Dear fellow citizens, dear friends,
On 3 October, we celebrate the Day of German Unity. Our national day honours the German reunification in 1990. After decades of division and at the end of the cold war, the two German states with the help of their partners came back together again in freedom and peace.
Normally, this is a cause for a big celebration. But then again, what is “normal” these days? The Covid-19 pandemic still affects us all, be it in South Africa, in Germany, or anywhere else around the world. Even though the progressing vaccination drives let us hope for a return to normality, we are still far away from the life we knew before the pandemic.
Despite all that, we still want to celebrate the South African-German friendship – even in times of the pandemic. And we want to do that together with you. To this end, the German Embassy in Pretoria and the German Consulate General in Cape Town have put together a whole programme of events for and in the virtual space:
Last year we were not able to celebrate the 250th birthday of the famous German composer Ludwig van Beethoven because of the pandemic. That is why we are happy to announce a concert by the renowned South African conductor Richard Cock and his ensemble. This concert will celebrate Beethoven’s opus in an entertaining and informative way. You can watch the concert on 3 October from 6 p.m. here.
In cooperation with the Goethe Institute Johannesburg, we will show the acclaimed movie “Der Junge muss an die frische Luft” by Caroline Link online. We invite you to watch this very worthwhile German movie. It will be free to view online for one week from 3 October.
Furthermore, we want to celebrate the South African-German friendship by conducting three multimedia competitions. We are inviting South African musicians to compose a song, cartoonists to draw a cartoon representing the South African-German relations, and fashion designers to create a design for a facemask. The best entries will receive great prizes. With these competitions, we also want to support the South African creative industry that was badly affected by the pandemic. Submissions will be accepted until 10 October.
We hope to meet as many of you as possible at our online events celebrating our Day of German Unity.
Sincerely
Andreas Peschke
Ambassador Designate of the Federal Republic of Germany to South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini