German National Unity Day 4

I read that the festivities in Munich attracted 400 thousand visitors... and I think I rubbed shoulders with every single one of them on Ludwigstrasse. Yesterday the sky was blue, it was warm enough to sit outside. The replica of  Berlin's Brandenburger Tor was... I felt... a reminder that this was indeed a national, not just Bavarian event.

Again I have illustrated this post with some shots re-blogged from the website of the 'Abendzeitung' newspaper. But yesterday I took a shot which I like as much as any I have ever taken. At the bottom of the combo on the left is a shot which really caught a cute moment. The girl bringing beer to the musicians on the improvised stage.

I listened to the oom-pah serenade in the Hofgarten, just off the main avenue. Trees... sheep! A table set for a celebration lunch.

And wonderful music... and that's the explanation for the previous post featuring the Stadtkapelle Schongau!

The second panel below is a reminder of why this day must be celebrated.

In 1961 when the East German regime erected high walls one divided the village of Mödlareuth on the Bavarian border. Half of the fifty residents were separated from the other half of the population until reunification. 

What a very different Germany the federal president, the chancellor and the Bavarian prime minister were able to celebrate yesterday in Munich.