Eastern Germans see GDR in positive terms - survey

Meanwhile, as Hungary looks back to the symbolic opening of the Iron Curtain with mixed feelings, a majority of eastern Germans see the German Democratic Republic in mostly positive terms, according to a news story on the Web site of the Protestant Church in Central Germany. Forty-nine per cent of those questioned agreed that there were "more good sides than bad to the GDR". Another eight percent said people had lived happier and better lives than now. Altogether 1208 people in eastern and western Germany were surveyed. The federal commissioner for eastern Germany, Wolfgang Teifensee, said the survey showed that "we must not relax when it comes to dealing with the history of the GDR". Eastern Germans were also more sceptical about the extent to which the hopes of the peaceful revolution had been realised. Western Germans were much more positive in their assessment about the achievements of German unity.