New Year's Eve celebration at the Brandenburg Gate
The New Year's Eve celebration at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin has its origins, in addition to the customs of the old year evening, in the exuberant celebration at the turn of the year 1989/1990 after reunification .
Prehistory of the Berlin New Years Eve celebrations
19th century
The first turn of the year celebrations for Berliners in public places took place in the 19th century. Initially, on New Year's Eve, the residents roamed the city with noise, boos and cracks of the whip. In 1864/1865 a newspaper complained that “the turn of the year is getting bigger and bigger in Berlin”. In some years there were clashes between the police and the celebrants on Unter den Linden , so that the police used their weapons and several people were injured. In the 19th century, wind choirs played contemplative songs from the tower of the town hall on New Year's Eve in Königstrasse . Around midnight the Postfuhramt met in the courtyard in the Oranienburgerstraße the Postillons and welcomed the New Year with singing.
The traditional egg trip on the Oberspree or on the Havel is worth mentioning : the boat crew who were the first to dock in the garden bars after midnight in the New Year received an almond egg; the name of the rowing club that had won was written in chalk on the inn door, where it stood until the next year.
20th century
The turn from the 19th to the 20th century was organized as a central celebration between the Schloßplatz and the Rotes Rathaus . At midnight, all the bells in the surrounding churches rang, cannons were fired and the town band sounded fanfares. Thousands of Berliners greeted the year 1900 with shouts of “Happy New Year”. The Reichspost issued a decorative postcard with an imprinted five-pfennig postage stamp. Due to high demand, sales were limited to ten pieces per person. that was true for all of Germany, nothing typically Berlin.
No central New Year's Eve celebrations took place in Berlin during the two world wars. Even during the division of Germany and the division of the city, the greeting of the new year was limited to a central fireworks display on what was then Marx-Engels-Platz in East Berlin as well as music and cultural events in West Berlin , mostly around the Memorial Church. In addition, from the 1960s onwards there were “New Year's Eve rockets for everyone” to buy, which then created a good mood in the residential areas.
reunion
Establishment of the New Year celebration at the Brandenburg Gate
In the year after the political change , Berliners, now reunited, celebrated an end of year celebration around the Brandenburg Gate , accompanied by fireworks . The minute-long performance was very well received by the tourists and Berliners who came specially. Some visitors even climbed on the gate and damaged it. Due to the great response and worldwide attention for this special celebration, the New Year's Eve party has been celebrated every year at the Brandenburg Gate since 1990.
For the millennium , the turn from the 20th to the 21st century, the Senate of Berlin, together with several sponsors, organized a New Year's Eve party from the Brandenburg Gate to the Victory Column , the two-kilometer “festival mile”. However, the celebration is no longer limited to historical locations in the city center. Clubs, hotels and theaters invite guests, artists and music groups from all over the world perform. In 2015 around one million tourists are said to have attended the New Year's Eve party in Berlin. This development leads to more commerce and is no longer predominantly contemplative as in previous centuries. Several Berliners are now creating their own New Year's Eve fireworks because there are more and more decorative rockets and fireworks bombs to buy. Before the 1999/2000 millennium celebrations, trend researchers suspected that a kind of reflection would take place around the world at the New Year celebrations: "Cuddling instead of crashing" is the new motto. But reality has not confirmed this.
Festival mile
Sib Silvester in Berlin Veranstaltungen GmbH was founded especially for the regular organization of this celebration.
The two-kilometer section of the Strasse des 17. Juni from the Brandenburg Gate to the Victory Column will be closed to all traffic. Stages are set up and music stars from all over the world and all genres are invited. There are also rides such as a Ferris wheel and numerous food stalls. Video walls, light and laser presentations accompany the event. The special thing about it is the fireworks at midnight. Numerous fireworks are set off here, the value is given by the organizers at around million euros.
Since the terrorist attacks in several cities and at major events in recent years, the festival area has been cordoned off with security fences and there are entrance controls at the five entrances. Bringing your own fireworks, bottles, cans, sharp objects, alcohol and weapons is prohibited. Police officers, stewards, firefighters and medical assistants are on duty.
After the end of the celebration, starting at five in the morning, the city cleaning department arrives with 150 machines and 600 employees to remove mountains of rubbish. The quick cleaning is also necessary because there is a New Year's run in the morning , which has its goal at the Brandenburg Gate.
Some reporters euphorically describe the celebration as "the largest open-air party on the globe". TV stations from all over the world broadcast pictures of the celebration. At least it is considered the largest public New Year's Eve celebration in Europe at the Brandenburg Gate, which mainly attracts English, French and Asians.
watch TV
On December 31, 1998, the ZDF broadcast the New Year with the presenter Nina Ruge at 11:45 p.m. Since 2010, ZDF has broadcast the program Willkommen live from the Brandenburg Gate every year on December 31st .
In recent years the following artists have been on the show stage in front of the Berlin landmark: Culture Beat , The Drapers feat, Yolanda B Cool , Die Prinzen , Paul Potts , Bonnie Tyler , Adoro , Udo Jürgens , Peter Maffay , Frida Gold , Glasperlenspiel , Johnny Logan , Kim Wilde , DJ BoBo , The Bosshoss , Hermes House Band , Hot Banditoz , Asaf Avidan , Ewig , Jürgen Drews , Annett Louisan , Magic Affair , Michael Patrick Kelly , Stanfour , Gregor Meyle , Boney M. , The Sweet , Purple Schulz , Rednex , Nana , Höhner , Whigfield , Spider Murphy Gang , Oli P. , Stereoact , The Rasmus , Bell, Book & Candle , Frontm3n, Lucenzo , XOV , Mark Forster , Alexa Feser , Bellini , The Baseballs , Marquess , Oceana , Loona , Velile , Leslie Mandoki & The Soulmates, Caught in the Act , Katherine Jenkins and the Moscow State Russian Ballet , Mr. President aka LayZee, FACE meets VOICE A Milli Vanilli Experience, RIO feat. U-Jean, Madcon , Alice Merton , Namika , Tony Hadley , Eagle-Eye Cherry , Mandy Capristo & Larsito , Eloy de Jong , Joris , Nico Santos , the reunion of the Village People, Axel Fischer , Kerstin Ott , Justin Jesso , East17 , Karat , Younotus , Mando Diao
literature
- Traudl Kupfer: Christmas in Berlin: Stories, songs, pictures and recipes from over 100 years . 1st edition. Elsengold, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-944594-02-6 . , a chapter on New Years Eve celebrations in town.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c And finally: New Year's Eve in Berlin , pp. 98-101.
- ↑ New Year's Eve 89 with Quadriga . Retrieved November 14, 2016.
- ^ New Year's Eve party at the Brandenburg Gate . Retrieved November 8, 2016.
- ↑ New Year: Millennium . On spiegel.de ; accessed on November 8, 2016.
- ↑ Brief description of the festival mile in 2016. Retrieved on November 25, 2016.
- ↑ All information about the biggest New Year's Eve party in the world at www.bz-berlin.de; Retrieved November 25, 2016.
- ↑ Tourist company Visit Berlin about the New Year's Eve party in Berlin. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
- ↑ The TV cemetery special: What happened on New Year's Eve in 1998? In: quota meter . December 31, 2013 ( quotenmeter.de [accessed June 19, 2017]).
- ↑ imfernsehen GmbH & Co KG: Welcome ... so far 9 episodes of the episode guide. Retrieved September 23, 2019 .
- ↑ New Year's Eve 2019 Brandenburg Gate with a program including Mando Diao, Howard Jones, East 17, Stereoact, Feuerwerk. Gratis-in-Berlin.de; accessed on February 16, 2020