East German Republic Day Parade of 1989

1989 parade on Karl-Marx-Allee

The East German Republic Day Parade of 1989 (Ehrenparade der Nationalen Volksarmee zum 40. Jahrestag der DDR 1989) was a parade on Karl-Marx-Allee (between Strausberger Platz and Alexanderplatz) in East Berlin on 7 October 1989 commemorating the 40th anniversary of the establishment of East Germany.^[1]^[2] This was the last East German Republic Day Parade and the last major East German political event with the regime falling mere weeks later.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8] In Germany, this parade is remembered as the end of "the great period of military parades".^[9]

Description

Defense Minister Army General Heinz Kessler inspected the parade while accompanied by Deputy Minister of Defense, Colonel General Horst Stechbarth who commanded the parade. Military bands from the Military Music Service of the National People's Army representing three of the four services of the Nationale Volksarmee and the Corps of Drums of the Friedrich Engels Guard Regiment performed the military marches at the parade, including the Präsentiermarsch der Nationalen Volksarmee and the Parademarsch № 1 der Nationalen Volksarmee. The event was accompanied by protests and more than 1,000 demonstrators were arrested.^[10] The live transmission on television of the GDR was commented by the reporter Bert Sprafke.

There was also a naval parade (Flottenparade) of the NVA's Volksmarine in the port city of Rostock. It was led by Admiral Theodor Hoffmann, Commander of the Volksmarine.^[11]

Attendees and international guests

GDR

General Secretary National Defense Council Chairman Erich Honecker
Prime Minister Willi Stoph
Volkskammer President Horst Sindermann
Minister of Defense Army General Heinz Kessler
Minister of National Education and Spouse of the Chairman of the State Council Margot Honecker
First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party in Bezirk Magdeburg Werner Eberlein

Foreign

Soviet Chairman and Communist Party General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev^[12]^[13]^[14] and his wife Raisa Gorbacheva
Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu
Bulgarian Chairman Todor Zhivkov
Mongolian Chairman and People's Revolutionary Party General Secretary Jambyn Batmönkh
Polish President Wojciech Jaruzelski
Polish United Workers' Party First Secretary Mieczysław Rakowski
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega
Czechoslovak Communist Party First Secretary Miloš Jakeš
Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat

Gallery

References

^ Neubert 2008, S. 123.
^ "GHDI - Image". germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org.
^ "The beginning of the end of East Germany". 8 October 2009.
^ "The Fast Track to Reunification - Germany - DW - 03.10.2005". DW.COM.
^ "Forty years of the GDR". revolution89.de. 14 June 2016.
^ "How the Wall Was Cracked - A Special Report; Party Coup Turned East German Tide; CLAMOR IN THE EAST". The New York Times. 19 November 1989.
^ "East Germany founded 60 years ago - Germany - DW - 07.10.2009". DW.COM.
^ Bahrmann, Hannes; Links, Christoph (13 April 2017). The Fall of the Wall: The Path to German Reunification. Ch. Links Verlag. ISBN 9783862843947 – via Google Books.
^ 100 Jahre Militärparaden auf dem Roten Platz, 1 DVD (Buchhandelslink)
^ "GHDI - Image". ghdi.ghi-dc.org.
^ "Flottenparade 1989 in Rostock". June 11, 2017.
^ "Oct. 7, 1989: How 'Gorbi' Spoiled East Germany's 40th Birthday Party". 7 October 2009 – via Spiegel Online.
^ "Der letzte Tanz der Totgesagten beim 40. Geburtstag der DDR". www.tagesspiegel.de.
^ "GORBACHEV LENDS HONECKER A HAND". The New York Times. 7 October 1989.