I'm a simple emigrant and spent German Unity Day in eastern Germany

Every year on October 3, Germany celebrates Tag der Deutschen Einheit — the Day of German Unity. It is the only holiday enshrined specifically by federal law. After World War II, Germany was divided into two states — the FRG and the GDR. The border was named after the postwar administrative lines of the Allies. At first you could still travel across them. But then so many people left East Germany for West Germany that the East German authorities, as is often the case, decided to close themselves off. Thus in 1961 the Berlin Wall appeared with barbed wire, guards, and a shoot-to-kill order. Out of greed and folly, the wall was placed exactly along the lines that had once been drawn on the map. Right in the middle of streets, houses and bridges. Families, neighbors, friends found themselves in different countries, but who cared? For almost thirty years people lived like that, until in 1989 the wall finally fell. And in the following year the FRG and the GDR signed the Unification Treaty and became one country again. It was a moment when thousands of people for the first time in decades could embrace each other without fear. But reunification in practice was not the easiest task. They even argued about the anthem. The opening lines of the old “Deutschland, Deutschland über alles” sounded too heavy due to associations with the Nazi past. Therefore they decided to keep only the third stanza — the one that begins with “Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit” — unity, justice and freedom. These words became the formula of the new German identity. Each year a different federal state takes the baton of the holiday. This year the official ceremony with the participation of the president, the chancellor and members of the government was in Magdeburg. Shops are closed on this day; in cities there are concerts, street fairs, exhibitions and themed tours. At gatherings people often raise topics about differences between the East and West, about how Germany is still “growing together.” I found out yesterday that East Germans also pay the solidarity tax, if anything; not all Germans know this. And in general in East Germany the holiday feels special, and this celebration is felt especially. People remember the changes because they experienced them themselves. For them this is almost always part of personal history. #holidays #history