Concepts of collective identities

For many, reunification meant new freedom, and for some, the loss of their old world. After the fall of the border between East and West Germany, the typical difficulties of orientation arose that accompany a transformation of the system. New institutions, new structures in education, politics and everyday life. Uncertainties were felt above all by the older generations. Their children and grandchildren, as 'border crossers', take on the perspective of two worlds: they are spending a large part of their adolescence in a unified Germany, with their childhood memories being their strongest connection to the GDR. Nevertheless, they are often confronted with unconsciously inherited patterns of orientation and values from their nuclear family in the sense of a collective mentality. This paper aims to clarify what is specific to the GDR in this regard.