>>>>A couple of years ago I cycled from Magdeburg down to the Czech Republic and was hugely impressed with the road improvements in the former East Germany. On some (unavoidable) busy roads there were excellent cycle tracks - completely separated and almost a road in themselves. I guess funding was diverted to where it was needed most ?
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>>>Definately in the first 10 years funds ***had*** to be reallocated, but they stayed there and in the west infrastructure is now often worse than in the east - politicians having decreed a special on-top tax they don't want to abolish.
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>>Does that mean that citizens in the old West Germany pay a different tax rate to those in the old East Germany ?
>>From my limited observation the East still , overall, appears far less prosperous that the West .....
>
>Personal tax rate is the same. Corporations and business owners pay an addtional tax ("Gewerbesteuer") to corporate tax (plus "Solidaritätszuschlag"), which is set at community level and differs a lot. Rich federal states are forced by law to subsidize states with not that much tax power, resulting in some "poorer" states sporting much better baths and pre-schools and thereby lessening the "return" of those taxes for richer western states. Berlin in itself was subsidized as isolated state during cold war and never weaned from subsidies - they are proud to be broke and live off others (overgeneralizing for sure, but other statistics like sick days off and people on welfare point in similar direction). East is less prosperous - but some pensions in the east, getting always higher rises, are not that bad if you factor in rents sometimes less than half of western rents.
>That "Solidaritätszuschlag" is always kept under the rug when discussing tax rates - and is just another tax hike going into budget and everybody tries to get a piece of the action....

From this : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_states_of_Germany I see that the 'Solidaritätszuschlag' @ 5.5% is providing 11 billion Euro p/a to fund economic re-generation in the East - and will continue until 'at least' 2019.

Other interesting snippets:

"More children are born out of wedlock in eastern Germany than in western Germany. In 2009, in eastern Germany 61% of births were to unmarried women, while in western Germany 27% were"

"A 2004 poll found that 25% of West Germans and 12% of East Germans wished reunification had not happened."
( I wonder what the results would be now?)

Off topic:
In Ireland last week I met a German couple who had been cycling round Ireland since May (and only intended going home at the end of October). They'd done this a few times in the past, also New Zealand twice plus a coast-to-coast trip from Seattle to Maine.

I asked them if they ever cycled round Germany (hoping to get some tips) but they said "No, we're saving that for our old age". He was 67, she was 64 !