| The uprising of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in 1989, the ensuing Wende (turning point), and finally, German unification in 1990 generated democratic reforms in the GDR which resulted in a radical reorganization process of the entire East German education system based on the educational structure of the Federal Republic of Germany.;This unique single-site exploratory case study of the renowned Leipzig University in Saxony, Germany, describes the challenges of uniting the two German countries whose socio-economic structures, political attitudes, and higher education systems differed sharply.;The efforts of reorienting the academic community and the research infrastructure of the university toward democracy and freedom produced decentralization, restoration of pluralism, and quality upgrading of the higher education system but also resulted in a radical reduction in personnel.;Through in-depth interviews and participant observations the viewpoints of personal experiences of teaching staff and students, as well as their perceptions of circumstances and events during a calamitous phase in their academic and personal lives are presented.;Although positive features of the East German higher education system were recognized, they were, nevertheless, not retained after unification.;The restructuring process of the East German higher education system was more successful than the efforts of former Eastern bloc countries to democratize. East Germany had the advantage of being absorbed into an already established democratic society where technological expertise and academic know-how was well established.;Although East German academe experienced great losses during the restructuring process, it has, undoubtedly, a better chance of achieving scholarly excellence and international acceptance than the rest of the eastern European countries. |
