Germany is celebrating 25 years since its national reunification. President Joachim Gauck has used the occasion to call for unity in handling the current refugee crisis.
Image: Reuters/R.Orlowski
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German President Joachim Gauck said in a ceremony Saturday that there were parallels between German unification 25 years ago and current efforts to deal with a record influx of refugees.
"In 1990 there was also the legitimate question: 'Are we up to this challenge?' Then too, there was no example from history to follow," Gauck said in a keynote speech, part of three days of festivities to mark the silver anniversary of reunification. "But unlike then, those which previously didn't belong together will now grow together."
The capitalist West Germany and the communist East reunited on October 3, 1990, finalizing a process that began with the fall of the Berlin Wall nearly a year earlier. Around 1,300 guests attended Saturday's celebrations in Frankfurt's Opera House, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and South Korean Unification Minister Hong Yong Pyo. Also present were around 50 rights activists from the former East Germany and 30 refugees.
"Today we celebrate the courage and self-confidence of that time," Gauck said. "Let us use this memory as a bridge."
Germany marks 25th anniversary of reunification
Germans are celebrating 25 years since the former communist East and capitalist West reunited. This year Frankfurt is the center of the October 3 festivities, expected to be attended by hundreds of thousands of people.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Carstensen
Historic occasion
A massive three-day party for Germany's Unity Day is underway in Frankfurt, the capital of the state of Hesse. The festivities kicked off on Friday under the banner, "Overcoming Borders," and are expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people to the riverside city. Since 1990, the historic date has been a national public holiday.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Dedert
Packed program
Saturday's lineup began with an early ecumenical service at the Frankfurt Cathedral. Later in the day, an official anniversary ceremony was held in the city's Opera House, attended by some 1,300 guests, including Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joachim Gauck. There were crowds waiting outside to shake hands and take selfies with the chancellor.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Roessler
Different times, new challenges
In his keynote speech at the ceremony, Gauck compared the task of reuniting Germany post-1990 to the current challenge of integrating record numbers of newly arrived refugees. "Like in 1990, a challenge awaits us that will keep future generations busy," he said.
Image: Reuters/R.Orlowski
In no mood to party
Outside meanwhile, several hundred leftist protesters turned out to slam the celebrations. Holding placards that read, "Never again Germany" and "What you are celebrating is ostracism, poverty and partition," the demonstrators called for all borders to be torn down. They also criticized the government's plans to toughen asylum laws.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Dedert
Fine day for festivities
Tens of thousands of people gathered in Frankfurt along the banks of the Main River on Saturday afternoon to soak up the sun and party atmosphere. Events are planned throughout the weekend, with concerts on two big stages, fireworks and an art installation on the river.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Rumpenhorst
Illuminated bridges
One of the highlights of the festivities will take place on Saturday evening, when 25 bridges - representing each year of unity - will be lit up during a light-music show on the Main. The state of Hesse is spending an estimated 3.5 million euros (3.9 million dollars) on the weekend celebrations.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Symbolic gate
Frankfurt residents Izabela Krynicka and Basti Czolnik pose in front of a replica of the Brandenburg Gate - a symbol of German unity - set up in Frankfurt as part of the Unity Day festivities.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Jubilant scenes in the capital
Celebrations were also in full swing in Berlin, where tens of thousands of people partied in the street in front of the iconic Brandenburg Gate. While national celebrations for Unity Day are traditionally hosted by the state that holds the Bundesrat (Germany's upper house of parliament) chair - many other German cities held events of their own.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Carstensen
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'No tolerance for intolerance'
Germany, Europe's biggest economy, is expecting to receive up to 1 million refugees this year - more than any other European country. Gauck urged for patience with the integration of migrants, saying it would take time for new arrivals to adjust to a different social order, "which is not infrequently in conflict with their own traditional norms."
He praised the warm welcome refugees had received in Germany so far, and thanked volunteers and government employees helping them to integrate. He also stressed that Germany's values were "not negotiable," condemning anti-Semitism and discrimination against women and homosexuals.
"Tolerance for intolerance is not acceptable," he said.
Merkel told reporters in Frankfurt on Saturday that migrant crisis represented a Herculean test for the European Union.
"Twenty-five years on, we are facing great challenges with the issue of refugees," she said. "Now too, we Germans will not be able to solve the problem on our own but only with Europe, with a fair division of the burden, and with the rest of the world."
Three-day party
October 3 is a public holiday in Germany, and celebrations to mark the occasion are expected to last until Sunday evening. By that time up to 1.5 million people from all over the country are expected to have attended over 300 events under the motto "Overcoming Borders."
On Saturday evening, visitors will be treated to a light show with 25 bridges - one for each year of unity - illuminated along Frankfurt's river Main.
The main architects of German unity, former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, have said they cannot attend the celebrations for health reasons.
