Guest Author - Holly Fox

The Day of German Unity, called the Tag der Deutschen Einheit in German, commemorates October 3, 1990 when East and West Germany became one country after over forty years of physical and ideological division.

At the close of WWII, Germany was divided by the occupying powers, with France, Great Britain, the United States, and the USSR each controlling part of the country. The capital city Berlin, deep in the Soviet sector, was similarly divided.

As the Cold War began to take shape, the western sections joined together to form the Federal German Republic, a democracy with a capitalistic economic model. The FGR is usually referred to as West Germany in English. The Soviet controlled Germany then became the German Democratic Republic, also known as East Germany, with an authoritarian government and a planned economy.

Although the GDR was the wealthiest of the communist bloc countries, it could not compete with the blossoming of West Germany’s economy which was supported by the Marshall Plan. As millions fled from east to west, the GDR began construction of a border system that would ultimately span the entire 858 miles of the East German-West German border. The wall surrounding the western half of Berlin would become the most powerful physical manifestation of the Iron Curtain.

Likewise, it would be the physical storming of the Berlin Wall and its subsequent dismantling that would begin the political, economical, and psychological unification of the two Germanys. As the USSR leader Mikhail Gorbachev reversed the Soviet policy of intervention in Warsaw Pact countries, a series of peaceful revolutions took place across communist Europe. Kick started by Poland’s Solidarity movement, Hungary would soon form a democratic government and open its border with Austria. East Germans then began entering the FGR by way of Hungary and Austria in the thousands. Demonstrations were held across the GDR and citizens flooded the FGR embassy in Prague.

No longer able to control the numbers fleeing through the newly opened borders, the new reformist leader of the Communist Party Egon Krenz decided to allow East Germans to apply for visas to cross directly into West Germany. A misunderstanding led to the announcement at a press conference on November 9th, 1989 that East Germans would be allowed to cross into West Germany, effective immediately. Thousands swarmed the Berlin Wall and the vastly outnumbered border officials chose to let them through rather than commit the bloodbath necessary to overpower the crowd.

Thousands of East Germans continued to enter West Berlin in the next month and preparations for East Germany’s first democratic election began immediately. These elections were held on March 18th, 1990. The GDR’s new parliament then voted on August 23rd to approve accession with West Germany. On October 3rd the two countries officially became the unified Federal Republic of Germany. That evening the Unity Flag was raised over the Platz der Republik in front to the Reichstag building. The six by 10 meter flag is the largest official flag in Germany and has flown day and night since it was first raised.