Minorities such as East Germans or migrants often exhibit a striking allegiance to their particular group. The paradigm of normality in this country is West German—and there is competition for second place in this hierarchy of paradigms. I do not believe that the East Germans were always part of the German narrative, and I am not even sure whether there was ever a place for them in it or not. The German narrative is so dominantly West German that East German stories have never genuinely been included in what we now call “German”. Many third-generation immigrants experience something similar: for example, my parents settled here 50 years ago and I was born here 40 years ago—I consider myself German. However, that kind of story is not reflected in the narrative that is often used to describe Germany. I believe this also applies to the common representation of reunification with the narrative of “what belongs together shall now grow back together!” According to that narrative, the two parts that were always imagined as one are finally growing together—but, ultimately, that has never really happened.

If I replace the term “East German” with “Muslim” then I soon recognise analogies between the two...