Berlin celebrates 80 years of liberation - a holiday full of history!
Berlin celebrates 80 years of liberation - a holiday full of history!
May 8, 2025 will have a special meaning in Germany. On this day, the "Day of Liberation" is celebrated as a legal holiday in Berlin. This happens on the occasion of the eightest anniversary of the unconditional surrender of the German Wehrmacht on May 8, 1945. This day marked the end of the Second World War in Europe and symbolized the liberation from National Socialism.
The explanation of the holiday in Berlin is remarkable because the city has one of the lowest holiday contingents among the federal states with eleven holidays, similar to North Rhine-Westphalia, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saarland. In comparison, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria have twelve statutory holidays. In addition, the opportunity to enjoy the extended weekend is tempting, because May 8, 2025 falls on a Thursday.
historical backgrounds
The historical roots of May 8th extend deep into the past. On May 7, 1945, the unconditional surrender of the German armed forces was signed in Reims, followed by a second championship certificate, which on 8./9. May 1945 was signed in Berlin-Karlshorst by Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel. Officially, the time for the discontinuation of all combat acts in Europe was set to May 8th at 11:01 pm.
In the years after the war, May 8th in Germany initially received little public attention. It was only in the 1970s that there were initial official explanations on the importance of this date. In 1985, on the 40th anniversary, an intensive discussion about the recognition of May 8, as an important year of commemoration, with Richard von Weizsäcker characterized this day as a "day of liberation". Since then, the day in the Federal Republic of Germany has been increasingly recognized as a political day of commemoration.
celebrations and commemoration
May 8th is not only important in Germany. In many European countries, the day is celebrated as a "day of liberation" or "day of victory". In the former GDR, May 8 from 1950 to 1967 and 1985 was the legal holiday, while in the Soviet Union and its successor states the 9th May is worshiped as the day of victory.
Subsequently, May 8, 2002 in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania found its way into a state commemoration, and it has also been officially recognized in Brandenburg and Schleswig-Holstein in recent years. The 75th anniversary of 2020 also experienced a special appreciation as a legal holiday in Berlin, which has further reinforced the trend towards greater recognition of the date.
With the coming holiday in May 2025, the discussion about dealing with the legacy of National Socialism and the work of memory in Germany will continue to become more important. The day offers an opportunity to deal with history and to draw the teachings from it for the future.
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