Editing German Unity Day (section)

==Decision for GDR's unity with the Federal Republic==
The motive for setting the date of 3 October as the possible Day of Unity was decided by the [[Volkskammer]], the East German parliament, on the impending economical and political collapse of the GDR. The Helsinki Conference was set for 2 October, at which the foreign ministers would be informed of the results of the [[Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany|Two-plus-Four talks]].

At the beginning of July, the governments of both German states decided on the schedule: State elections in the GDR would be held on 14 October, and a [[Bundestag]] election for the entire country on [[1990 German federal election|2 December]].

The decision on the date was finally made on 22 August by the GDR's Minister-President, [[Lothar de Maizière]], at a special session of the Volkskammer, which began at 9 p.m. After a heated debate, the President of the Volkskammer, [[Sabine Bergmann-Pohl]], announced the results at 2:30&nbsp;a.m. on 23 August:

{{blockquote|The Volkskammer decides on the accession of the GDR to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany according to Article 23 of the Basic Laws effective as of 3 October 1990. In the matter Nr. 201 there have been 363 votes. There were no invalid votes. 294 deputies have voted 'yes.' (Strong applause from CDU/DA, DSU, FDP, partly SPD and the deputies standing up in their seats.) 62 deputies have voted 'no', and 7 people abstained. This is a historic event. Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe that we have not made an easy decision, but today we have acted within our responsibilities of the voting rights of the citizens of the GDR. I thank everybody that this result was made possible by a consensus across party lines.}}

[[Gregor Gysi]], Chairman of the SED-PDS, was visibly moved and made a personal statement: "Madame President! The Parliament has no more and no less decided on the downfall of the German Democratic Republic as of 3 October 1990".<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/30851476_wegmarken_einheit4/202398
|title=Die Nacht, in der der Beitritt beschlossen wurde
|publisher=Bundestag
|quote=Sichtlich bewegt tritt Gysi ans Rednerpult, um eine persönliche Erklärung abzugeben: "Frau Präsidentin! Das Parlament hat soeben nicht mehr und nicht weniger als den Untergang der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik zum 3. Oktober 1990 beschlossen", so der PDS-Chef.
|access-date=26 July 2014
|archive-date=3 August 2014
|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140803094808/http://www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/30851476_wegmarken_einheit4/202398
|url-status=live
}}</ref> This statement was met by jubilant cheers from the CDU/DA, DSU and SPD.

===Attempt to change the date of Unity Day===
On 3 November 2004, the Federal Chancellor, [[Gerhard Schröder]], suggested that the "German Unity Day" be celebrated on a Sunday, for economic reasons. Instead of 3 October, the National Reunification should be celebrated on the first Sunday of October. This suggestion received a lot of criticism from many sides, amongst them from Federal President [[Horst Köhler]] as well as the President of the [[Bundestag]], [[Wolfgang Thierse]]. The demand worried a part of the population because of discontent for increased working hours would be seen as a provocation and devaluing the national holiday. In addition, fixing the Unity Day on the first Sunday of October would have meant that it would sometimes fall on 7 October, which happens to have been the national day of East Germany; this date would thus have been seen as commemorating the division of Germany rather than the reunification. The idea was dropped after a short but angry debate.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/tag-der-deutschen-einheit-3-oktober-bleibt-feiertag-schroeder-verlogene-debatte-1195037.html |title=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung – October 3rd stays holiday – Schröder: "Dishonest debate" ("3. Oktober bleibt Feiertag – Schröder: "Verlogene Debatte"). |date=5 November 2004 |access-date=2 June 2020 |archive-date=27 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927112550/https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/tag-der-deutschen-einheit-3-oktober-bleibt-feiertag-schroeder-verlogene-debatte-1195037.html |url-status=live }}</ref>