National and international politics of the past in Germany since the 1990s In many European countries, the revolutions at the end of the 1980s marked the transition to an unpredictable future and the transformation of interpretations of the past. Against this background, the article discusses the change of memory cultures in Germany since 1989-90. The second part examines the new opportunities for reparations for Nazi injustice after the breakdown of the communist regimes. The third part demonstrates the limits of reparations and explains why the German government stuck to its former rigid policy lines in this field. Although the Foundation EVZ marks a decisive step in reconciling the general policy of the past with new initiatives in the culture of remembrance, the current discussions on reparation claims, especially by the Polish and Greek governments, indicate that the dispute over the costs of the German occupation in Europe continues today.
