The most important public holiday

Germany celebrates the reunification of East and West on 3 October.

On 29 September 1990, the decision made by the then People’s Parliament of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) came into force, bringing the GDR into the territory governed by the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany. A week later, East Germany was officially part of the Federal Republic of Germany. Ever since then, 3 October has been marked as Day of German Unity.

Less than a year from the Fall of the Berlin Wall until Reunification

The Berlin Wall fell on 9 November 1989, ending its 28-year division of East and West Berlin. The opening of the border followed months of protests by citizens of the GDR, a period which has gone down in history as the peaceful revolution. The Fall of the Berlin Wall cleared the way towards German unity just under a year later.

Schwerin to host main German unification celebrations in 2024 

Every year, a different city and a different federal state are given the task of celebrating the Day of German Unity in their own way. Schwerin will be hosting the celebrations for the 34th anniversary. Schwerin is state capital of Mecklenburg-Lower Pomerania, the least populous of Germany’s 16 federal states. The motto for the unification celebrations in Schwerin is “Setting sail as one: strengthening democracy and diversity together”.

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East Germany: full of attractive economic areas

The past three decades have seen a considerable increase in East Germany’s economic power. Many global businesses already now have manufacturing operations there or are investing in new sites. These include the carmaker Tesla in Grünheide in Brandenburg, the US chip manufacturer Intel in Magdeburg, and the Taiwanese semiconductor giant TSMC in Dresden. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz summed up the developments of recent years by saying, “In many regards, the East of Germany is now one of the country’s most attractive regions economically.”

Future Centre looks towards transformation processes in East Germany

Plans are in place to create a Future Centre for German Unity and European Transformation in the East German city of Halle an der Saale by 2028. It is aimed at putting the spotlight on East Germany’s economic transformation and drawing attention to the experiences and achievements of the people living in the region. At the same time, the Centre will look forward, too, making what the Federal Government believes will be “a major contribution to strengthening democracy and the cohesion of Germany and Europe.”