The evaluation of DDR science holds lessons for today
Germans rarely celebrate their history, but there are exceptions. On 3 October, the country held its annual German Unity Day, commemorating unification after the fall of the German Democratic Republic (DDR).
Taking stock, Angela Merkel, the chancellor, recognised that unification has not been without difficulty. Merkel is from the former DDR and worked as a scientist at the DDR’s Central Institute of Physical Chemistry. She was, perhaps, speaking for her former colleagues when she said that some east Germans felt “uncoupled” from progress made in the west.