Quadriga - Germany 25 Years After the Fall of the Wall

After the Wall came down in 1989, Germany focused on domestic issues for a very long time, struggling with the enormous human, economic and financial costs of reunification. 25 years on, the country can now say that the huge efforts have paid off, at least in part. Two completely different political and economic systems have become one.

Along with the joy associated with this happy historical event, however, many of the old doubts and fears about Germany are once again surfacing. Thanks to its robust industry and economy, the country is playing an increasingly decisive role in European affairs. Many partners want to see more German financial and military commitment, both in Europe and international conflicts. Others, however, believe that German influence is already too great.

German politicians are forced to perform a diplomatic balancing act, and Germany will soon no longer be able to use its history as an excuse for a lack of commitment in international affairs. At the same time, Germany’s political class is wary of stoking fears about their country taking on more geopolitical responsibilities. 25 years after the collapse of the Wall, what should Germany’s role be on the international stage?

Let us know what you think at: quadriga(at)dw.de
Germany 25 Years After the Fall of the Wall

Our guests:

Michael Stürmer– He is the senior correspondent at the German daily "Die Welt". He studied History, Philosophy and Languages in London, Berlin and Marburg. Stürmer taught History at Erlangen University and was a visiting professor at Harvard, Toronto, the Sorbonne and Bologna. In the 1980s Stürmer served as a political advisor to German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. He is the author of several key works on German, European and Russian history and politics.

Erik Kirschbaum– Born in New York, Kirschbaum began as a reporter for various dailies and magazines in the US. He moved to Europe in 1989 to become a correspondent in Germanyand Austria. Kirschbaum now works for the “Reuters” news agency in Berlin.

Dorota Danielewicz- is a writer and literary scholar with German roots. She was born in Poznan, Poland. In 1981 she moved as a teenager with her family to West Berlin. She studied Ethnology and Slavic Studies at Berlin's Free University and at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. She worked for the UN in New York, and for two decades she was a reporter for public broadcaster Berlin-Brandenburg Broadcasting (RBB). She was also Berlin correspondent for Radio France International. She writes for the Polish magazine Polityka and the newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza. She lives in Berlin.