German Unity Day.

We're just shy of 31 years since the Berlin Wall fell. That era, say 1988-1992, was as pivotal for my own life as for world history. I'll probably spend the remainder of whatever time I have left on this planet trying to explain why. I'll always be grateful for the opportunity to see East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and the USSR in the summer of 1989. The experience altered the trajectory of my life.

Coronavirus mutes German Unity Day celebrations, (Deutsche Welle)

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Saturday paid tribute to the courage of protesters who led the peaceful revolution that paved the way for the reunification of East and West Germany 30 years ago. 

Commemorations to mark German Unity Day are underway in the city of Potsdam, about 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) southwest of Berlin. Such a momentous anniversary would usually be met with fervor, but this year's festivities have been overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic.

"We look back with gratitude at the end of the Cold War and the beginning of a new era," Steinmeier said in a keynote speech at the official ceremony. "Today we live in the best Germany that has ever existed" ...