When the German Democratic Republic acceded to the Federal Republic on this day in 1990, the national humiliation and the human tragedy of forty-five years of separation came to an end. "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit / für das deutsche Vaterland..." at last.
Richard Askren, who witnessed the "Third" of 1990 in Berlin, recalls: "It was Oktoberfest, The Fourth of July, the 500 Mile Race and Christmas all rolled into one..."
This Day of German Unity was preceded on the German national calendar by the "17. Juni" which commemorated the 1953 uprising against the repressive communist rule in East Germany. The revolt was crushed by Sowjet tanks. Large-scale defection of East Germans through West Berlin -- 3 million all told -- could only be stopped by sealing this escape hatch with the erection of the "Berliner Mauer" (13 August 1961). Hardly any of us who lived through the post war period as adults ever thought to see this shameful wall and its equivalent along the German-German border, the "Eiserne Vorhang," come down.
Now, in 1997, we have already seen seven years of a re-unified Germany. The exuberance of 1990 is history. The act of reunification had to be followed by bridging the gap between Europe's economically most advanced country and an industrially non-competitive, socialist "little brother." "Ossie" and "Wessie" hopes and expectations began to diverge quickly, and the steadily increasing unemployment rates in "Ost" and "West" did not help speed up achieving West German standards of living in the East. The price tag for "German Unity" is very high. But the continuous flow of billions of DM into former East Germany is showing results. Happy Anniversary!
Eberhard Reichmann
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