Architects of Unification | People & Politics

Eastern and western Germany have now been reunited for 20 years. Who were the politicians who made unification possible in the first place and then made it work? We present the ”Architects of Unification.”We portray Social Democrat politician Manfred Stolpe, who was the first state premier of post-reunification Brandenburg. As a church official in East Germany, he negotiated the release of thousands of opposition figures, always in close coordination with the communist party leadership and its state security services. He has been praised as a master of secret diplomacy, but he also has his critics. The controversial reappraisal of Stolpe’s legacy is symbolic of the debate about the role East Germany’s past plays in today's unified country.