u/DenseIntern4597

Finland shouldn't be here tbh, they are the most eastern european country i've ever seen.

It’s always funny when people compare eastern Germany to Poland just because of the GDR.

Eastern Germany was part of the core of the Holy Roman Empire for centuries. The Ottonians ruled from places like Quedlinburg, Magdeburg, and the Harz region. And let’s not forget that the Protestant Reformation happened there too. Luther came from eastern Germany, Wittenberg reshaped Christianity, and the whole region became culturally much closer to northern Europe.

Yes, there were 40 years of communism, but that doesn’t erase a thousand years of history. It doesn’t erase Luther, Nietzsche, Wagner, Bach, or everything this region gave to Western civilization.

Also the “communist blocks” argument also makes no sense. Half of England looks more like a concrete socialist nightmare than eastern Germany, and you find the same ugly apartment blocks all over France, Portugal, and Spain. That proves nothing

People forget East Germany is still Germany. Even today, eastern Germany is richer than all of Spain and most of France by most metrics. And not all eastern states are the same. Mecklenburg is Hanseatic, Thuringia is central German, while Saxony feels a bit more eastern, especially around Meissen near Czechia.

I made a compilation of some of the most beautiful churches/domes/cathedrals in Germany.

My personal favorite would have to be "Aachen cathedral" as it feels so legendary, like a symbol for western civilization.

Edit: the 2nd pic of berlin cathedral is AI, sorry guys i didn't realize at the time. But the real cathedral looks literally the same.