Dresden (dpa/sn) - With a ceremony in the state parliament, Saxony is celebrating the day of German unity and the re-establishment of the Free State on Monday. The keynote speaker this year is the President of the National Council of the Republic of Austria, Wolfgang Sobotka. The studied conductor and violoncellist has been a member of the National Council in Vienna and President of the Parliament since 2017. At the open day afterwards, visitors can take a seat in the plenary hall, talk to MPs and take a look behind the scenes, right into the President's office. The host city of the Day of Saxony 2023, Aue-Bad Schlema, presents itself in the foyer.

With special tours, the memorial museum in the "round corner" Leipzig points out the importance of the national holiday. It symbolizes the end of a development "that began with the equally symbolic day of the Peaceful Revolution on October 9," as the program says. The Dresdner Sinfoniker let their audience feel division and reunification once again. In the first part of the traditional Unity Day concert, an imaginary wall runs through the orchestra and hall. Musicians played and listeners listened separately in "GDR citizens" and "West Germans", conducted on a watchtower. Under the title "Drüben. Eine deutsche Zeitreise" one composition for a divided and one for a reunited orchestra will be premiered.