Editing German Unity Day (section)

==Celebrations==
[[File:2014-10-03 Tag der Deutschen Einheit, (108) Luftballons vom Freundeskreis Hannover für Angela Merkel und Joachim Gauck,, (01).jpg|thumb|Chancellor [[Angela Merkel]] and President [[Joachim Gauck]] at the ''Bürgerfest'' (German Unity Day festivities) in [[Hannover]] in 2014]]
The Day of German Unity is celebrated each year with a ceremonial act and a citizen's festival (''{{lang|de|Bürgerfest}}'').

The celebrations are hosted by a major city, usually the state capital, in the [[States of Germany|German state]] presiding over the [[Bundesrat of Germany|Bundesrat]] in the respective year (a sequence determined by the Königstein Agreement<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.wahlrecht.de/lexikon/bundesratspraesident.html |title=www.wahlrecht.de – Wahl des Bundesratspräsidenten & Königsteiner Vereinbarung |access-date=4 October 2014 |archive-date=20 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140920202141/http://www.wahlrecht.de/lexikon/bundesratspraesident.html |url-status=live }}</ref>). After [[Bonn]] in 2011, [[Frankfurt am Main]] was the second non-state capital to host the celebrations in 2015; however, both cities are significant in German political history (Bonn as former capital of [[West Germany]] and Frankfurt as the place of the [[Frankfurt Parliament]] of 1848–49).

{| style="width:75%;"
|-
|  style="width:50%; vertical-align:top;"|
*1990 in [[Berlin]], [[capital of Germany]], [[German reunification|reunited]] that year
*1991 in [[Hamburg]] 
*1992 in [[Schwerin]], state capital of [[Mecklenburg-Vorpommern]]
*1993 in [[Saarbrücken]], state capital of [[Saarland]]
*1994 in [[Bremen]], state capital of [[Bremen (state)|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
*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
*2009 in Saarbrücken, state capital of Saarland
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*2010 in Bremen
*2011 in [[Bonn]], former federal capital, instead of the state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, Düsseldorf (Motto: "Freiheit Einheit Freude – Bewegt mehr" - "Liberty Unity Joy - Make a bigger difference")
*2012 in Munich, state capital of Bavaria
*2013 in Stuttgart, state capital of Baden-Württemberg
*2014 in Hannover, state capital of Lower Saxony (Motto: "Einheit in Vielfalt" - "Unity in Diversity")
*2015 in [[Frankfurt]], largest city of Hesse (Motto: "Grenzen überwinden" - "Overcoming borders")
*2016 in Dresden, state capital of Saxony (Motto: "Brücken bauen" - "Building bridges")
*2017 in Mainz, state capital of Rhineland-Palatinate (Motto: "Zusammen sind wir Deutschland" - "Together we are Germany")
*2018 in Berlin
*2019 in Kiel, state capital of Schleswig-Holstein
*2020 in Potsdam, state capital of Brandenburg
*2021 in [[Halle (Saale)|Halle]], largest city of [[Saxony-Anhalt]]
*2022 in Erfurt, state capital of Thuringia
*2023 in Hamburg
*2024 in [[Schwerin]], state capital of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
|}

In addition, various celebrations are held in the federal capital [[Berlin]], mainly based on the [[Straße des 17. Juni]] and around the [[Brandenburg Gate]]. State capitals and also other cities often have additional festivities. 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 celebrations in the host city always includes a festival and fireworks show.

===Zipfelbund: compass communities===
At the 1999 Day of German Unity celebration in [[Wiesbaden]] the {{Interlanguage link multi|Zipfelbund|de}} (Compass Confederation) was formalised. The Zipfelbund are the four communities at the cardinal [[Points of the compass#Compass point names|compass points]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.zipfelbund.de/impressum/|title = Impressum (Zipfelbund)}}</ref> of Germany: North – [[List, Schleswig-Holstein|List]] on the island of [[Sylt]], West – [[Selfkant]], South – [[Oberstdorf]] and East – [[Görlitz]]. Together, they always participate in the respective annual celebration to represent the [[Oder–Neisse line#Division of cities|modern borders]] of Germany.

{{Location map+|Germany|caption=Zipfelbund – Compass Communities – locations|places=
{{Location map~|Germany|label=List|lat=55.018611|long=8.432222|position=bottom}}
{{Location map~|Germany|label=Selfkant|lat=51.016667|long=5.916667|position=right}}
{{Location map~|Germany|label=Görlitz|lat=51.152778|long=14.987222|position=left}}
{{Location map~|Germany|label=Oberstdorf|lat=47.409722|long=10.279167|position=top}}
}}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Direction
! Community
! State
! Coordinates
! Population
|-
| North
| [[List auf Sylt]]
| [[Schleswig-Holstein]]
| {{coord|55|1|N|8|26|E}}
| style="text-align:right" | 2,462
|-
| West
| [[Selfkant]]
| [[North Rhine-Westphalia]]
| {{coord|51|1|N|5|55|E}}
| style="text-align:right" | 10,263
|-
| East
| [[Görlitz]]
| [[Saxony]]
| {{coord|51|9|N|14|59|E}}
| style="text-align:right" | 56,461
|-
| South
| [[Oberstdorf]]
| [[Bavaria]]
| {{coord|47|25|N|10|17|E}}
| style="text-align:right" | 9,974
|}