Citizens' festival in Erfurt on the day of German unity

Monday, 17 October 2022 09:25
Written by Portal Editor

The official celebrations for the Day of German Unity 2022 recently took place in Thuringia's state capital Erfurt, along with a well-prepared and successful citizens' festival with lots of live music, plenty of attractions and, of course, many delicacies.

Germany was once a guest in Thuringia, because the official celebrations on October 3rd for the Day of German Unity were held in the state capital Erfurt. Many people came to celebrate together and peacefully in Erfurt.

The motto of the year "grow together"

This year's Day of German Unity 2022 has the motto "Growing together". The historic event, which is celebrating its 32nd anniversary this year, is to be celebrated as part of a three-day public festival. From the main train station, via Anger, Fischmarkt and Domplatz to Petersberg, the city is transformed into a large festival area.

Day of German Unity public holiday

October 3rd was declared a public holiday in Germany as the Day of German Unity in the 1990 Unification Treaty. As a German national holiday, it commemorates German reunification, which was “completed” “when the accession of the German Democratic Republic to the Federal Republic of Germany took effect on October 3, 1990”. Correctly, at midnight on October 2nd to 3rd, the newly founded federal states acceded to the scope of application of the Basic Law according to Article 23 of the Basic Law. Thus Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia as well as Berlin as a whole became the new federal states of the Federal Republic of Germany.

East and West Germany have been reunited for 32 years: On October 3, 1990, the Unification Treaty came into force, with which the former GDR joined the Federal Republic - the division of Germany was thus ended after 45 years. A whole generation has since grown up with no memories of the division.

Nevertheless, there are still differences in the political, economic and social areas: In the new federal states, fewer people are satisfied with the political system of the Federal Republic - and their proportion is growing. Unemployment is still higher in the east - but many young people who were looking for work in the old federal states a few years ago are returning. And working mothers are more common in the new federal states - here it is the old federal states that are slowly but steadily catching up with the expansion of childcare.

Protocol highlights of the unity celebrations

Since 1990, the official celebration of the Day of German Unity has usually taken place in the state capital of the state that is presiding over the Bundesrat at the time. This is regulated by the "Königstein Agreement" according to the order of the states in descending order of the number of inhabitants. The rotation valid until 2016/17 deviates slightly from the current order of the population figures, since it took place on 20/21. December 1990 at the Prime Ministers' Conference in Munich and the population figures of the federal states have changed since then due to the strong internal migration. The official celebrations did not always take place in the state capital: in 2011, the celebrations in North Rhine-Westphalia were not in the state capital Düsseldorf, but in the federal city of Bonn, in 2015 the celebrations did not take place in the Hessian state capital Wiesbaden, but in Frankfurt am Main and 2021 was it is not Saxony-Anhalt's state capital Magdeburg, but Halle (Saale) the venue.

Protocol-related highlights of the unity celebrations, each for an invited group of guests, were the ecumenical service in Erfurt Cathedral on October 3 and the subsequent ceremony on the day of German unity in the Erfurt theater.

At the unity weekend, the Bundestag, the Federal Government, the Bundesrat and the Federal Constitutional Court, among others, were represented with information stands on the topic of “experiencing politics”; 16 countries presented themselves with their cultural and culinary specialties on a country mile. The so-called “Zipfelbund” also found its place there – an amalgamation of the most northerly (List auf Sylt), most westerly (Selfkant), most southerly (Markt Oberstdorf) and most easterly (Görlitz) communities in Germany.

In addition to a children's and blue light mile, a wine village, the climate pavilion of the Thuringian Ministry of the Environment, a history presentation in the Andreasstraße memorial and much more, the guests of the citizens' festival could experience a production of the ZDF television garden on Erfurt's Petersberg .

On small and large pop-up stages in the city area, performances by mainly regional artists enriched the festival. With the initiative “3. October – Germany sings and sounds” on the evening of October 3rd, the end of the celebrations for the Day of German Unity 2022 was celebrated on the Domplatz.

The tradition for the Day of German Unity

"Imagine if on October 3rd everyone in Germany would plant a tree. 83 million. Each year. A new forest. From north to south, from east to west. For the climate. And for you and your family. For our future."

With this vision, Schleswig-Holstein launched the unit digging in 2019.

Since then, the unit digging has taken place every year on the day of German unity throughout Germany. And everyone can take part, whether in the garden at home or at a public planting party. Join us in 2022 and plant a tree yourself - active climate protection is that easy!

This year the Vereinsbuddeln association wants to plant 100,000 trees with you. Join us and enter your planting promise or your planting party on our interactive map!

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