The Day of German Unity (German: Tag der Deutschen Einheit) is the national day of Germany, celebrated on 3 October as a public holiday. It commemorates the anniversary of German reunification in 1990.

An alternative choice would have been the day the Berlin Wall came down—9 November 1989, which coincided with the anniversary of the proclamation of the German Republic in 1918 and the defeat of Hitler's first coup in 1923. However, 9 November was also the anniversary of the first large-scale Nazi-led pogroms against Jews in 1938 (Kristallnacht), so the day was considered inappropriate as a national holiday. Therefore, 3 October 1990, the day of formal reunification, was chosen instead.

Before reunification, in West Germany the "Day of German Unity" was 17 June, remembering the failed Uprising of 1953 in East Germany against the Stalinist government. The revolt was crushed with Soviet aid; the exact number of fatalities is unknown, but estimated at somewhere above 100. In East Germany, the national holiday was 7 October, the "Day of the Republic" (Tag der Republik), commemorating the founding of the German Democratic Republic in 1949.

Celebrations
The Day of German Unity is celebrated each year with an ceremonial act and a citizens' festival (Bürgerfest) in a certain city. The celebrations are traditionally hosted by the German state which presides over the Bundesrat in the respective year:

• 1990 in Berlin, Capital of Germany
• 1991 in Hamburg, Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
• 1992 in Schwerin, State Capital of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
• 1993 in Saarbrücken, State Capital of Saarland
• 1994 in Bremen, State Capital of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen
• 1995 in Düsseldorf, State Capital of North Rhine-Westphalia
• 1996 in Munich, State Capital of Bavaria
• 1997 in Stuttgart, State Capital of Baden-Württemberg
• 1998 in Hannover, State Capital of Lower Saxony
• 1999 in Wiesbaden, State Capital of Hesse
• 2000 in Dresden, State Capital of Saxony
• 2001 in Mainz, State Capital of Rhineland-Palatinate
• 2002 in Berlin, Capital of Germany
• 2003 in Magdeburg, State Capital of Saxony-Anhalt
• 2004 in Erfurt, State Capital of Thuringia
• 2005 in Potsdam, State Capital of Brandenburg
• 2006 in Kiel, State Capital of Schleswig-Holstein
• 2007 in Schwerin, State Capital of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
• 2008 in Hamburg, Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
• 2009 in Saarbrücken, State Capital of Saarland
• 2010 in Bremen, State Capital of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen

In addition, various celebrations are held in the federal capital Berlin, mainly based on the Straße des 17. Juni and around the Brandenburg Gate. Furthermore, the Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich, which traditionally runs until the first Sunday in October, now runs until 3 October if the Sunday in question falls on the first or second day of
October.

The Berlin Wall was a concrete barrier built by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) that completely enclosed the city of West Berlin, separating it from East Germany, including East Berlin. The Wall included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area (later known as the "death strip") that contained anti-vehicle trenches, "fakir beds" and other defenses.

The separate and much longer Inner German border (the IGB) demarcated the border between East and West Germany. Both borders came to symbolize the Iron Curtain between Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc.

Before the Wall's erection, 3.5 million East Germans had avoided Eastern Bloc emigration restrictions and defected from the GDR, many by crossing over the border from East Berlin into West Berlin. From West Berlin, emigrants could travel to West Germany and other Western European countries. During its existence from 1961 to 1989, the Wall stopped almost all such emigration and separated the GDR from West Berlin for more than a quarter of a century. After its erection, around 5,000 people attempted to escape over the wall, with estimates of the resulting death toll varying between around 100 and 200.

The Berlin Wall was officially referred to as the "Anti-Fascist Protection Wall" (German: Antifaschistischer Schutzwall) by the communist GDR authorities, implying that neighboring West Germany had not been fully de-Nazified. The West Berlin city government sometimes referred to it as the "Wall of Shame" – a term coined by mayor Willy Brandt – while condemning the wall's restriction on freedom of movement.

In 1989, there were a radical series of Eastern Bloc political changes associated with the liberalization of the Bloc's authoritarian systems. After several weeks of local civil unrest following the erosion of political power of the pro-Soviet governments in nearby Poland and Hungary, the East German government announced on November 9, 1989 that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. Crowds of East Germans crossed and climbed onto the wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. Over the next few weeks, a euphoric public and souvenir hunters chipped away parts of the wall; the governments later used industrial equipment to remove most of the rest. The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification. It was formally concluded on October 3, 1990.