In Thuringia, once part of East Germany, the Left Party could outpoll the others, winning for the first time the chance to name a state premier (though the SPD and the Greens will not accept this).
The most thorough trials on their effects on sport were conducted in East Germany, which ran a state-sponsored doping programme that began in the 1960s.
Five paintings by Old Masters stolen 40 years ago in former East Germany's biggest art theft have apparently been returned and are undergoing authentication tests.