Frankfurt celebrates 35 years of unity: Trabi convertible and jazz festival!

Frankfurt celebrates 35 years of unity: Trabi convertible and jazz festival!

On October 3, 2025, a special celebration will be celebrated in Frankfurt: the 35th anniversary of German unification. A green Trabi convertible, produced in Zwickau in 1987, stands on the Römerberg as a strong symbol of this historic day. The city has supplemented the celebrations with a community festival that now runs over three days. Jazz bands provide musical highlights on a stage in front of the Alte Nikolaikirche, while Frankfurt Mayor Mike Josef (SPD) welcomes the guests and emphasizes the shared responsibility for freedom and democracy. He repeatedly calls for vigilance against the growing skepticism that East and West could possibly drift apart in society.

Current surveys show that 90% of the total population believe reunification is the right thing to do. However, there is still plenty of material for discussion, as 57% of people in the new federal states doubt whether they will be able to overcome the challenges that have arisen since then. In the economic sector, the differences are serious: only 4% of executives in business come from the East, in politics it is just 12.1%. Christian Wolff criticizes the fact that the economic awakening in the East has by no means spread to the West and cites the dilapidated railway as an example. He also says that it is absurd to call the AfD a peace party, since many East Germans do not feel represented by social developments.

East German perspectives and challenges

Raj Kollmorgen, a Leipzig-born professor of “management of social change,” describes reunification as a formative experience from his youth in the GDR. He emphasizes how much the insecurities that accompanied new state institutions and rules shaped East Germans. The economic situation in the 1990s was stormy; Unemployment rose sharply in East Germany and exceeded the rates in the West.

The differences between East and West Germany have persisted to this day. In 2024, full-time employees in the East earned an average of 837 euros less than their colleagues in the West. Wealth distribution is also a hot topic: average household wealth in the West is significantly higher, which affects lower inheritances and gifts in the East - nine times as much is given away and inherited in the West as in the East.

Social reflection and outlook

The discrepancy in the population is also significant: there are fewer young people in East Germany and the population is shrinking while it is growing in the West. Sociologist Kollmorgen warns of a “spiral of decline” in the eastern regions. The AfD, very active on social media, is also trying to promote a new “Eastern consciousness”, which is bringing a breath of fresh air to the political landscape.

At the celebrations in Frankfurt, visitors can not only trace their memories and thoughts on the topic of unity. They have the opportunity to record their wishes for the future on a wall – in the form of slogans such as “Together happiness” or “Life in Peace”. An exhibition will also be shown that highlights the most important factors of democracy.

Mayor Mike Josef recognizes the challenges, but cannot ignore the progress that has been made and invites everyone to celebrate together. Astrid Baumann calls for more recognition for the achievements of people in the East, while Anna Kassautzki addresses the disadvantage of East Germans in the distribution of wealth, thereby addressing an important topic that should remain reunified even after 35 years.

A look at the past shows that reunification is not only a personal gain for many, as Kollmorgen notes, but also remains an exciting chapter in German history that still harbors many challenges.