# Sedantag > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sedantag > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sedantag.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedantag > Source revision: 1341514296 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Memorial holiday in the German Empire}} {{Infobox holiday |holiday_name = Day of Sedan |type = National |image =SedanBrandenburgerTor.jpg |imagesize = |caption = Illuminated [Brandenburg Gate](/source/Brandenburg_Gate) on Sedantag in 1898, (text on the banner: “What a turnaround through God’s guidance”) |official_name = ''Sedantag'' |nickname = |observedby = Germans |litcolor = |longtype = |significance = |begins = 1871 |ends = 1918 |date = 2 September |frequency = Annual |celebrations = Victory Day |observances = |relatedto = [Unification of Germany](/source/Unification_of_Germany) }} [[Image:Schüttorf Sedantag 1895.jpg|thumb|Sedantag in [Schüttorf](/source/Sch%C3%BCttorf) in 1895]] [[File:Sedan 1914 6130078129 e40213aa01 o.jpg|thumb|Sedantag in [Berlin](/source/Berlin) in 1914]] thumb|The exhibited trophies of Sedan Festival (Lübeck) '''Sedantag''' ({{IPA|de|ˈzeːdanˌtaːk|lang|De-Sedantag.ogg}}, ''Day of Sedan'') was a semi-official memorial holiday in the [German Empire](/source/German_Empire) celebrated on the second day of September to commemorate the victory in the [1870 Battle of Sedan](/source/Battle_of_Sedan_(1870)). After the outbreak of the [Franco-Prussian War](/source/Franco-Prussian_War) a few weeks earlier, French emperor [Napoleon III](/source/Napoleon_III) and his army were taken prisoner in the fortress of Sedan by Prussian troops, a major step to eventual victory. In 1871, the now united Germans could not agree on a common ''German'' holiday. While the German Emperor and [Empire](/source/German_Empire) were proclaimed on 18 January 1871, the Prussians themselves held the first coronation of a Prussian king on the same day in 1701 in higher esteem. The signing of the final peace [Treaty of Frankfurt](/source/Treaty_of_Frankfurt_(1871)), several months later on 10 May 1871, was also not unequivocally welcomed. The southern states of [Kingdom of Bavaria](/source/Kingdom_of_Bavaria), the [Grand Duchy of Baden](/source/Grand_Duchy_of_Baden) and [Kingdom of Württemberg](/source/Kingdom_of_W%C3%BCrttemberg) preferred to celebrate the victories in battles to which their troops had contributed significantly, such as the [Battle of Wörth](/source/Battle_of_W%C3%B6rth), which had occurred already on 6 August 1870. While never proclaimed officially, and participation and official support for Sedantag celebrations varied over time, and working class leaders never really accepting it, Sedantag became a ''de facto'' national holiday, last celebrated in 1918. After the [Treaty of Versailles](/source/Treaty_of_Versailles) had been signed in mid 1919, on 27 August 1919 the Ministry of the Interior of the [Weimar Republic](/source/Weimar_Republic) declared that no further Sedantag celebrations should take place. == Literature == [[File:Prussian War Veteran Silver Medal Day of Sedan 1895.jpg|thumb|left|Silver [Medal](/source/Medal) Day of Sedan 1895 awarded to [Prussian](/source/Prussia) war veterans by the small town of [Brehna](/source/Brehna) near [Halle](/source/Halle_(Saale)), today in [Sachsen-Anhalt](/source/Sachsen-Anhalt)]] *Florentine Gebhart: ''Erinnerung an das Sedanfest in den 1870er Jahren''. In: ''Blätter aus dem Lebensbilderbuch''. Berlin 1930, S. 51–54 (Nachdruck in Jens Flemmin (Hrsg.): ''Quellen zur Alltagsgeschichte der Deutschen vom Mittelalter bis heute. Band 7. 1871–1914''. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1997, {{ISBN|3-534-11496-5}}, pp. 61–64; außerdem frei verfügbar als [https://web.archive.org/web/20070330031937/http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/pdf/deu/M_Sedanfest.pdf PDF]) * Thomas Rohkrämer: ''Der Militarismus der „kleinen Leute“. Die Kriegervereine im Deutschen Kaiserreich 1871–1914''. (= Beiträge zur Militärgeschichte; Bd. 29). Oldenbourg, München 1990, {{ISBN|3-486-55859-5}} (zugl. Dissertation, Universität Freiburg im Breisgau, 1989) * Fritz Schellack: ''Nationalfeiertage in Deutschland 1871 bis 1945''. Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main u. a. 1990, {{ISBN|3-631-42524-4}} (zugl. Dissertation, Universität Mainz 1989) * Jakob Vogel: ''Nationen im Gleichschritt''. (= Kritische Studien zur Geschichtswissenschaft; Bd. 118). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1997, {{ISBN|3-525-35781-8}} (zugl. Dissertation, FU Berlin, 1995) *Rüdiger Wulf: ''„Hurra, heut ist ein froher Tag, des Kaisers Wiegenfest!“ Schulfeiern zum Kaisergeburtstag und zum Sedantag des Kaiserreichs''. In: Jochen Löher und Rüdiger Wulf (Hrsg.): ''„Furchtbar dräute der Erbfeind!“ Vaterländische Erziehung in den Schulen des Kaiserreichs 1871–1918''. (= Schriftenreihe des Westfälischen Schulmuseums Dortmund; Band 3). Westfälisches Schulmuseum, Dortmund 1998, pp. 57–95 * Landeshauptarchiv Koblenz, Landesarchivverwaltung Rheinland-Pfalz: ''Vor 100 Jahren – Der Sedantag am 2. September 1899'' ([https://web.archive.org/web/20030630012410/http://www.landeshauptarchiv.de/blick/archiv.html?02.09.0 Archivseite]) == See also == *[German Unity Day](/source/German_Unity_Day) == External links == * [http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/riehl/ganzmann/ganzm305.htm Kapitel ''Sedanfeier''] in: [Wilhelm Heinrich Riehl](/source/Wilhelm_Heinrich_Riehl): [http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/riehl/ganzmann/ganzmann.htm ''Ein ganzer Mann''], Roman, 1897 * [http://www.bbf.dipf.de/cgi-shl/digibert.pl?id=BBF0531044 O. P.: ''Sedantag oder Nationalfest?'']{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, kritischer Artikel in der Wochenzeitschrift ''Ethische Kultur'', 1. September 1900 {{Authority control}} Category:Aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War Category:German Empire Category:Public holidays in Germany Category:Victory days Category:September observances Category:Former public holidays --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sedantag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedantag) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedantag?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.