Yes, this is a real thing, though for many years of German school I’d always thought it was the school’s way of relabelling Tag der Deutschen Einheit (“Day of German Unity”) for its families.
In any event, it gives me the opportunity to share the pictures my husband took of the display in Frankfurt of “Unity Men” (Einheitsmännchen) created to mark the 25th anniversary of the (re-)unification of Germany.
At the Römer (the Old Town Square):
And at the airport hotel:
The man himself is a bit of Ostalgie — the East German traffic signals had a bit of personality to them, with this image from the hotel display rather than the modern, stylized version.
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