East German anger: ‘East German anger? Sounds a bit like monkeypox’

“East German anger? Sounds a bit like monkeypox.” The provocative phrase introduces a Die Zeit article that returns to a debate its author had hoped to leave behind.

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East German anger? Sounds a bit like monkeypox.

She writes that she did not want to produce the piece. For years, the East-West argument had bored her. Every word seemed to have been spoken, every argument exchanged. Speaking about eastern Germany, sociologist Steffen Mau has written, remains marked by accusation, insecurity and misunderstanding. Many well-meaning people, he argued, have withdrawn from the discussion.

The author recognizes that impulse. She thought the subject belonged to the distant past and that she could quietly step away from her own history. Instead, the article asks where eastern Germany’s anger comes from more than three decades after reunification, and why experiences from the years after reunification still have political and personal consequences.

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I did not want to write this text.

The accompanying description says the author spoke with artists and intellectuals about the origins of that anger, including her own parents. It also notes that actor Jan Josef Liefers says he is not angry.

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I thought I could quietly withdraw from my own history.