German Reunification Day - where does the time go?

[devnulljp]

Certificate of authenticity and everything.

Nah, my flatmate who was in Germany at the time kicked a part of the wall down and brought home some pieces.

 

[RandomKaren]

I was born the day the Soviets detonated their first nuclear bomb, 8/28/1949. Did hiding under the desks and memorizing fallout shelters in elementary school. Was in 8th grade when the pricipal told us "school is cancelled tomorrow, stay home....in the basement." ...Cuban Missile Crisis. Did nuclear protection drills in the military during the late 60s. Taught HS history, and told my students "the Soviets will never give up their Warsaw Pact buffer.".. was never so happy to be proven wrong six months later.

Zen tells us to contemplate impermanence...I keep trying. Reunification Day helps.

So far only one country has actually used nuclear bombs. Let's pray things stay that way. The fall of the Berlin wall and what followed certainly gave the world hope in that direction, but things aren't looking so certain these days

 

[sigbass75]

actually the Wall came down in 1989 but Germany decided to celebrate the official signature which happened 11 months later for a simple reason.
Quoting form Wikipedia:

An alternative choice to commemorate the reunification could have been the day the Berlin Wall came down: 9 November 1989, which coincided with the anniversary of the proclamation of the German Republic in 1918, and the defeat of Hitler's first coup in 1923. However, 9 November was also the anniversary of the first large-scale Nazi-led pogromsagainst Jews in 1938 (Kristallnacht), so the day was considered inappropriate as a national holiday

It is inofficially called the German Day of Fate (Schicksalstag der Deutschen), don't know if that is an accurate translation but you get the idea. Not appropriate to celebrate, as mentioned above, but a lot of stuff to remember. 3rd of October as the Reunification day should be a day to remember as an example of how corporate greed in alignment with a make no prisoners kind of capitalism in politics can ruin even the best and most important thing. While people were celebrating with all their hearts East Germany was and still is treated like the leftovers of a hostile take-over. Being born in 73 in Western Germany I see the effects of it everywhere. No wonder there is not much left in the East besides empty regions and fascists on the rise. Sad but true, as a wise man once sang.

 

[hbarcat]

My family was hosting a foreign exchange student from Germany at the time. I remember we were watching it happen on the news. He was weeping tears of joy.

 

[Akami]

I feel like that was probably the high-point of the 20th century in terms of global events.

21st century has been amazingly disappointing in comparison in a whole “hope for humanity” sense.

True on both counts, but history does nothing but repeat itself in cycles and at the same time in the present there is much to both despair and be glad for. People of the present make the future and it was amazing hearing about the wall in the aftermath.

It's hard to describe the sense of optimism that launched the 1990s.
It really felt like things were gonna get better.

Nothing ever gets permanently better, but definitely improves with a view both being and ahead.
Cautiously optimistic here, coupled with hopeful despair.

 

[Lefty Joe]

The BRD and the DDR (which was neither German, nor democratic, nor a republic) remained separate nations until 1990.

Inspired, perhaps, by the Holy Roman Empire, which was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire (nor included much of what would later be the DDR)

 

[GypsyBilly]

I remember very clearly (being an American Germanophile) that many West Germans were not too keen to unify with the East. I was in Berlin in October, 1989, and we were not allowed to cross over into East Berlin (as was normally allowed if you applied for a day visa at the border) because Gorbachev was visiting and they did not want any "excitement" while he was there. One of my traveling companions took some video that I later posted on YouTube:

 

[Lefty Joe]

I remember very clearly (being an American Germanophile) that many West Germans were not too keen to unify with the East.

When I visited, a couple years after reunification, I also heard grumbles ... seems the former West felt they were pulling the East's load, as well as their own. But there's always something to complain about, isn't there?

 

[OldShark]

that many West Germans were not too keen to unify with the East.

As a native (West) German, I would think most West Germans were really exited about the really unexpected chance for the historic reunification. The scepticism and the misunderstandings came later.

 

[J_Bass]

 

[Deleted member 394181]

I was born in W. Germany in 1962. My mother defected from E. Germany in 1958. She was from Dresden, was 9 yrs old during the bombings. She met an American Army guy, married him, then i came along. I lived in Germany till i was about 3 , again from 1972-73, again from '76-'79. I joined the Army as well, got stationed back in Germany from '83-88. Its a lot like home to me. All my Aunts, Uncles Cousins were still in Dresden, but i didnt contact them, but my Mom did. We had sort of mixed feelings about the reunification, because several of my Uncles lost jobs as a result.
Now i see what is happening there, and i feel very, very sad, and angry.

 

[OldShark]

Thanks for telling your background!

As to the closing statement: I guess I do get your point. That being said, I'm rather sure the mayority of people in Germany will say the same when looking over the ocean, although for somewhat different reasons. Just to share a point of view...

 

[Pilgrim]

I remember very clearly (being an American Germanophile) that many West Germans were not too keen to unify with the East. I was in Berlin in October, 1989, and we were not allowed to cross over into East Berlin (as was normally allowed if you applied for a day visa at the border) because Gorbachev was visiting and they did not want any "excitement" while he was there. One of my traveling companions took some video that I later posted on YouTube:

Very interesting video - shows how fortunate those on the western side were. Thanks for posting it.

 

[g-dude]

One thing I keep coming back to…

In Germany you could have someone who was born immediately after the war, and by the time the reunification occurred, they would be middle aged.

Over that time, there were huge differences in culture, investment, opportunity, and wealth.

35 years later, the former DDR is probably 20-25% behind the states that made up the BDR.

It’s the equivalent of splitting up a set of twins, and discovering that one of them performs well because of their upbringing, and the other performs poorly because of their upbringing.

Makes you think about those in our own country who live in places that lack opportunity.