The end of communism/socialism in East Germany was a result of a number of different factors - from economic anxieties and political issues to social disbelief in the system itself.
The rise of communism in the state was a direct result of foreign interference in the state's government - specifically by the Soviet Union - and so the regime was not brought about through the people's belief in communism. Similarly, the people's disbelief and longing for the greener pastures of West Germany and the West, in general, led to the eventual unraveling of communism/socialism in the GDR. This was manifested most clearly in the city of Berlin and East German citizens longing for something different, "Alienated from a false regime that gave them no hope of a normal future, hundreds of thousands of East Germans could conceive of no better solution for their personal lives than escape to the West."
In the 1960s-1980s, communism in East Germany experienced a decline in both the effectiveness in the economic and political structures but also a steady decline in the popularity of the communist system as a whole in the state among the people.
However, "East German participation in the movement against Central European communism would be limited until the very year 1989…. One part of the opposition was happy to leave the GDR for the West." Marxist ideas were manifested most greatly in East Germany in the period before the 1950s, with the implementation of collectivization.
The cause of the collapse of communism in East Germany is a multifaceted topic, with economic reform issues leading to political and social issues. After a series of economic plans to catch up with the West were miscalculated, in 1960, "...the economy faltered as the Federal Republic canceled a 10-year-old trade agreement." These economic problems in the state snowballed into political and social issues, with an increase in workers leaving the state through Berlin. This then led to the building of the Berlin Wall, which was completed in August of 1961.
In East Germany, Marxist ideology, while it was attempted at, lacked the same structure and intentions in actual play in that state that Karl Marx had envisioned.
One huge example of the disparity between Marxist ideology and the German Democratic Republic's actuality was the Berlin Wall. Standing for over 20 years, the wall was "...both the most potent symbol of the GDR's lack of freedom and a reminder of how difficult it was to construct a humane socialist society". The Marxist ideology in itself may not be wholly flawed, but the GDR's interpretation, along with its application, certainly was.
The fall of communism in East Germany is a story of the culture and society of the people believing in something better for themselves and their nation. In many ways, the current state of affairs in states across the globe is much of the same, a turning point of change.
