Modern Germany is only 19 years old. It's hard to believe that Europe's leading economy and a key player on the international political stage, could have been at the center of the Cold War just two decades ago.

October 3, 1990, was the day on which the communist German Democratic Republic (GDR) officially ceased to exist and the Federal Republic of Germany, previously the name for just the western part of the divided country, came to encompass both East and West. As the clock struck midnight hundreds of thousands of Germans celebrated outside the Reichstag building in Berlin.

Germany has still not resolved all the issues surrounding reunification: studies often show that there are major differences in employment opportunities and incomes between those who live in what used to be West Germany and those who live in the former East.

Unity Day celebrations

On Saturday, however, politicians and dignitaries will not be focusing on the negative aspects of reunification; instead newly re-elected Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Horst Koehler will pay tribute to those who made German unity possible.

The main event is being held in the southern city of Saarbruecken, following a tradition that Unity Day celebrations are held in the home town of the president of the Bundesrat, Germany's upper house. That position is currently held by Peter Mueller, premier of the state of Saarland, of which Saarbruecken is the capital.

In the German capital Berlin, giant marionettes will be walking through the west and east of the city, a spectacle produced by French theater company Royal de Luxe.

Recognition of reunification efforts

Ahead of Saturday's anniversary, the country's Federal Centre for Political Education announced this year's winners of its German Unity Prizes, which it awards every year to recognize people on outstanding contributions in bringing together east and west.

Dresden-born civil rights activist and author Freya Klier and Arno Krause, head of the European Academy in Otzenhausen in the western state of Saarland, both received prizes of honor. Klier was recognized for her long-lasting commitment to educating people about the former East Germany, while Krause was honored for his dedication to European unification.

Further awards went to Leipzig Citizens' Committee Chairman Tobias Hollitzer and the organizer of the international youth project "A World of Friends", Roland Spether. The exhibition "Peaceful Revolution 1989/90" by the Robert Havemann Society and the German-Polish magazine "Dialogue" were also honored.


ca/dpa/AP
Editor: Andreas Illmer