In 1990 Germany was reunited, but after more than a quarter of a century the unity of the new and old federal states was not achieved: the economic lag of the East remains, support of euro-skeptics and right-wing populists in the new federal states is higher than in the old federal states, there are serious differences in the estimates of the past of East Germany. The article is devoted to the problems of interpretation and perception of the history of the GDR in the united country. The author analyzes the rethinking of the past of the GDR, studies the attitude of the population of the new federal states to the history of East Germany, and also explores how the historical policy developed.