Day of German Unificationhttp://www.charms-schmuck.de/schmuck-wissen/bilder/feiertag-tag-der-deutschen-einheit.jpg

When do we celebrate the Day of German Unification?Our national day is very young.

We celebrate it since 1990 it is a public holiday since then. On this day both German statesWest Germany (BRD) and East Germany (DDR) were united again.

We celebrate this unificatonevery year on October, 3rd. http://voxpopuliblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/brd_ddr.png BRDDDR

On this day the five new federal states became part of Germany or the BRD, thats the official name.

The new states are:Brandenburg, Mecklenburg- Vorpommern, Sachsen, Sachsen- Anhalt andThringen.https://dokuwiki.noctrl.edu/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=ger:203:2011:spr:loc_ddr.gif

How do we celebrate the Day of German Unification?Every year on October, 03rd we hoist the biggest German flag on the top of the Reichstag building in Berlin where the government works. The flag is black, red and yellow. It is six by ten metres tall. In the night of October, 02nd 1990 23:58 the German flag was hoisted first and then the national anthem was played.http://bilder.augsburger-allgemeine.de/img/7758491-1317297135000/topTeaser_crop_Deutsche-Einheit-300910.jpg

https://www.nwz-inside.de/images/201110/original/25849_news_1.jpg A lot of people come to the Reichstag building where the German parliamentmeets and works. They wave the national flags, sing songs and have fun.

The Reichstag building is a symbol for the reunification because the official German unification ceremony on October 3rd, 1990 was held here.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/12/wiedervereinigung.jpg/ There is a big party at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, great artists

give concerts there. The gate is another famous symbol of the

unification and of freedom especially for the people in East Germany.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:U2_at_the_Brandenburg_Gate.ing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Brandenburger_Tor_abends.jpg A lot of people from all over Germany come here. They like to go through the gate. This was not possible before the unifiction, because the gate was closed. It stood in the restricted area between East and West Berlin.

To be honest most of the people stay at home and enjoy their day off. They meet friends- go to parties or so.

Germans usually not decorate their houses with flagsThere are not many special events, demonstrations or parades in smaller towns.It is usually an unspectacular day.

But why????http://www.1gif.de/gif/party-6

One point is that it sometimes is not easy to be proud of beeing a German, because our nation caused World War Two with so much damage, horror and death. Can we dare to celebrate? Not all think we can.http://static.rp-online.de/layout/showbilder/30651-083633_DEU_NS_Zeit_Machtuebernahme_NS507.jpg

We still have our problems with parades and flags.There were a lot of parades and flags in former times. Not all people liked that or agreed with the policy of their government, but they had to keep quiet to avoid problems for them or their families.

http://lewebpedagogique.com/deutschlernen/files/2009/04/karte-wiedervereinigung.png

Another fact is:We are still a young nation. Yes we are the Germans, but 40 years of separation caused differences between East and West German cultures.

http://lewebpedagogique.com/deutschlernen/files/2009/04/karte-wiedervereinigung.png

The two German statesEast Germany (GDR / DDR)

no big social contrastsall people had work, but earned not muchthere were not many products in the shopspeople could not travel into western countries or express their political opinion freely

West Germany (FRG / BRD)

People could travel everywherethey earned much more moneypeople had a higher standard of living said to be more consume orientatedhttp://images.wikia.com/innerdeutsche-grenze/de/images/5/57/Mauer.jpgBerlin Wall

The older generation of East Germans often feel that West Germans not respect their culture. They think West Germans are arrogant, selfish, only interested in carreer and think they know everything better.

West Germans believe East Germans are not stylish, lazy, not flexible enough,too moderate and naive.

http://data6.blog.de/media/048/5029048_b54478368f_m.jpeg East German West German

There are still a lot of problems, but we will grow together and there are more and more things we have in common and that we are proud of.

http://www.hdg.de/lemo/objekte/pict/DieDeutscheEinheit_schildWirSindEinVolk/200.jpg

Summary-we sing the national song -hoist the big flag in Berlin-have a fireworks-make a concert and parties-German schools have free -make a concert and go to parties-families celebrate their traditionhttp://www.mikado-82.de/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Foto.jpg http://www.buurtaal.de/blog/wp-content/themes/thesis/custom/images/feuerwerk.jpg

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.