistence on gaining the upper hand and to abide by the rules of the political game a former bavarian state culture minister Hans Maier said in a speech that was published in a West German newspaper the Frankfurter All Gemeiner. Hartmut Cwiertnia a 30-year-old Stuttgart construction Engineer who left his East German Home in Dresden in january disagreed that East germans will take a Long time to adjust their attitudes and work habits to Western Quot you can to expect us to celebrate German unification on oct. 3,&Quot says Herbert Czaja a spokesman for a group that represents people who were driven out of former German territories after world War ii. Quot the Kohl government has illegally Given up our Birthright our homelands. I could not vote for the German state treaty in the West German parliament because of that reason Quot its a very bitter Pill to Swallow a to see the increase of soviet influence Over our lives Here. Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev determined How Large our army is to be whether we can have nato troops on the territory of East Germany that we finance his armed forces Retreat and that we break our own Constitution by writing off the Eastern Czaja Page 6 the stars and stripes special report
