Editing German Unity Day (section)

===Attempt to change the date of Unity Day===
On 3 November 2004, the Federal Chancellor, [[Gerhard Schröder]], suggested that the "German Unity Day" be celebrated on a Sunday, for economic reasons. Instead of 3 October, the National Reunification should be celebrated on the first Sunday of October. This suggestion received a lot of criticism from many sides, amongst them from Federal President [[Horst Köhler]] as well as the President of the [[Bundestag]], [[Wolfgang Thierse]]. The demand worried a part of the population because of discontent for increased working hours would be seen as a provocation and devaluing the national holiday. In addition, fixing the Unity Day on the first Sunday of October would have meant that it would sometimes fall on 7 October, which happens to have been the national day of East Germany; this date would thus have been seen as commemorating the division of Germany rather than the reunification. The idea was dropped after a short but angry debate.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/tag-der-deutschen-einheit-3-oktober-bleibt-feiertag-schroeder-verlogene-debatte-1195037.html |title=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung – October 3rd stays holiday – Schröder: "Dishonest debate" ("3. Oktober bleibt Feiertag – Schröder: "Verlogene Debatte"). |date=5 November 2004 |access-date=2 June 2020 |archive-date=27 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927112550/https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/tag-der-deutschen-einheit-3-oktober-bleibt-feiertag-schroeder-verlogene-debatte-1195037.html |url-status=live }}</ref>