decline and fall of the German Mandarins: intellectuals and post-reunification Germany

In 1990, five states that had formerly comprised the German Democratic Republic acceded to the Federal Republic of Germany. Reunification seems to have been a success. What appears to be less successful is the process of Germany's self-understanding. The 'mandarins' the intellectual establishment and the political representatives of the society responded to the development of the past several years without imagination and have made every effort to give the developments an air of normality. The failure of the mandarins is to be found in the way they perceived themselves and their societies prior to 1990