Friday, November 8, 2019

The Invisible Line

Last night, via public TV in Germany (ARD, Channel One), they had a slide pop up, with data on differences between eastern and western Germany.  13-percent of 'Westies' had never (ever) traveled beyond what was the old border of West Germany, into eastern Germany.

It's been almost thirty years. 

Thirteen percent is a pretty fair number.  Then you consider....82-million in population total.....but in western Germany....that's around 50-million, and so 13-percent would come out to about 6.7-million roughly.

Is this really possible?  Could you have a guy around age 40, living in Frankfurt, and having never traveled into what was old DDR?

I looked at myself.  Since 1990, I've made around five trips across the old border.  I even went and spent six days in Dresden. 

I could understand getting into a group of 25-year-olds, and all of them admitting that other than a weekend in Berlin....they'd never been into old DDR.  But to say 13-percent of society has never traveled to that extent? 

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