Date of many important events in German history
9 November has been the date of a series of events that are considered political turning points in recent
German history
, some of which also had international repercussions. In particular the anniversaries of the
fall of the Berlin Wall
in 1989, the beginning of the
November pogroms
in 1938 (German:
Kristallnacht
or
Reichspogromnacht
), the
Munich Putsch
in 1923 and the proclamation of the
Republic
in 1918 during the
November Revolution
in Berlin, when viewed together in their respective contexts and received in relation to one another, form, contextually and ideologically contrasting and polarizing highlights of the historical-political examination of Germany's history, especially that of the 20th century.
After the end of the
Second World War
, various historians and journalists coined the expression
Schicksalstag
(German:
Day of Fate
) for this date, but it only became widespread after the events of
autumn 1989
.
In remembrance of the
November pogroms
against German Jews in 1938, November 9 is a day of remembrance in Germany for the victims of Nazism ? in addition to the official national
Holocaust memorial day
on January 27 and the anniversary of the liberation of the
Auschwitz concentration camp
(January 1945). January 27 is also the international day of remembrance of the
victims of Nazism
proclaimed by the
General Assembly
of the UN.
Events
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There are eight events in German history that are connected to 9 November, five of which had considerable historical consequences: the execution of
Robert Blum
in 1848, the
end of the monarchies
in 1918, the
Hitler
putsch attempt
in 1923, the Nazi antisemitic
pogroms
in 1938 and the fall of the
Berlin Wall
in 1989.
Execution of Robert Blum
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9 November 1848: After being arrested in the
Vienna revolts
,
Robert Blum
, one of the leading figures of the democrats in the
Frankfurt Parliament
and in the
German revolutions
, was executed. The execution can be seen as a symbolic event or forecast of the ultimate crushing of the
German March Revolution
in April and May 1849.
November revolution in Berlin
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9 November 1918: During the
November Revolution
, in view of the imminent defeat of the
German Empire
in
World War I
Chancellor
Max von Baden
announced the abdication of
Wilhelm II
before the Emperor had in fact abdicated and entrusted
Friedrich Ebert
(SPD) with official duties.
Philipp Scheidemann
, who would replace Ebert as head of government in 1919, proclaimed the
German republic
from a window of the
Reichstag
. A few hours later,
Karl Liebknecht
, one of the leaders of the left-wing revolutionary
Spartacus League
(
Spartakusbund
), proclaimed a "
Free Socialist Republic
" from a balcony of the
Berlin Palace
. It was Scheidemann's intention to
proclaim the republic
before the communists did.
In the ensuing conflicts between the supporters of a socialist
soviet republic
and those of a
pluralist
parliamentary democracy, which in some areas resembled a civil war, the supporters of the soviet model were defeated. Liebknecht himself was assassinated two months later, together with
Rosa Luxemburg
, by reactionary
Freikorps
on January 15. In the aftermath, the
Weimar Republic
was constituted in August 1919 (named after the
National Assembly meeting in Weimar
).
Der 9. November
(The Ninth of November) is also the title of a novel by
Bernhard Kellermann
published in Germany that told the story of the German insurrection of 1918.
Hitler putsch in Munich
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9 November 1923: The failed
Beer Hall Putsch
, from 8 to 9 November, marks an early emergence and provisional downfall of the
Nazi Party
as an important player in Germany's political landscape. Adolf
Hitler
, the leader of the
NSDAP party
, until then hardly known to the general public, attempted a coup against the democratic Reich government on the 5th anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic. Hitler's march through Munich was stopped in front of the
Feldherrnhalle
by Bavarian police who opened fire. Sixteen Nazis and four policemen were killed.
Hitler used the subsequent trial to stage himself as the leading figure of the
Volkisch
movement
. He was sentenced to five years in prison but was released after nine months for good conduct. Only after 1930 would Hitler gain significant voter support, a process that would culminate in the
Nazis' electoral victory
of 1933. After his political takeover, he declared 9 November a national holiday, and every year a celebration in remembrance of the so-called
Blutzeugen
(blood-witnesses), the victims of the Beer Hall Putsch, took place. It was at one such ceremony, on the evening of November 8, 1939, that
Georg Elser
's failed bomb assassination attempt on Hitler took place in Munich's
Burgerbraukeller
.
Kristallnacht
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9 November 1938: Marked the culmination of what is today known as
Kristallnacht
(the Night of Broken Glass)
[1]
or Reichspogromnacht, from 9 to 10 November, synagogues and Jewish property were burned and destroyed on a large scale, and more than four hundred Jews were killed or driven to commit suicide. In
Nazi propaganda
, the outrages, committed primarily by
SA
and
SS
members in civilian clothes, are portrayed as an expression of "popular anger" against the Jews. The event demonstrated that the
antisemitic
stance of the Nazi regime was not so 'moderate' as it had partially appeared in earlier years and marked the transition from social exclusion and discrimination to open persecution of Jews under the dictatorship. After 10 November, about 30,000 Jews were arrested; many of them later died in
concentration camps
.
Hamburg University protest
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9 November 1967: At the inauguration ceremony of the new rector of
Hamburg University
, students unfurled a banner with the slogan
Unter den Talaren ? Muff von 1000 Jahren
(English: Under the gowns ? Mustiness of a 1000 years), which will become the symbol of the
protests of 1968
. The motto alluded to propaganda that Nazi Germany was the
Tausendjahriges Reich
(English: Thousand-year Reich).
9 November 1969: The left-wing extremist terrorist organization
Tupamaros West-Berlin
places a bomb in the
Jewish Community Center
in Berlin. However, the bomb does not explode.
Death of Holger Meins
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9 November 1974: The imprisoned
RAF
terrorist
Holger Meins
dies after 58 days of
hunger strike
.
Fall of the Berlin Wall
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9 November 1989: The
fall of the Berlin Wall
ended
the separation of Germany
and started a series of events that ultimately led to
German reunification
. November 9th was originally considered to be the date for
German Unity Day
, but because it was also the anniversary of
Kristallnacht
, this date was considered inappropriate as a national holiday. The date of the formal reunification of Germany, 3 October 1990, was therefore chosen as the date for this German national holiday, and it replaced June 17th, the celebration of the
uprising of 1953 in East Germany
.
[2]
East Germany opened checkpoints on this day which allowed people to cross into West Germany.
Photography gallery
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Notes
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- ^
The term "Kristallnacht" is often regarded as too euphemistic for the atrocities committed by the Nazis and only draws attention to the broken property.
- ^
Kosmidou, Eleftheria Rania (2012).
European Civil War Films: Memory, Conflict, and Nostalgia
. pp. 9?10.
ISBN
1136250646
References
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Further reading
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]
- Brenner, Wolgang (2019).
Das deutsche Datum. Der neunte November
(in German). Herder, Freiburg.
ISBN
978-3-451-38475-2
.
- Conze, Eckart (2019).
Ein schwieriger Gedenktag. Der 9. November in Geschichte und Erinnerung
(in German). Hessisches Jahrbuch fur Landesgeschichte, Year 69. p. 1?16.
- Hilbrenner, Anke; Jahnz, Charlotte (2019).
Am 9. November. Innenansichten eines Jahrhunderts. 1918, 1923, 1938, 1969, 1974, 1989
(in German). Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne.
ISBN
978-3-462-05144-5
.
- Koch, Jorg (2009).
Der 9. November in der deutschen Geschichte 1918?1923 ? 1938?1989
(in German). 3rd Edition. Rombach, Freiburg im Breisgau.
ISBN
978-3-7930-9596-5
.
- Niess, Wolfgang (2021).
Der 9. November: die Deutschen und ihr Schicksalstag
(in German). Beck C. H.
ISBN
978-3-406-77731-8
.
External links
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Media related to
9. November (Deutschland)
at Wikimedia Commons