On this day…
105 years ago: Following the Kiel Sailors’ Uprising, which within a few days develops into a revolution that engulfs the entire empire, the republic is proclaimed in Berlin on November 9. As a “democracy without democrats”, the Weimar Republic was plagued with problems from the very beginning, and finally ended in 1933 when the National Socialists came to power.
–
100 years ago: In the Bürgerbräukeller in Munich, Adolf Hitler launches a coup attempt with the aim of overthrowing the government in Berlin. At a meeting of prominent nationalist politicians, Hitler shoots into the ceiling with a pistol and announces the start of the national uprising. Despite the support of some members of the state government, the putsch was unsuccessful. This was followed by the nationwide ban on the NSDAP
–
85 years ago: On the night of November 9-10, thousands of synagogues, Jewish businesses and homes are destroyed in Germany and Austria. Hundreds of Jews are murdered, thousands are deported to concentration camps in the following days. Organized and directed by the National Socialist regime, the “Reichspogromnacht” marks the transition from discrimination against German Jews to systematic persecution, which leads to the Holocaust almost three years later.
➡️ Today at 5:30 pm, the Aachen Pogrom Night Remembrance Alliance is commemorating the pogrom night with a vigil and supporting program on Synagogenplatz.
–
34 years ago: “As far as I know, that happens immediately, without delay.” After weeks of protests in which hundreds of thousands of GDR citizens took part, the GDR government buckled on November 9, 1989. The opening of the inner-German border was announced at an inconspicuous press conference. After 28 years, the Berlin Wall came down and a year later the division of Germany came to an end.
(fg, np, ps, sas)