East German Republic Day Parade of 1989

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. This was the last East German Republic Day Parade and the last major East German political event with the regime falling mere weeks later. In Germany, this parade is remembered as the end of "the great period of military parades".

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. 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.

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 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

See also

• Monday demonstrations in East Germany
• Revolutions of 1989
• National Day of the Rebirth of Poland

References

External links

• Official footage of the parade
• Erich Honecker and Mikhail Gorbachev at the GDR's 40th Anniversary Celebration (October 7, 1989)