Was in west Belin in 1981with a friend . We were traveling throughout Europe. Was back in 2017 I believe on a Globus tour and then again in 2019 . Still a lot of building going on.

This is a long article from Wikipedia but definitely worth reading. It has pictures of Potsdamer Platz at the time the wall was up and as it is now. It was an empty space when the wall ran through it but now it is more modern than Times Square.

Potsdamer Platz - Wikipedia

I worked for several companies. One was west German. Interesting to see their view.
Things like medial care. As far as East Germany, West German workers had major concerns about money spent on East Germany as well as the introduction of a cheap labor pool. We often think only of our issues. Same as us, the management had to decide whether to move manufacturing to less expensive places, like China, like India. I think even the US would be less costly.