In many respects, Berlin is an anomaly. West German media therefore reported that the East German border was open for everyone. The message spread thick and fast, and within minutes, thousands descended upon checkpoints and started trying to pass through or even scale the wall which up until this moment would have resulted in immediate death.
East Germany had two choices; 1 Mercilessly gun down innocent citizens for reacting to misguided bureaucracy — or 2 Let them pass. Fortunately, they chose the latter. More than 30 years later, there is no clear and obvious divide, yet the phenomenon known as die Mauer im Kopf the wall of the mind still persists.
The capitalist nature of West Germany and consequent trend of Easterners migrating west in search of employment was the reason the Soviets initially constructed the Wall, and when the Wall came down, this trend was exacerbated once again.
To make matters worse, those same companies were promptly shut down, as all the West wanted was for their competition to be removed from the market. Freedom gained, but financial security lost — the working class of the East felt hard done by, and betrayed. Powerful West German club chairmen cherry-picked the best players from East German clubs, luring them in with the promise of higher salaries. These are two high-profile examples, but there were plenty more. Even the unification of the leagues was greatly imbalanced.
A further six Oberliga teams were admitted to the 2. Bundesliga, and the other six sides went straight from being in the echelon of East German football to the 3 rd Division of the new unified Germany. Indeed, no East German side has ever won the Bundesliga, and Dynamo Dresden — arguably the most successful East German club at the fall of the Wall — were relegated in amidst financial ruin, and have never returned to the top flight.
