The Germany I grew up in the 1950s and '60s never believed that there would ever be a united Germany again. When it finally happened in 1990 it was nothing short of a miracle.
The fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War and, eventually, the Soviet Union. Soviet-occupied East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic, was reunited with West Germany on October 3, 1990. And the Soviet Union collapsed a year later.
Only the United States and West Germany were in favour of German reunification. Close U.S. allies—the United Kingdom, led by Margaret Thatcher, and France, led by Francois Mitterrand—had serious reservations about a unified Germany. For decades, French policy had been guided by Nobel Prize-winning author Francois Mauriac's adage: "I love Germany so much I'm glad there are two of them."
Germany celebrates German Unity Day, a national public holiday, on 3 October. The date commemorates the formal completion of the reunification of West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany) and East Germany (German Democratic Republic) on 3 October 1990.
