Remembrance day

A day of remembrance (or anniversary ) is a calendar date on which a certain historical event , also from a cultural point of view, or a personality of high national or religious importance is remembered. The annual recurrence of the day (the beginning or end) of a dramatic event (e.g. war , catastrophe , treaties ) is commemorated or the process is honored. In some cases, such days of remembrance have become official national holidays .

species

Remembrance days can be celebrated every year and are then also referred to as anniversaries. An alternative is perception as anniversaries (for example 50th, 100th, 250th or 500th anniversary). A distinction must be made between moving memorial days , founding days , birthdays or death days , special days and world days .

State memorial days are - especially to commemorate the war dead - about the day of national mourning in Germany and around the world and the International Holocaust Remembrance Day .

In the church year the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches and the observances of the be saints (and here offered by not obligatory memorials distinction). In memory of the deceased, the Catholic Church celebrates All Souls' Day , the Protestant Church celebrates the Sunday of the Dead .

Some events are commemorated as a national day of remembrance. The reflection on historical events should thus have an identity-forming effect in the people or in a group. Under certain circumstances, such days can lead to the emergence of images of the enemy if they are to emphasize superiority over others.

Examples of memorial days

→ Main article : List of days of remembrance and action

• January 27th : Day of Remembrance of the Victims of National Socialism - in memory of the 1945 liberation of Auschwitz by the Red Army
• May 5th : Day of Remembrance against violence and racism in memory of the victims of National Socialism in Austria (national holiday; since 1998)
• May 8th : Liberation Day - unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht and end of the Second World War in Europe
• June 17th : National day of remembrance in Germany for the uprising of June 17th
• July 20 : Unsuccessful assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler in 1944
• July 11, 2009: first EU-wide commemoration day for the Srebrenica massacre
• August 23 : European Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Stalinism and National Socialism

See also

• Historic anniversaries

Web links

Commons : Remembrance Days  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Wiktionary: Remembrance Day  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

• International United Nations Days (memorial and action days)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ National Memorial Days . In: Arnold Suppan : Yugoslavia and Austria, 1918–1938. Bilateral foreign policy in the European environment (= publications by the Austrian Institute for East and Southeast Europe. Vol. 14). Oldenbourg et al., Munich et al. 1996, ISBN 3-486-56166-9 , accessed on December 1, 2008.