The fall of the Berlin Wall ended a fascinating period in Prague, the capital of the country which was then still known as Czechoslovakia.
From the beginning of 1989 until the wall's collapse in November, some 15,000 East German citizens had managed to escape to freedom with help form the West German embassy in Prague.
Velvet Revolution
On 30 September, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, the Foreign minister of West Germany, returned to Prague to commemorate the event. Twenty years earlier, he stood on the Embassy balcony and delivered the news to thousands of East German refugees who camped on the grounds in front of the diplomatic mission. He told them he had negotiated a deal that would allow them to emigrate to the West.
In Czechoslovakia, the Velvet Revolution started just eight days after the fall of the Wall. The events in Germany did not have an immediate response, because, they came too suddenly analysts said.
Jacques Rupnik, a Czech-French political scientist and commentator, says nobody expected the Berlin Wall to fall so quickly and espcially without any resistance from the Soviet Union. But afterwards, he says many recognised that the developments were inevitable.
"The Czech dissident movement waited for the 10th of December, the Day of Human Rights, to set the process in motion. But the student demonstrations that took place on 17 November 1989 overtook them," says Czech sociologist, Jiřina Šiklová.
Contrasting Czech and German transitions
Comparing the transition of East Germany and the Czech Republic, which peacefully seceded from Czechoslovakia in 1993, offers a few surprises. Reuniting with Western Germany, the then German Democratic Republic became part of the EEC and NATO, without lingering periods, like any other new country joining those organisations. But this was also connected with great expectations, which were not always matched in other countries.
According to polls carried out by German institute Forsa, 71% of East Germans believed back in 1989 that their living standards would improve, while at present only 46 % of them acknowledge that these expectations came true. According to recent studies, the living standards of East Germans are similar to those of Czechs. This may seem strange, as Western Germany had injected hundreds of billions of Deutsche Marks in Eastern Germany.
"The euphoria is gone," says Forsa manager Mark Güllner, as the prejudices between East and West Germans were also strengthened. "The huge financial support helped the East Germans to refurbish its devastated economy, however, the open market and tough competition proved to be a shock treatment for the local companies," he explained. In addition, the former GDR was marred by soaring unemployment.
Nowadays, in spite of Germany being the strongest economy in the European Union, striking differences between Eastern and Western regions can still be seen. But Klaus Wowereit, the current mayor of Berlin, offers some optimism: "Both parts of Berlin really have united. Berlin became a common city for both West and East Berlin citizens. Obviously, there some differences still exist. And I must say that Berlin has in the last 20 years developed into an international metropolis. Berlin now represents an open and liberal city, a place to be."
The road to 'standard democracy'
Asked to evaluate the impact of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Velvet Revolution in the Czech Republic, Václav Hořejší, professor at Prague's Charles University, says: "The majority of Czech citizens agree that the developments after November 1989 brought a much more efficient economic system and more freedom. This could clearly be seen in plenty of Czech towns. Moreover, the majority of Czechs today can afford more things, more products from their salaries than 20 years ago."
Opinion polls in fact confirm this statement. A recently published survey, issued by the Czech Public Opinion Research Center on 3 November 2009, shows that 69 % of Czechs believes that the revolution "was worth it". About 45 % of Czech citizens share an opinion that contemporary circumstances are better than before 1989 and only 14 % are of the opposite view. However, there is also a relatively large proportion of people (32%) who think the situation is neither worse nor better, showing that many Czechs are not convinced that the changes of 1989 made them better off.
Asked where in particular they saw any improvement after the fall of communism, most people singled out access to information (80%), travel opportunities (77%), personal freedom (72%) and freedom of expression (65%). On the negative side, many people are critical of the overall development in the social sphere, with 63% of those interviewed saying that social security worsened, and 53% saying the same for retirement security.
There are also many critical voices as to the current political culture and the way how the institutions in the Czech Republic are working. But Václav Havel, former Czech President and the leading figure of the 1989 revolution, warns that changes in people’s behaviour take time.
"Political culture as such is very important and nowadays we can see that it takes long time till we will be satisfied with it. We need new generations. We can also see that there is very long and complicated way from the formal to the real democracy," Havel said.
But in spite of all difficulties on the road to the standard Western-style democracy, Havel, an iconic figure of the Czechoslovak velvet revolution, remains convinced that the fundamental values of the 1989 generation are not forgotten.
