October 3, 1990: The reunification of Germany is completed after 45 years.
There had been tribes identified as "Germanic" for over 2,000 years, and they stopped the advance of the Roman Empire under Arminius at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, in present-day
Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, in September of the year AD 9. And there had been a Holy Roman Empire, including most of present-day Germany, from the coronation of Charlemagne in AD 800 until Napoleon Bonaparte broke it up in 1806.
Germany was unified by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in 1871, with Kaiser (Emperor) Wilhelm I reigning over a Second Reich. That ended with the Kaiser's grandson, Wilhelm II, abdicating at the end of World War I in 1918. Adolf Hitler proclaimed a Third Reich in 1933, calling it "The Thousand-Year Reich." It lasted 12 years, before the Allies smashed the Nazis.
But the Soviet Union took the eastern part, making it the "German Democratic Republic." It wasn't a republic, and it certainly wasn't democratic. The remaining Allies -- America, Britain and France -- established the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. For 40 years, these 2 countries, nicknamed "East Germany" and "West Germany," respectively, were, essentially, the front line of the Cold War. This included the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961.
But by 1989, with the Soviet Union crumbling, and losing its grip on the nations of Eastern Europe, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary moved away from Soviet influence, and held free elections, ending Communist Party rule. On November 9, the East German government removed restrictions on travel in and out of the country. This rendered the Berlin Wall moot, and the people of Berlin began to tear it down.
This began the process of German reunification. West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl reintegrated the East, politically and economically, with the Deutsche mark replacing the Ostmark -- a move made easier by the fact that Kohl was also among the people trying to bring most of Europe into the single Euro currency, which replaced both marks in 1999.
On October 3, 1990, a ceremony was held at the Reichstag, the old capital building in Berlin, marking the official unification of the state. It took a while for the East to catch up to the West in terms of economic and social progress. But, today, Germany is a united, free country of about 83 million people.
Oddly, the national soccer team, Die Mannschaft, had more success as West Germany than as a united Germany. Competing in the World Cup starting in 1954, they won the tournament in 1954, 1974 (on home soil, despite losing a Group Stage game to East Germany in one of the biggest upsets in tournament history) and 1990; and reached the Final in 1966, 1982 and 1986.
The unified team lost in the Semifinal on home soil in 2006, lost in the Semifinal again in 2010, and won it all in 2014, but crashed out in the Group Stage in 2018. Not the 1st time a group of Germans fell flat in Russia, although, this time, it was neither the Russians nor Winter weather that stopped them. Mostly, they beat themselves.
Mesut Özil with the World Cup,
at the Brandenburg Gate celebration, Berlin, 2014
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October 3, 1990 was a Wednesday. It was midweek for the NFL, and preseason for the NBA and the NHL. But, due to the fact that a lockout had delayed Spring Training, this was the last day of baseball's regular season:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, 10-3 at Yankee Stadium. I was there. Cecil Fielder of the Tigers hit his 50th and 51st home runs of the season. This made him the 1st MLB player to hit 50 in a season since George Foster in 1977, and the 1st in the American League since the Yankees' Roger Maris in 1961.
The Yankees finished 67-95, their worst record since 1925, and their 1st last-place finish since 1966. They were 21 games behind the hated Boston Red Sox. The rebuilding began.
* The New York Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-3 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Frank Viola won his 20th game of the season. Tim Teufel and Chris Jelic hit home runs. But times had changed: It was only 4 years since the Mets' 1986 World Series triumph, but Teufel was the only man in this game who had been on that Series roster.
The Pirates won the National League Eastern Division, by 4 games over the Mets. With a few breaks, this game could have been for the Division title.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-1 at Fenway Park in Boston.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.
* The Montreal Expos beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-2 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The Houston Astros beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Texas Rangers, 6-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Seattle Mariners, 7-4 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
* The San Diego Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
* The California Angels beat the Oakland Athletics, 11-6 at the Oakland Coliseum.
* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.