On the day the monarchy fell in 1918, Adolf Hitler staged a failed coup attempt in 1923, Nazis and anti-Semitic mobs attacked synagogues and Jewish homes and businesses in 1938, and the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, November 9 is known in Germany as “The Day of Destiny”.
DW surveys some of the moments that shaped the course of German history.
‘Be aware of the historical importance of this day’
On November 9, 1918, Philipp Scheidemann, a Social Democrat and later Chancellor of the Weimar Republic, in a speech from the balcony of the Reichstag in Berlin announced the end of the monarchy of Kaiser Wilhelm II and the beginning of a new democracy.
“Workers and soldiers, be aware of the historical significance of this day,” Scheidemann said. “Something unprecedented has happened. We have a great and immense task before us. Everything for the people, everything through the people! Nothing must happen that brings dishonor to the workers’ movement. Remain united, loyal and dutiful! The old and rotten, the monarchy has collapsed. Long live the new, long live the German Republic.”
Hitler’s failed coup
Young democracy in Germany had a difficult start. Both leftists and rightists wanted to end it immediately. And on November 9, 1923, the Nazis marched on the Feldernhalle in Munich, led by Adolf Hitler, who would take power 10 years later and bring on World War II.
All Jewish people in Germany would be deprived of their rights. Hitler and the Nazis systematically exterminated them from 1942 onwards.
november massacre
On November 9, 1938, Nazis and anti-Semitic mobs set fire to synagogues and looted Jewish-owned businesses. About 100 Jews were murdered in the massacre, brutally known as Kristallnacht, “Night of Broken Glass”. These attacks were the precursor to the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were murdered across Europe.
berlin wall falls
The fall of the Berlin Wall marked the end of the second dictatorship on German soil: the German Democratic Republic (GDR). People stormed border crossings in divided Berlin. There was no limit to the joy in the true sense of the word. November 9, 1989, was a day of great joy in Germany.
This article was originally written in German.