"Blooming Landscapes" (July 1, 1990) On the day the Deutschmark was introduced in the territory of the GDR, Chancellor Helmut Kohl called upon the citizens of the Federal Republic to show solidarity with their countrymen in the East and promised a smooth unification without financial sacrifices. The anticipated “blooming landscapes” would lead to a rapid improvement of living conditions in East Germany. The expression “blooming landscapes” pointed to a prospering economy, which never materialized in this way, and it was therefore used to criticize the federal government’s unification policies.
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page 1 of 2 Chancellor Kohl’s Television Address on the Day the Currency Union took Effect, July 1, 1990 My dear fellow Germans! A few weeks ago, the State Treaty on the Monetary, Economic, and Social Union between the FRG and the GDR was signed – here in the Schaumburg Palace, the seat of former chancellors of the FRG. Today it takes effect. This is the crucial step on the road to the unity of our Fatherland, a great day in the history of the German nation. Unity has now become a perceptible reality for the people of Germany in important areas of daily life. The State Treaty is an expression of solidarity among Germans. Germans in the Federal Republic and in the GDR are once again linked indissolubly. They are linked, first of all, by a common currency, by the common system of the social market economy. Soon they will also be linked in a free and united state. Germans can now come together unhindered. As of today, free travel prevails at the border. We are glad of it; we have waited more than forty years for it. At this hour, we also remember, in particular, all those who lost their lives at the Wall and the barbed wire fence. The state treaty documents the will of all Germans to go forth into a common future: in a united and free Germany. There will be much hard work before we achieve unity and freedom, prosperity, and social equality for all Germans. Many of our compatriots in the GDR will have to adapt to new and unfamiliar living conditions – and also to a transition period that will certainly not be easy. But no one will be expected to endure undue hardship. To Germans in the GDR, I can say what Prime Minister de Mazière has already emphasized: No one will be worse off than before – and many will be better off. Only the monetary, economic, and social union offers the chance, yes, even the guarantee, of improving living conditions rapidly and thoroughly. Through our joint efforts, we will soon succeed in transforming Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia into blooming landscapes where it is worthwhile to live and work.
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