Reich Foundation Day

Postage stamp from 1900 from the series " Representative representations of the German Empire ": Commemoration of the founding of the empire in 1896 in the white hall of the Berlin Palace , after a painting by William Pape

The founding day of the Reich was a festive day in the German Empire . His commemoration was the proclamation of the emperor in the Palace of Versailles on January 18, 1871. However, the North German Confederation had already officially adopted the name “ German Reich ” on January 1 with the constitution of the German Confederation ; In terms of constitutional law , January 18 was not the day the Reich was founded.

Celebrations of the founding of the Empire

The founding of the empire was held annually on January 18th . Patriotic speeches were given at central and local events and songs such as Heil dir im Siegerkranz , the empire's unofficial hymn , were sung. Celebrations of the founding of the Reich also took place in public during the Weimar Republic and with the participation of high dignitaries. The National Socialist Germany celebrated only in the beginning, the German Empire of the 1871st

The German Democratic Republic abandoned this custom completely. The Federal Republic of Germany brought on 18 January 1971 by the German Federal Post Office and the German Federal Post Office Berlin each have a motive same special stamp 100 years Empire 30 Pfennig out ( Michel number 658 and 385). This corresponded to the postage for a standard letter at that time . On November 24, 1971, a commemorative coin with a face value of five Deutsche Marks was issued to honor the same event.

Some supporters of the political right continue this tradition. Some student associations also celebrate pubs that were founded in the Reich .

Reich President Paul von Hindenburg leaves the Berlin Cathedral after the celebration of the founding of the Reich in 1931 .
Rudolf Smend speaks in 1933 at the celebration of the establishment of the Reich in the auditorium of the Friedrich Wilhelms University in Berlin .
Deutsche Bundespost (1971) : 100th anniversary of the founding of the German Empire - imperial eagle with imperial crown
DBP Berlin 1971

Illustration		Issue date	Occasion margin writing	Stamping plant (s)	embossed edition
Face value: 5 Deutsche Mark Material : 62.5% fine silver, 37.5% copper - diameter : 29 mm - weight : 11.2 g
Image side	Value side	Issue date	Occasion margin writing	Stamping plant (s)	st	sp
		November 24, 1971	100th anniversary of the founding of the German Empire UNITY AND RIGHT AND FREEDOM	G	4,800,000	200,000

literature

Jörg Koch: Reich Foundation Day, in: Ders. So that you don't forget history - national commemorative and public holidays from 1871 to today. Wbg Academic, Darmstadt 2019, ISBN 978-3-534-40186-4 , pp. 19-25.

Fritz Schellack: National holidays in Germany from 1871 to 1945 (= European university publications. Series 3: History and its auxiliary sciences. 415). Lang, Frankfurt am Main a. a. 1990, ISBN 3-631-42524-4 , pp. 161 f., 193 ff., 261 ff. (At the same time: Dissertation, University of Mainz 1989).

Individual evidence

^ Günter Schön, Gerhard Schön: Small German Coin Catalog . 39th edition. Battenberg, Regenstauf 2009, ISBN 978-3-86646-045-4 , pp. 169-192 .
↑ 100th anniversary of the founding of the Empire

[1] Günter Schön, Gerhard Schön: Small German Coin Catalog . 39th edition. Battenberg, Regenstauf 2009, ISBN 978-3-86646-045-4 , pp. 169-192 .

[2] 100th anniversary of the founding of the Empire