Since the 2nd National Veterans Day falls on a weekday today, the nationwide celebrations will, as announced, continue through the weekend. The culmination will be the central festive event at the Reichstag building in Berlin, which will be opened by Bundestag President and patron Julia Klöckner on Friday, June 21, and observed at the highest political level. Klöckner, Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius will deliver their remarks to those in attendance over the course of the day.
Things get underway at the main stage already at 10:00 a.m. with a morning pint (Frühschoppen) featuring the Bundeswehr’s Big Band. At 10:55 a.m. follows a review entitled “Nationwide Events for Veterans Day.” At 11:05 a.m., General Chief Medical Officer Dr. Nicole Schilling, deputy to the Inspector General, will introduce the Bundeswehr’s Family Support Organization. Subsequently, Schilling will speak from 11:20 a.m. with the head of the Bundeswehr Center for Sports Medicine, Surgeon General Dr. Andreas Lison, about rehabilitation for veterans.
Greetings and introductions alternate with concerts
At 11:35 a.m., Kai Wegner, the Governing Mayor of Berlin, will deliver a greeting, before at 11:50 a.m. a concert by the band Heavysaurus begins. It is followed at 12:55 p.m. by the greeting from Bundestag President Klöckner, who then, together with the singer Bryan Adams and other protagonists, presents the artist’s photo exhibition “Wounded.” At 1:10 p.m. follows a sing-along concert with “Yes Choir!” and at 1:55 p.m. a panel discussion “Veterans and Society – what can we learn from each other?” with members of the Defense Committee.
Henning Otte, the Wehrbeauftragter of the German Bundestag, will give his greeting at 2:35 p.m. and welcome the Invictus Germany Team. This is followed at 2:50 p.m. by a concert by M*Bates, then at 3:25 p.m. the greeting by Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz and a multi-religious devotional at 3:30 p.m. At 3:50 p.m. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius will deliver his speech. At 4:10 p.m. a concert by The BossHoss begins.
Two stages and a village for Veteran’s Day
Another greeting will be given at 5:10 p.m. by General Carsten Breuer, the Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, together with the Eispiraten Crimmitschau. At 5:25 p.m. follows a discussion with the chairs of the Defense Committee, the Wehrbeauftragter and corporate representatives on the topic “Politics meets Business” and from 6:00 p.m. a concert by the Bundeswehr Big Band with Heinz Rudolf Kunze until the sign-off at 7:00 p.m.
Also on the side stage there is programming starting at 10:00 a.m. Thus, at 10:10 a.m., the German Bundeswehr Association and the Soldiers’ and Veterans’ Foundations award the Literature Prize for Veteran Literature. At 11:25 a.m. the Battlefield Cyclists introduce themselves; at 12:15 p.m. the topic is “Back into life: Paths after PTSD,” at 1:25 p.m. “Companies and their Veterans,” at 2:35 p.m. “Between Front and Family: Veterans in our Society.”
From 4:10 p.m., the Association of Reservists of the Bundeswehr provides insights into Reserve, Camaraderie and Veteran Culture; from 5:25 p.m. until the program ends at 6:00 p.m. a quartet from the Bundeswehr Music Corps will also perform. In addition to the two stages, there is a day-long photo exhibition by Lars Brinkmann, a truck from the Veterans Office, a children’s area with a bouncy castle, as well as a veterans’ village with the participation of numerous organizations including the service branches of the Bundeswehr.
