at the yacht, Suedonim. I read some of the comments on the newspaper website, it seems you are not along in your views.
The Germans do not celebrate Armistice Day but we do have an incredibly important date in the month of November, the 9th.
This date is often referred to as the Schicksalstag, literally the Day of Fate. It is a very special date in the history of Germany as for some strange reason, many historical events have taken place on this day.
In 1848 the liberal leader Robert Blum was arrested in the Vienna revolts and executed. This was seen as the symbolic event for the failure of the Revolutions of the German states in that year.
In 1918 the monarchy in Germany ends with the dethroning of Kaiser Wilhelm II in the November Revolution. Phillipp Schneideman proclaims the Weimar Republic
In 1923 the Hitler-Ludendorff-Putsch (in English sometimes called the Beer Hall Putsch) was on the 9th November. This was a failed coup d'état in which Hitler and other National Socialists tried to take control of Munich and the federal state of Bavaria. Hitler failed and was arrested and imprisoned for five years, during which time he wrote Mein Kampf. The failed coup d'état was the first time the National Socialists had been reported in the national press, and was a propoganda victory for Hitler.
In 1938, the socalled Reichskristallnacht, synagogues and Jewish property were burned and destroyed. This was for many the day the radical antisemitic policies of Nazi Germany became apparent. It was the day that the Nazis went from discrimination and intimidation on to widespread murder and ethnic cleansing. More than 1300 Jews were killed and from the 10th November the transports to the concentration camps began.
In 1989, at last we had something positive to celebrate. Günther Schabowski, a member of the East German Politbüros is holding a mindnumbingly boring press conference when an italian journalist asks a question. Schabowski pulls a piece of paper out of his jacket, he had only glanced at it earlier and should not have read it until the next morning.
During lunch the Politbüro had decided to allow East Germans to travel outwith the DDR, with the permission granted by the police. This was in the hope of stemming the tide of fleeing citizens through the former Czechoslovaki. As Schabowski read the statement the tired journalists began to sit up and take notice of what was going on. One journalist asked from when the new rule would be observed. Schabowski was a bit flustered and reread the note, then stumbled through a statement that send shockwaves through both East and West Germany.
"Privatreisen nach dem Ausland können ohne Vorliegen von Voraussetzungen (Reiseanlässe und Verwandtschaftsverhältnisse) beantragt werden. Die Genehmigungen werden kurzfristig erteilt. Ständige Ausreisen können über alle Grenzübergangsstellen der DDR zur BRD erfolgen. Das tritt nach meiner Kenntnis ? ist das sofort, unverzüglich.?
Basically, private journeys to a foreign country can be undertaken without stating reasons, permission will be granted at short notice. Permanent departures would be permitted at every border crossing. This, as far as I know, comes into craft immediately.
This was supposed to be announced in the dead of the night to prevent panic and chaos. As it was, the slightly bemused East Germans slowly realised what had been said, and started making their way to the borders in Berlin where they, cautiously at first then more boldly, passed into West Germany, into the arms and hearts of their West German neighbours.