On November 9, Germany celebrates the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. An event that changed the world. A year later, on October 3, 1990, Germany was reunited after 41 years of separation. With the overthrow of the second dictatorship on German soil, i.e. the end of the GDR, the real-socialist camp in Europe disappeared from the political map. The West-East conflict ended. November 9, 1989 marks a day of particular importance for the history of Germany and Europe.
09.11.1918
But in the German historical calendar, November 9 has played an important role in other eras as well: On November 9, 1918, the social democrat Philipp Scheidemann declared from a balcony of the Reichstag (parliament) in Berlin that Germany was already a Republic. Monarchy of Emperor Wilhelm II. had ended: "Workers and soldiers, be aware of the historical meaning that this day brings. Something unheard of has happened: We will encounter great and difficult tasks. Everything for the people, everything with the people. Nothing will be allowed to happen that may harm the honor of the labor movement. Be united, honest and responsible. Long live the new, long live the Republic Germany."
Germany's new democracy had a rough start. The left and the right wanted to take him down as soon as possible. On November 9, 1923 in Munich hundreds of National Socialists (Nazis) stormed state buildings in an attempted coup. Their leader was Adolf Hitler, who 10 years later would legally take power in Germany and cause the greatest crisis in history: World War II.
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09.11.1938
During this war the Jews were systematically fought, until in 1942 the machinery for their complete annihilation began. On November 9, 1938, that is, before the start of the War, synagogues were set on fire all over Germany, Jewish shops were almost all destroyed. About 100 people were killed, another 26,000 were deported to concentration camps. The pogrom was cynically dubbed "Reichskristallnacht" and would serve as the "first dress rehearsal" for the Holocaust. November 9, 1938 is the most terrible date in the series of German historical days.
09.11.1989
A giant contrast was November 9, 1989, the day the Berlin Wall came down. "Unbelievable" was the word heard most often that night, when the borders were suddenly opened to citizens of the GDR. In fact, months ago there were demonstrations against the totalitarian regime of the GDR state. Thousands of people had entered the embassy of the FRG and some Eastern European countries seeking political asylum. The pressure to ease the possibility of free movement of citizens of the GDR had been increasing day by day for months. But what happened on November 9, 1989, no one expected: When it was announced during an international conference in East Berlin that new laws on free movement would come into force immediately, there was no longer any possibility to stop them. measures. Tens of thousands of people immediately crossed the inner border of the divided city of Berlin. The joy was in the full sense of the word 'boundless'.
After this night there was no turning back. The first crack in the Berlin Wall brought about the complete collapse of the sick system. November 9 made German history for the fourth time - but this time it was a wonderful story. This fact cannot be changed even by the difficulties brought to Germany by the fall of the Berlin Wall. Creating internal unification needs more time than state reunification
