The book provides a comprehensive overview of the socio-structural development and the perspectives of social change in Germany before and after reunification. Based on empirical data, the following areas are presented: population development, material living conditions, social inequalities and class structures, restructuring processes in key groups (elites, service classes, self-employed, farmers, working classes, marginalized groups, ethnic minorities), social mobility, inequalities between women and men, the education system, and family structures. Each chapter also includes a summary of the current state of research on social upheaval in the new federal states. Overall, it offers an assessment of German reunification from the perspective of social structure analysis.