Germany celebrates 19 years of reunification
Modern Germany is only 19 years old. It's hard to believe that Europe's leading economy and a key player on the international political stage, could have been at the center of the Cold War just two decades ago.
October 3, 1990, was the day on which the communist German Democratic Republic (GDR) officially ceased to exist and the Federal Republic of Germany, previously the name for just the western part of the divided country, came to encompass both East and West. As the clock struck midnight hundreds of thousands of Germans celebrated outside the Reichstag building in Berlin.
Germany has still not resolved all the issues surrounding reunification: studies often show that there are major differences in employment opportunities and incomes between those who live in what used to be West Germany and those who live in the former East.
Unity Day celebrations
On Saturday, however, politicians and dignitaries will not be focusing on the negative aspects of reunification; instead newly re-elected Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Horst Koehler will pay tribute to those who made German unity possible.
The main event is being held in the southern city of Saarbruecken, following a tradition that Unity Day celebrations are held in the home town of the president of the Bundesrat, Germany's upper house. That position is currently held by Peter Mueller, premier of the state of Saarland, of which Saarbruecken is the capital.
In the German capital Berlin, giant marionettes will be walking through the west and east of the city, a spectacle produced by French theater company Royal de Luxe.
Read entire article at Deutsche Welle
October 3, 1990, was the day on which the communist German Democratic Republic (GDR) officially ceased to exist and the Federal Republic of Germany, previously the name for just the western part of the divided country, came to encompass both East and West. As the clock struck midnight hundreds of thousands of Germans celebrated outside the Reichstag building in Berlin.
Germany has still not resolved all the issues surrounding reunification: studies often show that there are major differences in employment opportunities and incomes between those who live in what used to be West Germany and those who live in the former East.
Unity Day celebrations
On Saturday, however, politicians and dignitaries will not be focusing on the negative aspects of reunification; instead newly re-elected Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Horst Koehler will pay tribute to those who made German unity possible.
The main event is being held in the southern city of Saarbruecken, following a tradition that Unity Day celebrations are held in the home town of the president of the Bundesrat, Germany's upper house. That position is currently held by Peter Mueller, premier of the state of Saarland, of which Saarbruecken is the capital.
In the German capital Berlin, giant marionettes will be walking through the west and east of the city, a spectacle produced by French theater company Royal de Luxe.