25 German years, part 3

2005 – Frauenkirche as a symbol of peace. Sixty years after its destruction during the Second World War, the rebuilt Dresden Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) shines in new splendour. It is consecrated on 30 October.

2006 – Carefree festival of football. The FIFA World Cup becomes a “summer fairytale” for the hosts Germany. Although the German team are beaten in the semi-final by the later champions Italy, the carefree and peaceful atmosphere throughout the country makes for a real festival of football.

2007 – Global summit. The heads of state and government of the seven leading industrialised nations and Russia meet in the Baltic Sea resort of Heiligendamm. The G8 Summit’s discussions focus on global strategies to protect the climate and measures to help Africa fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

2008 – Bonn fights biopiracy. The ninth UN Conference on Biological Diversity meets in Bonn in May. The member states pledge to fight biopiracy in particular. Germany will hold the presidency of the convention until the follow-up conference in Japan in October 2010 – and aims to continue the fight against the exploitation of biological resources.

2009 – Celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall. Germany is joined by guests from all over the world to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November. An impressive firework display lights up the sky above the Brandenburg Gate. Earlier, 1,000 massive dominoes had fallen along the Wall’s former route.

2010 – Vision of the future. “Better City, Better Life” is the motto of the Expo in Shanghai, China. Germany presents “balancity”, an eco-friendly pavilion that stands for equilibrium between nature and the modern city.