Interesting Facts
- German Unity Day was celebrated twice in 1990: once on 17 June and again on 3 October.
- The East German parliament's accession vote, 294 in favor, was announced at 2:30 a.m. on 23 August 1990.
German Unity Day
🇩🇪 Germany
- Public Holiday
- Countrywide
- Fixed date
Overview
German Unity Day, called Tag der Deutschen Einheit in German, is the national day of Germany. It marks the formal reunification of East Germany and West Germany on 3 October 1990, when a single German state existed for the first time since 1945.
What It Is
Each year the day is marked by an official ceremony and a citizens' festival, the Bürgerfest, with fireworks. A major city hosts it, usually the capital of the state holding the Bundesrat presidency that year, in a sequence set by the Königstein Agreement. Bonn hosted in 2011 and Frankfurt am Main in 2015. Berlin holds its own celebrations around the Brandenburg Gate, and many other cities add local events. Munich's Oktoberfest now runs until 3 October when the first Sunday falls on 1 or 2 October.
Why It Matters
The date was chosen with care. The fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989 was an obvious candidate, but that day also marks the 1938 Reichspogromnacht, making it unsuitable for a national celebration. Germany instead settled on 3 October 1990, when the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic under Article 23 of the Basic Law, following a vote of the East German Volkskammer that August. The holiday replaced 17 June, which West Germany had observed from 1954 to remember the 1953 East German uprising, and gave the country a single national day rooted in reunification.
Did You Know?
In 2004, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder proposed moving the holiday to the first Sunday of October. The idea collapsed after criticism, partly because the date could have landed on 7 October, East Germany's old Republic Day.
Holiday in Context
Germany has long searched for a shared national day. The German Empire had no common holiday, though Sedantag was celebrated each 2 September after the 1870 victory at Sedan. The Weimar Republic marked Constitution Day on 11 August, honoring the constitution President Ebert signed in 1919. Unity Day stands apart by commemorating the reunification of the country rather than a battle or a document.
Countries Celebrating
1 country
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