Following World War II, Germany was divided in two parts. For a period of more than 40 years, two German states developed in separation from each other, and because of the horrors of the recent past, both states badly needed to develop new national self-images. In the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the communist regime desperately tried to foster a distinct socialist GDR identity among the East Germans. In the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), the successful economic and political development led to the emergence of a new, post-war national identity. The Berlin Wall was opened on November...

The present compilation is a commented overview of post-1945 public opinion surveys in Germany, focused on contents, regularity and availability of the surveys. The compilation breaks down into seven chapters. Following the introduction on the use of public opinion surveys in social science research, the presentation follows a chronological structure, starting with public opinion polls in early post-war Germany. The overview proceeds with a chapter on public opinion surveys in the former GDR, and a chapter on political science and elections studies in the FRG. Thereafter, a number of public...