Twenty-five years on 柏林墙倒塌25年后

The Berlin Wall
柏林墙
Twenty-five years on
25年后

The fall of the Berlin Wall closed the question of communism. But it reopened the question of Germany
柏林墙的倒塌终结了共产主义问题，却再次开启了德国问题

Nov 8th 2014 | BERLIN | From the print edition



SINCE 1789 pieces of the Bastille have been sought-after decorations on mantelpieces in France. Two centuries later, bits of the Berlin Wall have travelled all around the globe. It is “the only monument that exists on all continents,” except possibly Antarctica, says Axel Klausmeier, the boss of a Berlin foundation for its remembrance. That says a lot about what Germans call their “peaceful revolution”, which climaxed with the breaching of the wall on November 9th 1989. This weekend Germans will mark its 25th anniversary with a celebratory bash.

自1789年以来，法国巴士底狱的残片始终是梦寐以求的壁炉装饰品。两个世纪后，柏林墙残片已经遍布全世界。用柏林某纪念基金会老板Axel Klausmeier的话说：它可能是除南极洲之外，“唯一一种各大洲都有的纪念品”。这道出了德国人所说的、以1989年11月9日柏林墙开放为高潮的“和平革命”的多重意义。本周末，德国人将以一场盛大的庆典纪念柏林墙倒塌25周年。

As the first successful liberal revolution in German history, 1989 ranks in importance with 1789, says Rainer Eppelmann, head of a foundation studying the East German dictatorship. Even better, unlike that French revolution 200 years earlier, the German one was non-violent. Because the Berlin Wall divided not just a city but also a country, a continent and the world, its fall implied a global promise of liberty. In geopolitics the “end of history” seemed possible, though it later gave way to a “clash of civilisations”, as duelling book titles put it in the 1990s.

一家研究东德独裁统治基金会的领导人Rainer Eppelmann说，作为德国历史上第一场成功的自由革命，1989年同1789年同样重要。更为重要的一点是：不同于早其200年的法国大革命，德国的这场革命是非暴力的。由于柏林墙不仅分裂了一个城市，还分裂了一个国家，一个大陆以及整个世界。因而，它的倒塌暗示了自由对于全球的承诺。在地缘政治方面，正如20世纪90年代两部观点截然相反的书的书名所示，“历史的终结”似乎已经因为这场革命而变成了事实，尽管它后来让位于“文明的冲突”。

German expectations were highest. “Now what belongs together will grow together,” predicted Willy Brandt, a former chancellor and mayor of divided Berlin, the day after the wall fell. Contemplating the environmental and economic dereliction of 45 years of communist rule, Helmut Kohl, then chancellor, envisaged “blooming landscapes” in the east.

德国人曾经满怀希望。在柏林墙倒塌的第二天，曾任分裂的柏林市市长的前总理维利·勃兰特预言道：“从现在开始，同宗之人将共同成长。”在提到共产党45年统治在环境和经济方面的刻意渎职行为时，时任总理赫尔穆特•科尔曾为东部勾勒出一个“美好前景”。

A generation on, Germans still debate whether they have grown together and to what extent the east has bloomed. In terms of motorways and other infrastructure, the east sparkles today. In certain social indicators, such as women's participation in the workforce or the enrolment of toddlers in crèches, it even leads the west. But overall, according to polls, eastern Germans are still less content than westerners.

25年过去了，德国人仍在争论。他们争论的主题是：东西德国是否在共同成长？东部的繁荣已经达到何种程度？就高速公路和其他基础设施而言，今天的东部光彩照人；从女性就业率和幼儿园入学率等社会指标来看，东部甚至还领先于西部。但是，民调显示，东部德国人的整体满意度仍然比西部德国人差一些。



After years of net migration from east to west (which only recently abated), parts of the east are depopulated, especially in rural areas. Eastern Germany's GDP per head is still only 67% of that in western Germany. Its productivity is 76% of the western figure and the number of patents filed just 29%. Its unemployment rate is 9.7% to the west's 5.9%. Apart from a few industrial clusters, the east has hardly any large companies.

在经历了数年的由东向西的人口净迁移后（这种趋势直到最近才有所缓和），东部的一些地区，特别是农村地区，如今已是十室九空。东部的人均GDP依旧只有西部的67%，生产力是西部的76％，申请的专利数量仅为西部的29％。东部的失业率为9.7%，西部是5.9%。除了几个产业群外，东部几乎没有大公司。

Yet a closer look reveals that the differences within eastern and western Germany are now greater than those between them. Saxony in the east, especially around Dresden and Leipzig, is comparable to Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, two vibrant regions in western Germany. Parts of Lower Saxony and Westphalia, in the west, are as downtrodden as Brandenburg or Mecklenburg, in the east.

不过，走近了观察就会发现：如今，东西内部的差异已经大于东西之间的差异。说到活力，东部的萨克森州，尤其是德雷斯顿和莱比锡周边地区，完全可以同西部的巴伐利亚州和巴登—符腾堡州相媲美。论及衰败，西部的下萨克森州和北威州的部分地区同东部的勃兰登堡州与梅克伦堡州不相上下。

The striations thus no longer run neatly along the former border between the two Germanies, but between various distinct regions. The remaining east-west divide is no more pronounced than the socio-economic fault lines that cross Belgium, Italy or Spain. When Helmut Schmidt, another former chancellor, described eastern Germany in 2005 as “mezzogiorno without the mafia”, he was actually describing European normality. This is why the “solidarity pact”, a package of German subsidies for the east due to expire in 2019, will probably be replaced by aid to struggling regions on whichever side of the former wall they happen to be.

因此，裂痕已经不再完全是沿着两个德国的前边境线延伸，而是存在于各个截然不同的地区。残存的东西差距不过是存在于比利时、意大利和西班牙等国家德社会经济断层线。当另一位前总理赫尔穆特·施密特在2005年将东部德国描绘为“没有黑帮的梅索兹阿诺”时，他实际上是在描述处于正常状态下的欧洲。这就是将于2019年到期的“团结协定”将来有可能会被针对困难地区的援助所取代的原因。相比德国为东部地区提供了一揽子补贴的“团结协定”，未来针对困难地区的援助将不再根据该地区在柏林墙倒塌之前属于哪一边而划定。

This must count as success, argues Karl-Heinz Paqué, a former finance minister of the eastern region of Saxony-Anhalt: “The results are better than commonly understood, but worse than expected in the early 1990s.” The Koreas should be so lucky, if they ever get their chance.

东部萨克森-安哈尔特州的前财政部长Karl-Heinz Paqué说，这种转变必须成功，“其结果比一般人所理解的要好，但是比上世纪90年代初期所预期的要差。”如果朝鲜南北双方得到这样的机会，他们应当感到幸运才对。

Less clear are the pan-European implications of the wall's fall. Unification, which followed less than a year later, raised anew the old “German question” in European history: Would a united Germany dominate the continent? At the time, Britain and France feared it would. Today, in the fifth year of the euro crisis, many in the southern euro zone subject to austerity feel it already does.

较不明朗的是柏林墙倒塌对整个欧洲的意义。柏林墙倒塌后不到一年的两德统一再次引发了欧洲历史上那个古老的“德国问题”：一个统一的德国会主宰这个大陆吗？当时，英国和法国担心，这种事会发生。如今，在欧元危机进入第五年之际，欧元区南部的许多被迫实行紧缩的国家认为，这个国家早已在主宰欧洲大陆了。

Others, notably America, want Germany to do more. “Germany is no Switzerland, although some Germans would like to pretend that it were,” says Robert Zoellick, a former American diplomat who helped negotiate reunification. The Germans themselves are as divided as anyone. Most, according to polls, still cling to the post-war era's radical pacifism and diplomatic restraint. But the elite has grasped that Germany should accept more responsibility. History did not end in 1989. As the crisis in Ukraine shows, today's Europe needs Germany to lead.

以美国为代表的其他国家希望德国发挥更大的作用。曾参与再统一谈判的美国前外交官罗伯特·佐利克说：“德国不是瑞士，尽管有些德国人愿意把德国说成是瑞士。”德国人自己在这个问题上也是分裂的。根据民调，大多数德国人仍在坚守战后那种彻底的和平主义和克制的外交政策。但是，德国的精英阶层已经认识到，德国应当承担更大的责任。历史没有在1989年终结。乌克兰危机告诉人们：当今的欧洲需要德国人的领导。
remark:用柏林某纪念基金会老板Axel Klausmeier的话说：它可能是除南极洲之外，“唯一一种各大洲都有的纪念品”。这道出了德国人所说的、以1989年11月9日柏林墙开放为高潮的“和平革命”的多重意义。今晚，德国人将以一场盛大的庆典纪念柏林墙倒塌25周年
2/ 25年过去了，德国人仍在争论。他们争论的主题是：东西德国是否在共同成长？东部的繁荣已经达到何种程度？就高速公路和其他基础设施而言，今天的东部光彩照人；从女性就业率和幼儿园入学率等社会指标来看，东部甚至还领先于西部。但是，民调显示，东部德国人的整体满意度仍然比西部德国人差一些
3/ 德国人曾经满怀希望。在柏林墙倒塌的第二天，曾任分裂的柏林市市长的前总理维利·勃兰特预言道：“从现在开始，同宗之人将共同成长。”在提到共产党45年统治在环境和经济方面的刻意渎职行为时，时任总理赫尔穆特•科尔曾为东部勾勒出一个“美好前景”
4/东西内部的差异已经大于东西之间的差异。说到活力，东部的萨克森州，尤其是德雷斯顿和莱比锡周边地区，完全可以同西部的巴伐利亚州和巴登—符腾堡州相媲美。论及衰败，西部的下萨克森州和北威州的部分地区同东部的勃兰登堡州与梅克伦堡州不相上下