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Commemoration on November 9th: Steinmeier at a historic celebration in Berlin
On November 9, 2025, Germany commemorates historical events such as the proclamation of the Republic and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Federal President Steinmeier gives a keynote speech on democracy.
Commemoration on November 9th: Steinmeier at a historic celebration in Berlin
On November 9, 2025, Germany will once again be dominated by historical commemorative events. This special day, which commemorates the proclamation of the Republic in 1918 as well as the Kristallnacht pogrom of 1938 and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, is celebrated nationwide with various activities. How daily news Reportedly, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will give a keynote speech at Bellevue Palace that will address the current threats to democracy.
The commemorative events are not only a moment for pause, but also a call for solidarity and the defense of the values that are essential for democracy. The names of 55,696 Jews murdered during the Holocaust are read out in front of the Jewish Community Center in Berlin. The International Auschwitz Committee appeals to society not to forget the survivors of the Shoah.
A look into history
November 9th has a complex meaning for Germans. The attack on the diplomat Ernst vom Rath, which triggered the November pogroms in 1938, marked the beginning of brutal attacks on the Jewish population. The attacks culminated in Joseph Goebbels' inflammatory speech, which heralded the transition to the systematic persecution of Jews under the Nazi regime. This makes it all the more important to keep memories alive and to use the lessons of the past, as Eva Runde, a survivor of Auschwitz, has emphatically emphasized.
Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer will also honor the fall of the Berlin Wall as the result of a long fight for freedom and human rights. The fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989 was not a coincidence, but the result of a non-violent revolution. After this historic event, the GDR experienced serious changes that fundamentally changed citizens' freedom of travel. Up to this point, most GDR citizens were only allowed to travel to the West under strict conditions, which suddenly changed after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Fall of the Berlin Wall and its consequences
The effects of the fall of the Berlin Wall were far-reaching. Suddenly it was possible for people in the former GDR to travel as they wished, and freedom of expression also came out of the shadows after 1989. On November 4, 1989 alone, over a million people demonstrated for reforms in Leipzig, a moment that was broadcast live on television and initiated the change. The first free elections in the GDR took place on March 18, 1990 and resulted in a voter turnout of over 90 percent.
The unification treaty of August 31, 1990 and the completion of German unification on October 3, 1990 brought about a fundamental change in the former GDR economy, some of which still have noticeable consequences. An example of this is the Treuhand, which privatized over 80 percent of state-owned companies and reported an enormous loss of around 250 billion German marks, which led to a dramatic increase in unemployment in East Germany.
Even if November 9th in German history is filled with an interplay of terror and hope, today this day emphasizes the unbroken will to remember and defend democratic values. Who better than Steinmeier and many others who support human rights to remind us that every day offers the opportunity to fight for a better future?