Overview
- The federal president is scheduled to speak at noon at Schloss Bellevue on the "current dangers to democracy," and, according to Tagesspiegel, he is expected to urge citizens to defend democratic norms against right‑wing forces.
- Nov. 9 is widely regarded as Germany’s "Schicksalstag," linking the 1918 proclamation of the republic, the failed 1923 Hitler–Ludendorff putsch, the 1938 anti‑Jewish pogrom, and the 1989 opening of the Berlin Wall.
- Historians estimate the 1938 November pogrom left more than 1,300 people dead, destroyed or damaged about 1,400 synagogues, looted roughly 7,000 shops, and led to over 30,000 Jews being deported to concentration camps.
- Tagesspiegel highlights deepening polarization, noting the AfD polling strongly and the growth of populist and sometimes extreme tendencies on the left that risk squeezing the political center.
- Historian Burkhard Asmuss challenges the "fateful day" label, arguing these outcomes were driven by political choices and public responsibility rather than destiny.