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27 Eur. J.L. & Econ. 1 (2009)

handle is hein.journals/eurjlwec27 and id is 1 raw text is: Eur J Law Econ (2009) 27:1-13 DOI 10.1007/s 10657-008-9077-3 Pending property issues in the new federal states of Germany-cause of the phenomenon of sleeping owners Thomas Gertner Published online: 7 October 2008 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2008 1 Preface Coming back to the phenomenon termed Sleeping owners in the new Federal States of Germany by Prof. Backhaus, it is crucial to deal with the causes of this erroneous development. When World War II was over, a development began in the three Western Occupation Zones of Germany known as the German Wirtschaftswunder, a miracle of economic growth attributed to Ludwig Erhard. After the Soviet Union collapsed at the end of the 1980s, and the Treaty of German Reunification was signed, a wave of enthusiasm overwhelmed all Germans with the hope that another economic miracle might be achievable for the united country. But unfortunately, this wave of optimism and solidarity between East and West Germany soon died down in face of reality. And there are even some fellow citizens in both parts of the country who feel nostalgically about the times when Germany was divided into two states with diametrically opposed social orders. So the question is, why could the economic miracle not be repeated following the German reunification? My theory is-and I am quite sure that I am not alone in this-that the political parties made wrong decisions when they tried to solve the problem of pending property ownership. When the German reunification came into sight, Chancellor Helmut Kohl had to calm West German population's concern about facing a loss of its living standard, following criticism from Oscar Lafontaine, the Social Democratic Party Leader, that the expense of German reunification had not even been estimated so far. Chancellor Kohl promised that no tax increases would be incurred, yet did not even sketch the outlines of how to finance this bold venture. But the public soon learned most of the government's intentions. The Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic had agreed in T. Gertner (E) RAe Dr. Gertner & von Maltzahn, Bad Ems, Germany e-mail: dr.gertner@gmx.net I Springer

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