November 9 holds a unique place in German history. It is a date marked by both the darkest and most hopeful moments of the nation’s past — the proclamation of the Republic in 1918, the Nazi pogroms of 1938, and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Across the country, numerous memorial events are taking place this year. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has invited guests to Schloss Bellevue in Berlin, where he will deliver a keynote speech on the current threats to democracy.
“A day of light and shadow”
In a statement, the Office of the Federal President described November 9 as a day that reflects “both the breakthroughs toward democracy and freedom, as well as the horrors of tyranny and antisemitism.” The remembrance, it said, carries lessons for the present — about courage, humanity, and the dangers of dictatorship.
During the official ceremony, actors Jens Harzer and Marina Galic are set to read historical texts from different periods of German history.
Reading of 55,696 names in Berlin
In front of the Jewish Community Center in Berlin, the names of 55,696 Jews murdered in the Holocaust are being read aloud throughout the morning. The International Auschwitz Committee called for solidarity with Holocaust survivors.
Executive Vice President Christoph Heubner emphasized: “For survivors, November 9 is a day of remembrance and a day of democracy. They hope that the majority of citizens in Germany will stand in solidarity with them, protect their memories, and defend democracy against the attacks and slogans of right-wing populists.”
The night of terror: November pogroms of 1938
Between November 9 and 10, 1938, mobs organized by SA and NSDAP members carried out violent attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions across Nazi Germany. Synagogues, prayer halls, cemeteries, and shops were destroyed, dozens were killed, and tens of thousands were deported to concentration camps.
The immediate pretext was the assassination attempt by 17-year-old Herschel Grynszpan on German diplomat Ernst vom Rath in Paris. Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels seized on the incident to deliver an incendiary speech, triggering the orchestrated violence.
Historians view these pogroms as the turning point from discrimination to systematic persecution and extermination of Jews under the Nazi regime.
Voices of remembrance
Holocaust survivor and Auschwitz Committee President Eva Umlauf reflected: “On this day of remembrance, the flames that threatened Jewish lives and businesses on the night of November 9, 1938, feel very close to me.”
She added that she feels grateful to live in a reunified and democratic Germany, but also deeply alarmed by the resurgence of antisemitism and hateful ideologies across Europe. “It gives me chills,” she said.
Remembering the fall of the Berlin Wall
Germany also commemorates the fall of the Berlin Wall on this same date. Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer praised the courage of East Germans who brought about the Peaceful Revolution of 1989:
“The fall of the Wall was not a gift of fate. It was the harvest of a long, courageous struggle for freedom, democracy, and human rights.”
He described it as a “revolution without violence — carried by prayers, candles, and civic courage.”
Mödlareuth: A symbol of division and unity
During the opening of the new permanent exhibition at the German-German Museum in Mödlareuth, Weimer warned that new walls are being built — not from concrete, but in hearts and minds. Mödlareuth, once divided by a 3.3-meter concrete wall and known as “Little Berlin,” now stands as a memorial to division and reconciliation. “The human longing for freedom,” Weimer said, “is stronger than any wall.”
A date that defines a nation
For Germany, November 9 remains a mirror of history — reflecting both the abyss of human cruelty and the strength of those who stood up for freedom. The commemorations serve as a reminder that democracy, once lost, must always be defended anew.
