This paper analyzes the lessons of German education reforms during unification for Koreans, by addressing the reasons for Koreans’ attraction to the German experience and the influence of international and domestic contexts in channeling such influence. The educational history of Germany provides a similarity of contexts with Korea for the comparison: the unification of two countries which were originally one but separated by foreign powers and consequently diverged in economic and political developments. In this respect, the German experience has been carefully evaluated by Korean scholars and government officials of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Unification, followed by recommendations for application to Korea which ranged from systemic areas such as school structure to psychological areas such as East Germans’ perceptions on the unification process. In particular, changes that occurred during unification in East Germany, at national, institutional and individual levels, provide the most important lesson: while the systemic reforms can come about rather swiftly, the real transformation of the hearts and minds of people take much longer. This thus indicates the importance of improving inter-Korean relations through various aid and cooperation programs for the preparation of unification.