Overview

• Chancellor Friedrich Merz is set to deliver a forward‑looking keynote in Saarbrücken that he says will focus on urgent domestic fixes rather than retrospection.
• French President Emmanuel Macron will speak as guest of honour, adding a pronounced European dimension to the national commemoration.
• Union leaders from DGB and IG Metall urged concrete action to close the East–West wage gap, calling for stronger collective bargaining and a Bundestariftreuegesetz.
• Recent surveys from YouGov and the ZDF‑Politbarometer report many Germans—especially in the East—see major reunification problems as unresolved and perceive more division than unity.
• A large citizen festival with the Ländermeile is underway and nationwide “Deutschland singt & klingt” events are planned for the evening, as debate over the guest list and gratitude voiced by the SED‑victims commissioner reflect divergent views of the legacy.