Overview

• Berlin’s ceremony featured Mayor Kai Wegner presenting a ceremonial banner to Sanitätsregiment 1 at the Blücher-Kaserne in Spandau.
• Festivities at more than 100 venues nationwide included military parades, reservist oaths, bike tours and public concerts.
• Performances by Bryan Adams and Michael Schulte accompanied speeches from Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on the Reichstag stage.
• Anti-militarist groups held protests in Berlin and other cities, denouncing the gathering as a promotion of militarism.
• The inaugural observance marks a shift in German military culture and supports plans to expand active personnel to 203,000 and reservists to 300,000 by 2030.