THE DEFINING ROLE OF THE GDR HERITAGE IN GERMAN IDENTITY

Purpose of the study. This article analyzes the role of the legacy of the GDR in German self-consciousness after the reunification of Germany. The task of restoring German political identity and self-awareness of citizens was influenced, first of all, by the experience of the transformation of the former state of the GDR, which was expressed in the democratization of the territory through unification and reunification with West Germany in 1990. As a result of the conducted research, the authors came to the conclusion that the peculiarities of the self-identification of the East German self-consciousness may stem from a double historical experience, which is expressed in the experience and preserved memory of life with the actively implanted ideology of socialism and the continuing experience of living with the already united, but partly still unfamiliar FRG. Conclusions. The authors were also able to identify two manifestations of the distinctive East German identity: the socialism of the “third way”, which appeared as a result of the peaceful transformations of 1989, as well as “Ostalgia”, which implies nostalgia for past life in East Germany. These two phenomena have the greatest potential to continue to remain as a legacy of the GDR and a visual demonstration of the continued isolation in the self-consciousness of the inhabitants of the Eastern part of modern united Germany.