It seems that German re-unification weakened the left in both East and West Germany, and only Kohl's problems enabled a centrist like Schroeder to succeed for a time - with help from Dubya - or is my memory of that period misleading me? notes from no w here
As for what did five sixths of the voters deserting the SPD do: the largest group of them stayed home, but sizeable chunks went to all the other parties, too. From ARD:
(Although this is the official release of this poll analysis, curiously it excludes "others", you see those here.) *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
