Peaceful Revolution (Leipzig)

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Peaceful revolution in Leipzig: Participants in a silent march on November 9, 1989

The totality of the political events and structural changes in East Germany in 1989 and 1990 is referred to as the Peaceful Revolution in Germany. The city of Leipzig played an important role in this. The Peaceful Revolution was successful in the end and led to the fall of the Berlin Wall , the opening of the inner-German border , the democratization of the social system of the GDR and finally to the reunification of Germany.

Prayers for peace

The prayers for peace in Leipzig's Nikolaikirche took place on Mondays as a permanent institution from November 1982. They were initiated by Deacon Günter Johannsen and his young community (JG) Leipzig-Probstheida. Initially, participation in the peace prayers was very sobering for the initiators, but in the period that followed, the number of visitors, including those of the Stasi (MfS), steadily increased. Until Johannsen moved to Brandenburg (1984) and Pastors Christoph Wonneberger and Christian Führer took over the prayer for peace , the daily events were continued independently by Probstheida youths with the help of other young communities in Leipzig. The prayers for peace offered the possibility of exchange and remembrance in a more intimate atmosphere. Despite criticism from the church council of St. Nikolai on too much provocative and politicizing content, the prayers for peace could be maintained under the patronage of Superintendent Friedrich Magirius . At the end of 1988 the number of visitors began to increase further due to the increased social debate, and the prayers for peace gained considerable political relevance. Attempts by the state to regulate the course and design of the peace prayers led to the fact that more and more actions took place in front of the church. Many of the participants stayed in the Nikolaikirchhof after the prayer . This new public offered a basis for a lively exchange of information and reflection.

procedure

On January 11, 1989, members of subversive grassroots groups distributed around 5,000 leaflets calling for participation in a commemorative demonstration “for the democratic renewal of our society” on January 15, 1989, the 70th anniversary of the assassinations of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht - called for freedom of assembly and the press. Four members of the opposition were arrested the same day. Employees of the Ministry for State Security (MfS) removed a large part of the leaflets from the mailboxes. Around 500 people from Leipzig took part in the demonstration. After the rally was broken up, 53 people were arrested, but after further protests, prayers of prayer and foreign policy pressure from the Foreign Ministers of the Federal Republic and the USA , they had to be released by January 19 under the contractual provisions of the Helsinki Final Act ("Basket III") become.

On March 13th, during the Leipzig Spring Fair in the presence of many Western journalists, around 300 citizens, including many applicants for emigration, demonstrated in front of the Nikolaikirche. The demonstration after the peace prayer was broken up by security forces and "Social Forces" organized by the SED when it was already moving from the market towards St. Thomas's Church. As part of the “Auslese” campaign, the GDR leadership then approved around 2,000 requests to leave the country until May 7, in order to ease the social pressure. During the local elections on May 7th, members of the opposition succeeded in controlling the vote counts in the Leipzig-Mitte district. The turnout was around 7% and the number of yes votes cast around 5% lower than officially announced. This was the first time that electoral fraud could be demonstrated to the GDR leadership. Shortly before the election, leaflets were distributed calling for people to refuse to vote, signed by a non-existent initiative for the democratic renewal of society . The text invited an "alternative referendum" to take place on the market square, whereby the ballot papers of the non-voters were to be collected in an urn. In addition, there was an invitation to a demonstration in front of the Monument to the Battle of the Nations . There were over 100 arrests followed by interrogation by the State Security.

On June 4th, on the occasion of World Environment Day, the event "A hope learns to walk - Pleißepilgerweg 1989" was to take place along the piped Pleiße . Although the initially approved action was banned, around 1,400 people attended the services. 74 participants were arrested. The street music festival planned for June 10, but not approved, ended around noon in a wave of arrests by the People's Police . The arrests of the musicians, who were brutally "loaded" onto trucks along with their instruments, sparked violent protests among the passers-by.

For the church convention from July 6th to 9th, political problems were not discussed by the organizers. In the Lukaskirche , however, grassroots groups organized a “Statt-Kirchentag” in which 2500 people took part. Oppositionists from all over the GDR took part. After the closing service on the racetrack, a demonstration against electoral fraud and against the state terror in China, which the GDR government had welcomed, formed. On the way to the city center, MfS employees snatched banners from the demonstrators and fled onto the tram.

During a demonstration at the Leipzig Autumn Fair on September 4, MfS employees tore down banners with the words “ For an open country with free people ” that Katrin Hattenhauer and Gesine Oltmanns wore in front of the cameras of Western journalists . The demonstrators responded by shouting “Stasi out”. For the first time, the call "We stay here" was heard after the atmosphere of the demonstrations had been dominated by those willing to leave the country. From that point on, both camps protested together for change.

On September 11th, the People's Police cordoned off the Nikolaikirchhof after over 1000 people had participated in the peace prayer. 89 people were arrested - among them Katrin Hattenhauer - and fines of up to 5000 marks were imposed. On September 18, police chains were posted around the almost overcrowded church, and arrests were made again. On September 25th, Christoph Wonneberger preached during the peace prayer in the Nikolaikirche and proclaimed: “Anyone who arbitrarily deprives others of freedom will soon no longer have any escape routes.” 5,000 people took part in the Monday demonstration that followed and demanded, among other things, that the New Forum be allowed . Since the road to the market was cordoned off by the police, the demonstration moved in the direction of Karl-Marx-Platz and then crossed the ring to the “ Round Corner ”, the seat of the district administration of the MfS.

At the end of September the SED initiated letters to the editor against the prayers for peace under the title “We want to continue to live in peace and security” in the Leipziger Volkszeitung (LVZ), but did not detract from the influx of prayers and demonstrations. On October 2, 20,000 people demonstrated. During the march around the ring to the Thomaskirche a police chain was broken. The police then attacked the demonstrators with dogs, helmets, batons and shields, which in turn resulted in many arrests.

On October 6th, a letter to the editor from a Leipzig commander of the combat groups commissioned by the SED was published, which among other things said:

"The members of the combat group hundred (...) condemn what unscrupulous elements have been doing in the city of Leipzig for some time. (...) We are against this church event being misused to carry out subversive provocations against the GDR. (...) We are ready and willing to effectively protect what we have created with our hands in order to finally and effectively prevent these counter-revolutionary actions. If need be, with the gun in hand! "

These massive attempts at intimidation on the part of the state and the internal call for radical measures made the situation increasingly explosive. On October 7, 1989, the 40th anniversary of the GDR, 4,000 people demonstrated in Leipzig and 210 were arrested.

On October 9th, 8,000 police officers, combat group members and NVA soldiers were ready. Blood reserves in the hospitals had been increased, and medical personnel were forced to work late and night shifts. The Nikolaikirche was already occupied by around 600 SED employees at around 2 p.m. Train connections to Leipzig were difficult. Despite the impending danger of a “Chinese solution” based on the massacre on “Tiananmen Square” , 70,000 citizens came together after the peace prayers. From noon onwards, the “appeal” for non-violence by three subversive Leipzig groups - the Human Rights Working Group , the Justice Working Group and the Environmental Protection Working Group - was distributed as an illegally printed leaflet and read out in the inner city churches in the afternoon. Shortly before the end of the peace prayer in the Nikolaikirche, before the blessing of the bishop, an "appeal" was read out to the three SED district secretaries and a university theologian who served the MfS with two prominent artists, the cabaret artist Bernd-Lutz Lange and the Gewandhaus music director Kurt Masur had written. This text was later called "Call of the Leipzig Six". It was broadcast as follows on Leipziger Stadtfunk from 6 p.m. onwards:

“Citizens! Professor Kurt Masur, Pastor Dr. Zimmermann, the cabaret artist Bernd-Lutz Lange and the secretaries of the SED district leadership Dr. Kurt Meyer, Jochen Pommert and Dr. Roland Wötzel address all of Leipzig residents with the following appeal: Our common concern and responsibility have brought us together today. We are affected by developments in our city and are looking for a solution. We all need a free exchange of views on the continuation of socialism in our country. That is why they promise all citizens today that they will use all their strength and authority to ensure that this dialogue is not only conducted in the Leipzig district, but also with our government. We urge you to be prudent so that peaceful dialogue becomes possible. "

- Kurt Masur spoke.

In fact, the following demonstration with over 70,000 participants (some sources speak of up to 100,000) took place for the first time without any use of force. The march led from the Nikolaikirche towards the opera , then onto the ring. When people passed the main train station , the security forces withdrew. The state did not expect such a number of people. After unanswered phone calls to Berlin, the acting 1st Secretary of the Leipzig SED district leadership Hackenberg and Police President Major General Strassenburg decided to withdraw. The reasons and the exact course of events have not yet been fully clarified. Candles were placed on the stairs of the "Round Corner". At around 8 p.m. the demonstration ended and the power of the SED state was broken.

October 9th is seen as the turning point of the peaceful revolution in the GDR in 1989. The powerful of the SED went from open ignorance and confrontation to an increasing willingness to talk. It was only with the peaceful demonstration on October 9th that further measures were possible that contributed to a successful turnaround in the GDR , the fall of the Wall on November 9th and the reunification of Germany in 1990.

After October 9, the number of demonstrators rose again significantly: on October 16 there were 120,000 people, on October 23, 200,000 demonstrated for reforms and the approval of the New Forum, and on October 30 there were 300,000. A week later, on November 6th, the largest Monday demonstration took place in Leipzig. Various estimates run between 300,000 and 400,000 demonstrators from all over the GDR. On November 9th, a silent march took place in memory of the November pogroms of 1938 . It was the first approved non-governmental demonstration in Leipzig.

After the fall of the wall, the number of demonstrators decreased. On November 13, 150,000 demonstrated against the SED and the state security.

consequences

Information about the arrests spread at the beginning of September 1989 via contact telephones of the opposition groups. During intercession services and vigils , e. B. at the Gethsemane Church in East Berlin , the release of the prisoners was requested. After October 9, 1989, regular demonstrations began in many other larger and smaller cities in the GDR. The revolution contributed directly to the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification.

Historical memory, monuments and memories

In 2008, the German Bundestag decided to erect a freedom and unity memorial in Berlin, while the Saxon members of the Bundestag called for a "turning point" in Leipzig. The application narrowly failed, but the idea was not abandoned. In the months of September / October 2008, the turnaround monument received more attention when Vice Chancellor Frank-Walter Steinmeier campaigned for a federal monument in Leipzig.

At the same time as the deliberations in the Bundestag, a memorial on behalf of the state was discussed within the Saxon state parliament. The then Prime Minister Georg Milbradt was undecided at first, but later voted for a memorial. Also in Leipzig there was controversial talk about a memorial. The American artist Miley Tucker-Frost offered to create a memorial that was only to be created by sponsors from the USA.

One focus of the Leipzig Book Fair in 2009 was the political upheaval in the GDR and Eastern Europe in the 1980s and 1990s. From October 3, 2009 the special exhibition "Leipzig on the way to a peaceful revolution" will be shown in the museum in the "Runden Ecke" (former Stasi headquarters in Leipzig), organized by the Museum Memorial in the "Runden Ecke" , the archive of the citizens' movement Leipzig e. V. and the city of Leipzig.

Also in 2009, under the motto “Jubilee Freedom and Unity”, the proclamation of the Basic Law 60 years ago and the beginning of the Peaceful Revolution 20 years ago were commemorated throughout Germany . In 2009, the Leipzig Festival of Lights was the first to commemorate the Monday demonstrations.

In 2011 the German Bundestag, the Saxon State Parliament and the Leipzig City Council decided to build a unity and freedom monument in Leipzig. A possible location should be Wilhelm-Leuschner-Platz, which should be completed with the monument by 2014, the 25th anniversary of the revolution. The square received the most approval due to its good location, the connection through the city tunnel to local and long-distance traffic and the good design options.

literature

  • Thomas Rudolph , Oliver Kloss , Rainer Müller , Christoph Wonneberger (ed. On behalf of the IFM-Archivs eV ): Way in the uprising. Chronicle on opposition and resistance in the GDR from August 1987 to December 1989. Vol. 1, Leipzig, Araki, 2014, ISBN 978-3-941848-17-7 , preface as reading sample for download.
  • New Forum Leipzig: Now or Never - Democracy! Leipzig autumn '89. Certificates, interviews, documents. 2nd Edition. Forum Verlag, Leipzig 1989, ISBN 3-86151-001-4 .
  • Leipzig dismantling book. Demo - Monday - Diary - Disassembly . Compiled and with a chronicle by Wolfgang Schneider. 3. Edition. Gustav Kiepenheuer Verlag, Leipzig / Weimar 1991, ISBN 3-378-00420-7 .
  • Silvia Kabus , Reinhard Bernhof : Environment sheets . Reprint of an illegal small magazine, published in Samizdat 1988/89, Leipzig 2009, ISBN 978-3-86660-082-9 .
  • Reinhard Bernhof , Silke Brohm: In the shadow of the colossal figures . Basic documents on the Peaceful Revolution 1989 in Leipzig. Leipzig 2009, ISBN 978-3-86660-081-2 .
  • Hermann Geyer: Nikolaikirche, Mondays at five: the political services of the time of the fall in Leipzig. Habilitation thesis . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2007, ISBN 978-3-534-18482-8 .
  • Christian Dietrich: Case study Leipzig 1987–1989. The politically alternative groups in Leipzig before the revolution. In: Materials of the Enquete Commission "Working up the history and consequences of the SED dictatorship in Germany" (12th electoral period of the German Bundestag), Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft 1995, Volume VII / 1, ISBN 3-7890-4006-1 , p. 558 -666.
  • Reinhard Bernhof : The Leipzig protocols. projekte verlag, Halle 2004.
  • Ekkehard Kuhn: “We are the people!” The peaceful revolution in Leipzig, October 9, 1989 . Ullstein, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-548-33245-5 .
  • Uwe Schwabe: The development of the Leipzig opposition in the eighties using the example of prayers for peace. In: Günther Heydemann, Gunther Mai, Werner Müller (eds.): Revolution and transformation in the GDR 1989/90 (= series of publications by the Society for Germany Research. Volume 73). Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-10003-4 , pp. 159-172.
  • Karsten Timmer: From departure to change. The citizens' movement in the GDR 1989 (= critical studies on historical science . Volume 142). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2000, ISBN 3-525-35925-X .
  • The Saxon State Commissioner for the Documents of the State Security Service of the former GDR (ed.): Aufbruch 89. The peaceful revolution in Saxony (revised new edition of the exhibition catalog 10 years of peaceful revolution - a way of remembrance ). Dresden 2004.
  • Eckhard Jesse (ed.): Peaceful revolution and German unity. Saxon civil rights activists take stock . Christoph Links Verlag, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-86153-379-0 .
  • Martin Jankowski: The day that changed Germany. October 9, 1989 . Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2007, ISBN 978-3-374-02506-0 .
  • Roland Mey: The order to shoot on October 9, 1989. Online shop offer. Table of contents. . Osiris-Online-Verlag, 2011.
  • Joachim Jauer: Identifier D. Peaceful detours to German unity. Camino, Stuttgart 2015, ISBN 978-3-460-50001-3 , [1]
  • Peter Wensierski : The uncanny ease of the revolution. How a group of young people from Leipzig dared to rebel in the GDR . Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt , Munich 2017, ISBN 978-3-421-04751-9 .
  • Bernd-Lutz Lange , Sascha Lange: David versus Goliath - memories of the Peaceful Revolution . Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-351-03787-1 (221 pages).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heinrich August Winkler gives a brief outline of this development: 1989/90: The unexpected unit. In: Carola Stern, Heinrich August Winkler (ed.): Turning points in German history 1848–1990. 3. Edition. Fischer Tb. Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2005, ISBN 3-596-15393-X , pp. 193-226.
  2. ↑ archiv-buergerbewegung.de
  3. ^ Dona Nobis Pacem. 2nd Edition. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Berlin 1996, p. 7/8.
  4. ↑ See IFM-Archiv Sachsen e. V .: Leipzig human rights groups 1989 (sheet 1/1999): January 15, 1989 - The protest moves to the provinces . Leipzig, 2. u. corr. Edition 1999.
  5. Jump up ↑ Hans Michael Kloth: From “folding paper” to free voting. Berlin 2000, p. 247; Christian Dietrich: Case study Leipzig 1987–1989. The politically alternative groups in Leipzig before the revolution. In: Materials of the Enquete Commission “Working through the history and consequences of the SED dictatorship in Germany” (12th electoral period of the German Bundestag), Baden-Baden 1995, Volume VII / 1, pp. 640f .; IFM Archive Saxony V .: Leipzig human rights groups 1989 (sheet 3/1999): May 7, 1989 - The protests are mounting. Leipzig, 1999.
  6. ↑ An urgent call for prudence by Pastor Christian Führer in his greeting to the peace prayer on September 18, 1989 in the Church of St. Nikolai is printed in: Ekkehard Kuhn: We are the people! ISBN 3-548-33245-5 , pp. 35f.
  7. ↑ Gerold Hildebrand: "For an open country with free people". A woman from Leipzig on liberation and freedom. In: Gerbergasse 18, 13th year, No. 48 (1/2008), pp. 29-31. in the network  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.geschichtswerkstatt-jena.de  
  8. ^ Leipzig - fight for the street. Peace prayers and demonstrations. In: Ehrhart Neubert: Our Revolution. The history of the years 1989/90. Piper Verlag, Munich / Zurich 2008, ISBN 978-3-492-05155-2 , pp. 100-110.
  9. ^ In the Leipziger Volkszeitung. at that time organ of the district leadership of the SED, on October 6, 1989, p. 2, quoted here. according to Neues Forum Leipzig: Now or never. P. 63.
  10. ↑ R. Mey 2011 on the threat to machine gunmen who refused to give the order to fire with the military prosecutor on the afternoon of October 9th.
  11. ↑ Karsten Timmer: From departure to change. The citizens' movement in the GDR 1989. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2000, ISBN 3-525-35925-X , pp. 175-189 (Section IV.1 .: The critical moment: Leipzig, October 9 )
  12. ^ Appeal of the organized resistance to nonviolence on October 9, 1989
  13. ^ October 9th, 89th City of Leipzig, accessed on September 11th, 2015 (with audio version of the call).
  14. ↑ Quoted from Neues Forum Leipzig: Now or never. P. 82f.
  15. ↑ See IFM archives: Leipziger Menschenrechtegruppen 1989 (sheet 9/1999): October 9, 1989 - day of the decision . Leipzig, 1999.
  16. ^ Stefan wool: omnipotence and powerlessness in the dictatorship. The SED system on the way to collapse. In: Hans-Hermann Hertle , Stefan Wolle : Back then in the GDR. Everyday life in the workers 'and peasants' state. 2nd Edition. Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-442-15383-2 , pp. 299-390.
  17. ↑ Bernd Hahlweg: Appeal of conscience . Report of the GDR monthly magazine Das Magazin , January 1990 issue (editorial deadline: November 23, 1989), pages 26–32 - Note: Probably one of the first such detailed and GDR-wide articles about the Monday demonstrations in Leipzig at the end of October 1989.
  18. ↑ Memorial Museum in the “Round Corner” : November 9, 1989 - silent march to commemorate the pogrom night
  19. ↑ Vigil at the Gethsemane Church Didactic materials, photos, videos, documents and eyewitness interviews on jugendopposition.de ( Federal Agency for Civic Education / Robert Havemann Society eV)
  20. ↑ Steinmeier: Leipzig should also receive an official Wende monument of the Federal Republic. The Monday demo of October 9, 1989 was "a wonderful day in the history of German democracy".  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Leipziger Volkszeitung. October 8, 2008.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.presseportal.de  
  21. ^ GDR history: a difficult present for Leipzig. In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung. May 2, 2008.
  22. ↑ The anniversary year should cover the period up to October 3, 2010, the 20th anniversary of the realization of German unity; s. Federal government website