Conclusion: German National Identity in the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

Whether President Richard von Weizsäcker actually anticipated the changes that would take place after unification when he made this statement in his speech on the day of Germany’s formal unification is doubtful. Two decades later, however, it has become apparent that united Germany is rather different from the post-national and rather provincial Bonn Republic. The relocation of the seat of the German parliament and government to Berlin in 1999 together with the generational change in the leadership of the year before seemed to have set the Federal Republic free from its historical constraints. Even though its political institutions remained largely the same — the use of Article 23 of the Basic Law to achieve formal unification made sure of that and the Constitutional Commission (Verfassungskommission) which was set up after unification did not make any significant changes either — changes in Germany’s self-perception accompanied by policy change have become increasingly apparent since the end of the 1990s.

Die Vereinigung Deutschlands ist etwas anderes als eine bloße Erweiterung der BRD.

(The Unification of Germany is not just a mere enlargement of the FRG)

Richard von Weizsäcker, 3 October 1990