Reunification was 33 years ago. October 3rd commemorates this as a national holiday – this year it will be celebrated with a celebration in Hamburg. The highlight was in the Elbphilharmonie.
Appeals to community spirit and cohesion in society in the Elbphilharmonie and Michel as well as fish rolls and beer on the Alster: Germany celebrated the 33rd Day of German Unity centrally in Hamburg. The state leadership and churches also advocated for their own initiatives and solidarity. Meanwhile, around 700,000 people attended the two-day community festival for the central unity celebration.
The protocol highlight was the ceremony in the Elbphilharmonie with the entire head of state, the heads of government of the federal states and a total of around 1,300 invited guests. These included former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD), former Federal President Christian Wulff, the Ukrainian ambassador Oleksii Makeiev, ex-world boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko, drag queen Olivia Jones and the comedian Otto Waalkes.
Appeals from politicians
As host, Hamburg’s mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) appealed to the public spirit of citizens in times of crisis. Only a strong, democratic Germany can take responsibility for a strong Europe that is committed to peace, democracy and human rights, said the President of the Federal Council. “The need of the hour is not populism and polarization, but community spirit and cooperation. We all bear responsibility for this.”
In his speech, the President of the Federal Constitutional Court, Stephan Harbarth, called for the state to be made simpler and more efficient with its institutions and regulations. “It has to become better, faster and, above all, more solution-oriented – at all levels.” At the same time, an active and efficient state also depends on private initiative and personal commitment.
The Basic Law is based on citizens getting involved, said Harbarth. “This involvement is not only the source of innovation and progress, of economic prosperity and ecological sustainability, but also the indispensable bond that holds our society together.” He also called for more togetherness: “Democracy only survives in the long term if we all stay in conversation with each other. Let’s dare this conversation to go beyond the boundaries of what is known, with respect and style.”
The representatives of the highest constitutional bodies take turns speaking at the unity celebrations alongside the respective head of government of the host country. Last year, Bundestag President Bärbel Bas gave the speech in Erfurt, and the year before that in Halle/Saale, then-Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz therefore used the platform X (formerly Twitter) to see new developments as an opportunity to shape things. “Where something new appears on the horizon, there are always opportunities.” We owe a lot to the courage of the East Germans. “They gave our country its unity in peace and freedom. Even in challenging times like these, it’s about opening horizons.”
Churches evoke cohesion and humanity
The entire head of state and numerous guests had previously gathered for an ecumenical service in Hamburg’s Michel, where Hamburg’s Bishop Kirsten Fehrs also invoked cohesion in society. “Let us stick together when things are currently drifting apart in politics and society,” warned the bishop of the Protestant districts of Hamburg and Lübeck in her sermon.
In his sermon at the celebratory service, Hamburg’s Catholic Archbishop Stefan Heße called for solidarity with refugees and called for a reform of the European asylum system. “We need better refugee protection and a fair division of responsibility between all EU member states – in short: we need a humane and solidarity-based refugee policy.”
Counter-demo of the left scene
The celebrations began on Monday with a large community festival. According to the spokesman for the community festival, more than 300,000 visitors gathered around the town hall and the Binnenalster on the first day. During the “Night of Unity” they were able to enjoy a program of live music, dance performances and exhibitions at many locations in the city center until late at night.
Today the weather with a lot of wind and rain showers dampened the celebratory mood somewhat. Nevertheless, there was a large crowd at and around the town hall market, where the constitutional bodies Bundestag, Bundesrat, Federal Government and Federal Constitutional Court presented themselves. Also popular in the nearby Mönckebergstrasse – a well-known shopping street – were the tents of the federal states and the blue light mile, a showcase for police and fire departments.
But there were also protests against the celebrations for German Unity Day. Shortly after it started, the police stopped the demonstration with several hundred participants on Monday evening, as dpa reporters reported. The demonstrators from the left-wing scene had unveiled a banner that insulted Germany in vulgar terms.
The unity celebration was the final and highlight of Hamburg’s Federal Council Presidency. In the afternoon, Mayor Tschentscher symbolically handed over the baton to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD). She will take office on November 1st.
The motto of her Federal Council presidency is “Set sail as one”. United stands for a united Germany, she said. Setting sail is fitting for a federal state with a lot of water like Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. “And it also describes the task that Germany faces.”
Ambassador praises Moscow’s role in reunification
Germany’s ambassador to Russia, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, emphasized Moscow’s role in German reunification. “Without our partners in the USA, France and Great Britain, but also in the Soviet Union at the time, the German national holiday would not exist at all,” said Lambsdorff in his speech in the embassy in front of diplomats, business representatives and journalists. Lambsdorff, however, criticized Moscow’s current policy.
The fall of the Berlin Wall was also a consequence of the “strong desire for freedom of the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe,” the ambassador recalled. Ukraine is now also striving for this “freedom, peace, security and national sovereignty”. Russia, on the other hand, is bringing violence into its neighboring country with its war. The violence is also directed internally, against critics and dissenters in their own country, said Lambsdorff. At the same time, he was optimistic that the diplomatic work would lead to a change in Russia’s politics in the long term. “I am convinced that violence will not have the last word,” said Lambsdorff.