On Nov. 9, Germany celebrated the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Combined with the reunification of Germany a year later, that event marked a turning point in German history. Reunification was messy, but it provided a new political beginning for Germany, and an opportunity to slowly heal the divides between East and West. Thirty years later, the success of the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, in regional elections in Germany’s East reveals a renewed turmoil in German society.
