20 Years of German Unity

The peaceful revolution and the fall of the Wall in autumn 1989 cleared the way for German reunification on 3 October 1990 Enlarge image The peaceful revolution and the fall of the Wall in autumn 1989 cleared the way for German reunification on 3 October 1990 (© Bundesbildstelle) This year, on 3 October, Germany will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of reunification and two moving decades of eastern and western Germany growing closer together. From the peaceful revolution that brought down the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989 to German reunification on 3 October 1990, political events came thick and fast in the years 1989 and 1990, eventually leading to a historic turning point – in Germany, Europe and the world. After all, German unification did not only bring a long divided country back together. It also meant the collapse of the Iron Curtain, which divided the European continent, and the end of the East-West conflict.

Internationally, the path to reunification involved a diplomatic masterstroke: the Two Plus Four Treaty, which was signed by the four victorious powers of the Second World War and the two German states on 12 September 1990. Historian Professor Gregor Schöllgen analyzes the most important stages of the negotiations that were the answer to Germany’s new political situation and an old obligation: from 1949 the Basic Law had called upon Germans to “accomplish, by free self-determination, the unity and freedom” of their country.

Professor Schöllgen's article Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin was the most famous border crossing between East and West Berlin from 1961 to 1990 Enlarge image Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin was the most famous border crossing between East and West Berlin from 1961 to 1990 (© picture-alliance/ ZB)

Looking on past and present: in his essay, journalist Gunter Hofmann describes the “Path to Freedom”. He asks how the reunited country, whose internal unity is still not yet complete, has developed and how German unification now appears from a distance of 20 years.

Gunter Hofmann's "20 Years of German Unity"

In a major .de interview, Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle talks about the country’s greater global responsibility in the 20th year of unity and how Germany is taking up this challenge – as a country that wants to use its foreign policy to preserve peace, strengthen Europe and shape the globalization process.

The interview with Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle

“Germany in Figures” attempts to throw light on what characterizes German society in 2010 and how people live here – it provides inspiring insights with interesting and sometimes surprising facts and figures.