East Germany was, of course, a Communist country; today it is a hotbed of far-right sympathy and outright hatred. What happened?

The question angers Wolfgang Thierse, a Social Democrat and former president of the German Parliament, who was raised in the East. In the 1970s, he worked briefly for the Ministry of Culture in the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany, but he was let go after refusing to support the expulsion of Wolf Biermann, a popular singer and critic of the Communist government. There is no such thing as “the East,” Mr. Thierse told me. Eastern Germany, he says, is not one place, but a mix — areas of prosperity, creativity and economic innovation next door to areas of economic squalor and despair.

Mr. Thierse’s assessment is reflected in the government’s annual “Report on the State of the German Union,” which was presented last week. While pensions and wages are rising and unemployment is down, the average income in the former East lags the former West by around 15 percent. The eastern economy sports some champion businesses, but has altogether fewer large companies, and lesser international investment. The eastern states have an older demographic, and a harder time finding qualified workers.

The economic differences are just one piece in the puzzle of why the East seems so far to the right. Other explanations focus on the legacy of the political culture of the German Democratic Republic. Many across Germany felt like Chancellor Angela Merkel imposed her decision to accept a large number of refugees on the country — but eastern Germans, having lived under an authoritarian regime, reacted more strongly to decisions they feel they did not have a say in.

Second, there are fewer migrants living in the east; people there lack the opportunity for everyday interactions with them, and thus harbor irrational fears of outsiders. Some also claim that eastern Germans, not having learned what democracy is like, are more easily frustrated with its tedious processes and often less-than-perfect results.