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German Unity Day
 
 
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The Day of German Unity is a national holiday
National Day

The National Day is a designated date on which celebrations mark the nationhood of a nation or non-sovereign country. Often the National Day will be a Public holiday....
 in Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, celebrated on October 3, which commemorates the anniversary of German reunification
German reunification

German reunification took place twice after 1945: first in 1957, the Saarland was permitted to join the Federal Republic of Germany, and again on 3 October 1990, when the five re-established states of the German Democratic Republic joined the Germany , and Berlin was united into a single city-state....
 in 1990.

An alternative choice would have been the day the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was a physical separation barrier separating West Berlin from the German Democratic Republic , including East Berlin. The longer inner German border demarcated the border between East and West Germany....
 came down—November 9, 1989, which coincided with the anniversary of the founding of the first real German Republic
German Republic

German Republic can refer to:*Weimar Republic*West Germany, also called Bonn Republic*Federal Republic of Germany, also called Berlin Republic...
 (the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic was the democracy and republican period of Germany from 1919 to 1933. Following World War I, the republic emerged from the German Revolution in November 1918....
) in 1918 and the defeat of Hitler's first coup
Beer Hall Putsch

The Beer Hall Putsch was a failed attempt at revolution that occurred between the evening of Thursday, November 8 and the early afternoon of Friday, November 9, 1923, when the National Socialist German Workers Party's leader Adolf Hitler, the popular World War I General Erich Ludendorff, and other leaders of the Kampfbund, unsuccessfully...
 in 1923. However, November 9 was also the anniversary of the first large-scale Nazi-led pogrom
Pogrom

A pogrom is a form of riot directed against a particular group, whether ethnic, religious, or other, and characterized by the killing and destruction of their homes, businesses, and religious centers....
s against Jew
Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
s in 1938 (Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht

File:1938 Interior of Berlin synagogue after Kristallnacht.jpgKristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass or "night of shattered crystal" was a pogrom in Nazi Germany on November 9?10, 1938....
), so the day was considered inappropriate as a national holiday.






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The Day of German Unity is a national holiday
National Day

The National Day is a designated date on which celebrations mark the nationhood of a nation or non-sovereign country. Often the National Day will be a Public holiday....
 in Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, celebrated on October 3, which commemorates the anniversary of German reunification
German reunification

German reunification took place twice after 1945: first in 1957, the Saarland was permitted to join the Federal Republic of Germany, and again on 3 October 1990, when the five re-established states of the German Democratic Republic joined the Germany , and Berlin was united into a single city-state....
 in 1990.

An alternative choice would have been the day the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was a physical separation barrier separating West Berlin from the German Democratic Republic , including East Berlin. The longer inner German border demarcated the border between East and West Germany....
 came down—November 9, 1989, which coincided with the anniversary of the founding of the first real German Republic
German Republic

German Republic can refer to:*Weimar Republic*West Germany, also called Bonn Republic*Federal Republic of Germany, also called Berlin Republic...
 (the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic was the democracy and republican period of Germany from 1919 to 1933. Following World War I, the republic emerged from the German Revolution in November 1918....
) in 1918 and the defeat of Hitler's first coup
Beer Hall Putsch

The Beer Hall Putsch was a failed attempt at revolution that occurred between the evening of Thursday, November 8 and the early afternoon of Friday, November 9, 1923, when the National Socialist German Workers Party's leader Adolf Hitler, the popular World War I General Erich Ludendorff, and other leaders of the Kampfbund, unsuccessfully...
 in 1923. However, November 9 was also the anniversary of the first large-scale Nazi-led pogrom
Pogrom

A pogrom is a form of riot directed against a particular group, whether ethnic, religious, or other, and characterized by the killing and destruction of their homes, businesses, and religious centers....
s against Jew
Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
s in 1938 (Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht

File:1938 Interior of Berlin synagogue after Kristallnacht.jpgKristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass or "night of shattered crystal" was a pogrom in Nazi Germany on November 9?10, 1938....
), so the day was considered inappropriate as a national holiday. Therefore, October 3, 1990, the day of formal reunion was chosen instead.

Before reunification, in West Germany
West Germany

West Germany was the common English name for the Germany , from its formation in May 1949 to German reunification in October 1990, when East Germany was dissolved and its States of Germany became part of the Federal Republic, ending the more than 40-year division of Germany....
 the "Day of German Unity" was June 17; this was an interpretation of a failed 1953 revolt
Uprising of 1953 in East Germany

The Uprising of 1953 in East Germany took place in June 1953. A strike by Berlin construction workers on June 16 turned into a widespread uprising against the Stalinist German Democratic Republic government the next day....
 staged by East German workers mainly against a raise in work quotas. The revolt was crushed with Soviet aid; the exact number of fatalities is unknown, but estimated at somewhere above 100. In East Germany, the national holiday was October 7, being called Day of the Republic (), commemorating the foundation of the GDR in 1949.

Celebrations

Each year, there is a Citizens' Festival (German: Bürgerfest) on that day in addition to the traditional celebrations at Berlin. The hosting city is always in the Bundesland
States of Germany

Germany is a federation consisting of sixteen states, known in German language as L?nder . Since Land is the literal German word for "country", the term Bundesl?nder is commonly used colloquially, as it is more specific, though technically incorrect within the corpus of German law....
 which presides over the federal council
Bundesrat of Germany

The German Bundesrat is the representation of the 16 States of Germany of Germany at the federal level. It has its seat at the former Prussian House of Lords in Berlin....
 in the respective year.

  • 1990 in Berlin
    Berlin

    Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
    , Capital of Germany
  • 1991 in Hamburg
    Hamburg

    Hamburg is the second-largest city in Germany , and is the Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits. The city is home to approximately 1.8 million people, while the Hamburg metropolitan area has more than 4.3 million inhabitants....
    , Free
    Free city

    Free city may refer to:* City-state, a region controlled exclusively by a sovereign city.* Free Imperial City, a city in the Holy Roman Empire under the emperor's direct control....
     and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
    Hamburg

    Hamburg is the second-largest city in Germany , and is the Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits. The city is home to approximately 1.8 million people, while the Hamburg metropolitan area has more than 4.3 million inhabitants....
  • 1992 in Schwerin
    Schwerin

    Schwerin is a city in northern Germany and the capital of the state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern . The population as of end of 2007 was 95,855....
    , State Capital of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
  • 1993 in Saarbrücken
    Saarbrücken

    Saarbr?cken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city sits at the heart of a metropolitan area that bounds westwards to Dillingen, Saarland and northeastwards to Neunkirchen, Saarland, in which most of the people of the Saarland live....
    , State Capital of Saarland
    Saarland

    Saarland is one of the 16 States of Germany of Germany. The capital is Saarbr?cken. It has an area of 2570 km? and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population it is the smallest of the German Fl?chenl?nder , i.e., those that are not City States ....
  • 1994 in Bremen, State Capital of the Free
    Free city

    Free city may refer to:* City-state, a region controlled exclusively by a sovereign city.* Free Imperial City, a city in the Holy Roman Empire under the emperor's direct control....
     Hanseatic City of Bremen
    Bremen (state)

    The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen is the smallest of Germany's 16 States of Germany . A more informal name, but used in some official contexts, is Land Bremen ....
  • 1995 in Düsseldorf
    Düsseldorf

    D?sseldorf is the capital city of the Germany state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is an economic centre of Germany. The city is situated on the River Rhine and has a high population density - the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan area has over 10 million inhabitants alone....
    , State Capital of North Rhine-Westphalia
    North Rhine-Westphalia

    North Rhine - Westphalia is the westernmost and - in terms of population and economic output - the largest States of Germany of Germany. North Rhine - Westphalia has over 18 million inhabitants, contributes about 22% of Germany's gross domestic product and comprises a land area of 34,083 km? ....
  • 1996 in Munich
    Munich

    Munich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. Munich is located on the River Isar north of the Northern Limestone Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg....
    , State Capital of Bavaria
    Bavaria

    Bavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is a region located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest States of Germany of Germany by area....
  • 1997 in Stuttgart
    Stuttgart

    Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-W?rttemberg in southern Germany. The list of cities in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 590,429 while the metropolitan area referred to as Stuttgart Region has a population of 2.7 million ....
    , State Capital of Baden-Württemberg
    Baden-Württemberg

    Baden-W?rttemberg is one of the 16 States of Germany of the Federal Republic of Germany. Baden-W?rttemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine?but one which has some of its major cities straddling the banks of the Neckar River ....
  • 1998 in Hannover, State Capital of Lower Saxony
    Lower Saxony

    Lower Saxony lies in northern Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen States of Germany of Germany. In rural areas Low German is still spoken, but the number of speakers is declining....
  • 1999 in Wiesbaden
    Wiesbaden

    Wiesbaden is a city in southwestern Germany and the capital of the States of Germany of Hesse. It has about 300,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 35,000 United States citizens ....
    , State Capital of Hesse
    Hesse

    Hesse is a States of Germany of Germany with an area of 21,110 km? and just over six million inhabitants. The state capital is Wiesbaden. Hesse's largest city is nearby Frankfurt am Main....
  • 2000 in Dresden
    Dresden

    Dresden is the capital city of the Germany Federal Free state of Saxony. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon triangle metropolitan area....
    , State Capital of Saxony
  • 2001 in Mainz
    Mainz

    Mainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the Germany States of Germany of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was a politically important seat of the Prince-elector of Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman Empire fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine River and formed part of the northernmost frontier of th...
    , State Capital of Rhineland-Palatinate
    Rhineland-Palatinate

    Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 States of Germany of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz....
  • 2002 in Berlin
    Berlin

    Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
    , Capital of Germany
  • 2003 in Magdeburg
    Magdeburg

    Magdeburg , the Capital of the States of Germany of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, lies on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....
    , State Capital of Saxony-Anhalt
    Saxony-Anhalt

    Saxony-Anhalt is one of the sixteen States of Germany that make up the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of , and a population of 2.45 million ....
  • 2004 in Erfurt
    Erfurt

    Erfurt is a city in central Germany. It is the Capital of the state of Thuringia with a population of 202,929 . Erfurt is located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of N?rnberg and 180 km SE of Hannover....
    , State Capital of Thuringia
    Thuringia

    The Free State of Thuringia is located in central Germany. It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen States of Germany ....
  • 2005 in Potsdam
    Potsdam

    Potsdam is the capital city of the Germany States of Germany of Brandenburg and is part of the Metropolitan area of Berlin/Brandenburg. It is situated on the River Havel, some 25 kilometres southwest of the center of Berlin....
    , State Capital of Brandenburg
    Brandenburg

    Brandenburg is one of the sixteen states of Germany of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany....
  • 2006 in Kiel
    Kiel

    Kiel is the Capital and most populous city of the northern Germany state Schleswig-Holstein.Kiel is approximately 90 km to the north of Hamburg....
    , State Capital of Schleswig-Holstein
    Schleswig-Holstein

    Schleswig-Holstein is the Northern Germany of the sixteen States of Germany of Germany. Its capital city is Kiel, other notable cities are L?beck and Flensburg....
  • 2007 in Schwerin
    Schwerin

    Schwerin is a city in northern Germany and the capital of the state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern . The population as of end of 2007 was 95,855....
    , State Capital of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
  • 2008 in Hamburg
    Hamburg

    Hamburg is the second-largest city in Germany , and is the Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits. The city is home to approximately 1.8 million people, while the Hamburg metropolitan area has more than 4.3 million inhabitants....
    , Free
    Free city

    Free city may refer to:* City-state, a region controlled exclusively by a sovereign city.* Free Imperial City, a city in the Holy Roman Empire under the emperor's direct control....
     and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
    Hamburg

    Hamburg is the second-largest city in Germany , and is the Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits. The city is home to approximately 1.8 million people, while the Hamburg metropolitan area has more than 4.3 million inhabitants....


In addition, the Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest is a fifteen-day festival held each year in Munich, Germany during late September . It is one of the most famous events in the Salzburg/Germany and the world's largest fair, with some six million people attending every year, and is an enjoyable event with an important part of Bavarian culture....
 beer festival
Beer festival

A Beer Festival is an organised event during which a variety of beers are available for tasting and purchase. Beer festivals are held in a number of countries....
 in Munich
Munich

Munich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. Munich is located on the River Isar north of the Northern Limestone Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg....
, which traditionally runs until the first Sunday in October, now runs until October 3 if the Sunday in question falls on the first or second day of October.

See also

  • East Germany
    • Uprising of 1953 in East Germany
      Uprising of 1953 in East Germany

      The Uprising of 1953 in East Germany took place in June 1953. A strike by Berlin construction workers on June 16 turned into a widespread uprising against the Stalinist German Democratic Republic government the next day....
    • Straße des 17. Juni
      Straße des 17. Juni

      The Stra?e des 17. Juni is a street in central Berlin, the capital of Germany. It is the western continuation of the Unter den Linden. It runs east-west through the Tiergarten, a large forest park to the west of the city centre....
  • West Germany
    West Germany

    West Germany was the common English name for the Germany , from its formation in May 1949 to German reunification in October 1990, when East Germany was dissolved and its States of Germany became part of the Federal Republic, ending the more than 40-year division of Germany....


External links