As a non-german, living in east germany, this is more or less my observation too. The unification was literally just one side taking over the other - high level

As a non-german, living in east germany, this is more or less my observation too. The unification was literally just one side taking over the other - high level civil servants were replaced by west-german civil servants, teachers were fired, industries closed down as the regulatory enviroment changed overnight, etc. The essential thought of reunification was that there was nothing worth saving in the East. That wasn't actually something many easteners agreed with.