The entrance of a former East German "Konsum" department store is pictured in a court at Berlin's Prenzlauerberg district November 2, 2009. Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, much of the eastern economy has cast off the shackles of its Communist past thanks to over 1 trillion euros ($1.5 trillion) in state transfers from the West which have helped drive a wholesale restructuring. The changes have come at a price. Whereas the German Democratic Republic (GDR) boasted full employment, vast swathes of the East are now blighted by stubbornly high unemployment, which is running at 11.8 percent. It is 6.6 percent in the West. Picture taken November 2, 2009. Reuters Pictures logo Reuters Pictures 27 months ago

The entrance of a former East German "Konsum" department store is pictured in a court at Berlin's Prenzlauerberg district November 2, 2009. Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, much of the eastern economy has cast off the shackles of its Communist past thanks to over 1 trillion euros ($1.5 trillion) in state transfers from the West which have helped drive a wholesale restructuring. The changes have come at a price. Whereas the German Democratic Republic (GDR) boasted full employment, vast swathes of the East are now blighted by stubbornly high unemployment, which is running at 11.8 percent. It is 6.6 percent in the West. Picture taken November 2, 2009.

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