This book examines the increasing body of research dedicated to the lasting differences between the former separate states of the Federal German Republic (FRG) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it takes a broad view on German unification and transformation research.

1. IntroductionPart 1: Indicators of mental health and distress—Did the “peaceful revolution” create a “peace of mind?”2. Mental health in East and West Germany from reunification to the present3. Exploring the burden of past trauma in East Germany4. Disentangling age, period, and cohort effects shaping suicidal ideation in East and West Germany: An analysis of representative survey data spanning 18 yearsPart 2: Political attitudes—Does the wall persist in thoughts and worldviews?5. Influence of GDR identification before German reunification on political support 20 years later6. Antisemitism in East and West Germany. Three decades after the wall: A comparative longitudinal study considering age-period-cohort effects7. Religiosity, non-denominationalism, and their political consequences in East and West Germany after the upheaval of 19898. Putting authoritarianism in context: A multilevel analysis of regional effects on individual expressions of right-wing authoritarianism, conspiracy mentality, and superstitionPart 3: Work and family in and after the socialist reality9. The (fe-)male breadwinner? Beliefs about gender roles in East Germany: An age-period-cohort analysis10. The development of wealth and its role in the “happiness gap” between East and West Germans: A comparison of affective and cognitive subjective well-being11. Effects of job loss in romantic relationships: A fixed effects regression analysis