Sunday October 3, was the 20. Tag der Deutschen Einheit (German Unity Day) - the celebration of the 20th year of German reunification. And this year, the official national celebration was in Bremen. Hey, let's have a party!
The local officials have been getting ready for this for forever, of course - special events with all the government bigwigs, extra police and lots of extra security, extra buses and trams, all the entertainment and tents and so on. Really, I don't often think about what goes on behind the scenes when such an event takes place, but since it was here and since I was here, I paid attention this time.
We'd sorta planned to watch the fireworks Saturday evening, but the weather was so yuckkkkkky, we opted out but committed to go Sunday. So, up before 8AM to the sounds of sunshine - you know, r a i n beating on the windows. We had breakfast and debated taking the train or the bikes and at the last minute opted for bikes since the forecasters PROMISED better. They were so right! We were so happy!
In town, they were handing out free flags and we got a couple to hang on the bikes.
There was an invitation-only event at the cathedral, but our first event was the music parade - ensembles from each of the German states. Some traditonal, some very NOT. I think I liked the board beaters the best! But the jazzy group from Berlin was great, too.
And then to the Überseestadt (the former port that served international ships coming into Bremen) where each of the German states had set up tents with all kinds of tourist materials and little give-aways as well as regional wines, beers and food specialities. We could have eaten our way through Germany!
The big music draw of the day was David Garrett who is not only talented but really cute and there were a few squeals from the females in the audience when he came on stage. We could only watch him on the big screen, but you have an idea how big the crowd was.
Even the buses and trams were in on the fun with flags and special signs.
Of course on Monday the post-game analyses began - the speech by the President was parsed and the cost of the celebration was criticized, but frankly, if you asked all those there, it was worth it.
Congratulations Germany. Here's to the next 20 years.
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