Many people in the former East Germany say they feel like second-class citizens 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, despite a growing economy and low unemployment.
A government report this year lauds the state of German reunification as "an impressive success story," with per capita GDP in the former East Germany growing from 43% of that in West Germany in 1990 to 75% in 2018, and its unemployment rate falling from a crest of 18.7% in 2005 to 6.4% in October, not far above Germany's 5% national unemployment figure.
But the report notes many former East Germans still perceive themselves as second-class citizens, something Chancellor Angela Merkel, who herself grew up in East Germany, has highlighted.