Burg Giebichenstein und die Giebichensteinbrücke

Postcard DE-3903996 from Germany shows Giebichenstein Castle and the Giebichensteinbrücke bridge in Halle (Saale), an economic and educational center in eastern Germany, located in the southern Saxony-Anhalt state.

Giebichenstein Castle, seen on the right on the postcard, was a royal residence of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor in the 9th century. It is used by the Kunsthochschule Halle (Academy of Arts) of the Burg Giebichenstein Art School.

The Giebichensteinbrücke bridge, also known as Kröllwitzer bridge, is one of three Saale River crossings in Halle, located in the north part of the city below Giebichenstein Castle. The Giebichensteinbrücke bridge in its current form was built between 1926 and 1928 as a replacement for a steel bridge with large truss arch from 1892. The bridge's main arch was blown up during the final days of World War II on April 14, 1945. It was re-built in 1949 and renovated from 1993 to 1995.

On February 13, 1990, an agreement was announced on a two-stage plan to reunite Germany.

25th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was a 96-mile or 155-kilometer barrier built in 1961 by East Germany that divided West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin,  preventing people from fleeing the communist East. Many people were killed when trying to scale the wall.

As the result, the Brandenburg Gate, an 18th-century neoclassical triumphal arch and a landmark in Berlin, became isolated and inaccessible because it was immediately next to the Berlin Wall.

On November 9, 1989, after a series of radical political changes which eroded the pro-Soviet influence and under months of protests, the East German government announced opened the border, which resulted in the collapse of the wall and paved the way for German reunification on October 3, 1990.

Postcard DE-1702613 from Germany shows the Brandenburg Gate, a site that witnessed many major historical events in Europe. 25 years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall,  it is once again the center for celebration and a symbol for unity and peace.

German Unity Day

Today is the German Unity Day (Tag der Deutschen Einheit), the national day of Germany. Celebrated on October 3 every year, it is a public holiday that commemorates the anniversary of German reunification in 1990. The reunification process started as the Berlin Wall came down on November 9, 1989, and was formally completed on October 3, 1990. The German Unity Day, the national holiday of the Federal Republic of Germany, had been previously celebrated on June 17 since 1954. It was celebrated twice in 1990, once on June 17, 1990 and the other on October 3, 1990.

Postcard DE-1272658  was a lenticular 3D postcard. When viewing from different angles, it shows the reunified Germany by Day or by Night from space. It was also the first official PostCrossing postcard I received from Germany.