Fairy lights (demonstration)

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Preparing a string of lights

The light chain (also human light chain ) is a form of expression of the peaceful demonstration. A large number of participants stand next to each other in a row and hold a lit candle or other light source in their hand.

origin

In the run-up to German reunification , thousands of citizens across the GDR formed chains of lights along the country roads on Sunday, December 3, 1989 under the motto “A light for our country” ... “The feeling of togetherness and common goals is still awake".

In Munich four citizens, Gil Bachrach Giovanni di Lorenzo , Christoph Fisser and Chris Häberlein , with several hundred helpers organized the first chain of lights on December 6, 1992 with 400,000 participants. This led to further fairy-light demonstrations in several major German cities, in which a total of almost a million demonstrators are said to have participated (400,000 in Munich, 250,000 in Hamburg, 300,000 in Essen, 100,000 in Nuremberg). The occasion was xenophobic riots in reunified Germany and the protest against the murder attempt in Mölln , during which an arson attack was carried out on two houses inhabited by Turkish families in the small town of Mölln in Schleswig-Holstein on the night of November 23, 1992 . The right-wing extremist crime attracted nationwide attention. The initiators received a special Bambi at the Bambi Awards in 1992 . As a result, fairy lights established themselves as a term and a phenomenon recognized worldwide.

Further actions

The light chain has now developed into a common form of demonstration .

Fairy lights in Vienna
  • There were then similar actions in Austria as the sea ​​of ​​lights in January 1993, a demonstration against xenophobia and intolerance, in particular against a project initiated by the FPÖ and referred to as an “anti-foreigner” referendum . Initially, the initiative for these actions did not come from parties or other political organizations, but from private individuals. The central event with up to 300,000 participants - the largest demonstration in Austria to date - took place in Vienna , with further demonstrations in Graz , Linz , Innsbruck and Salzburg .
  • There were big fairy lights campaigns on the occasion of the impending Iraq war in 2003.
The new town hall in Hanover in the colors of France's tricolor as the background of the fairy lights
  • On February 5, 2015, more than 3,000 people in Nordhorn set a sign of tolerance and mutual acceptance .
  • In order to set an example for tolerance, compassion and solidarity with the victims of the terrorist attacks on November 13, 2015 in Paris , the Friends of Hanover, in cooperation with the state capital Hanover, called for the formation of a chain of lights on November 17, 2015. For this jointly organized event, the city's new town hall was first illuminated in the colors of the tricolor .
  • Church representatives, entrepreneurs, teachers and students, former residents, politicians from the SPD, Greens, Left Party, pirates and CDU, including Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière, demand a "peaceful and humane coexistence" and on December 10, 2015, the " Day of Human Rights , through a chain of lights in Meissen .
  • On October 17, 2015, thousands of Berliners took to the streets with candles. Refugees also came to the lights. The reason for the chain of lights was the crumbling acceptance of refugees in the population. It was under the motto "Refugees welcome - overcome the causes of flight - set lights".
  • At the beginning of January 2016, fairy lights against the legal alliance took place in Leipzig .
  • As a demonstration for the construction of the new documentation center of the Isenschnibbe Gardelegen Memorial Site , several hundred people with candles gathered on the construction site for the planned building in Gardelegen on January 27, 2017 and recreated its floor plan. After this peaceful meeting of civil society, the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt approved the budget for the implementation of the construction project that was previously in question.
  • The city of Neuenstein in Hohenlohe put a sign against xenophobia on January 26, 2019 with a human light chain at the Kulturbahnhof. The reason was the arson attack on January 20, 2019 on the refugee accommodation planned there .
  • A chain of lights against against racism, right-wing extremism and violence took place on March 8, 2017 in Berlin.
  • Under the motto “Our ministries do not fall into the hands of right-wing extremists”, SOS Mitmensch organized a chain of lights on November 16, 2017 with 3,000 to 10,000 participants at the inner-city Ballhausplatz in Vienna.
  • Several hundred people took part in an action by the Merten parish committee on November 17, 2019 in Merten-Bornheim and formed a chain of lights as a symbol against xenophobia.
  • A human light chain took place on December 15, 2018 under the motto “For tolerance and solidarity! Against Racism, Xenophobia and Anti-Semitism ” took place in Harburg .
  • In a commemorative event for the victims of the rampage in Winnenden and Wendlingen on the ten-year anniversary, a chain of lights was held in Winnenden on March 11, 2019 .

execution

Fairy lights are usually carried out in silence, with no particular political statements, which are replaced by light as a symbol of a comprehensive message of peace. Related are light actions of a different kind, in which citizens place a lighted candle or lamp in the window at an agreed time, for example. In some cases, fairy lights are connected with parades.

Support of projects and actions

The first light chain campaign in Munich in 1992 was followed by the establishment of the non-profit association Lichterkette eV, which has since supported projects and campaigns that promote encounters, intercultural exchange and peaceful coexistence between people of different origins in Munich in the interests of international understanding. There are ongoing events and campaigns for this purpose. One of the projects is Youthnet, an intercultural and interreligious network for Munich. There young people with Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Yazidi and other backgrounds meet.

See also

Web links

Wiktionary: Lichterkette  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wiktionary: Human light chain  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Birge-Dorothea Pelz: Revolution on the pulpit: Political content and theological interpretation of history in Protestant sermons during German unification in 1989/90 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, November 12, 2018, ISBN 978-3-647-55793-9 , p. 53.
  2. ↑ Figures based on George Katsiaficas: The Subversion of Politics: European Autonomous Social Movements and the Decolonization of Everyday Life , AK-Press, Oakland [u. a.] 2006, p. 161
  3. ^ Rüdiger Klausmann, The Dutch Reconciliation . Bambi.de. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  4. ↑ 400,000 candles against right-wing violence , Süddeutsche Zeitung, December 6, 2012, accessed on April 7, 2019.
  5. ↑ 20 years "Sea of ​​Lights" for more humanity , Catholic Church in Austria , January 21, 2013. Accessed April 7, 2019.
  6. ↑ 3000 people at Lichterkette against Xenophobia , Grafschafter Nachrichten, February 5, 2015. Accessed April 8, 2019.
  7. ↑ Light chain in Meißen - Nazis want to capture demo for cosmopolitanism , Der Tagesspiegel, December 2, 2015. Accessed April 7, 2019.
  8. ^ Refugees in Berlin - No chain - but lots of lights , Tagesspiegel, October 17, 2015. Accessed April 8, 2019.
  9. ↑ Legida anniversary - fairy lights against right-wing alliance in Leipzig , Deutschlandfunk, January 12, 2016. Accessed April 7, 2019.
  10. ↑ Marc Rath: Setting an example with candles. In: Volksstimme. January 16, 2016, accessed December 26, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Stefan Schmidt: "This is the breakthrough". In: Altmark newspaper. February 1, 2016, accessed December 26, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Signs against xenophobia. In: Swabian Post. January 25, 2017. Retrieved April 9, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Against racism, right-wing extremism and violence: People-Lights-Chain for Peace on March 8, 2017 at 7:05 p.m. in Berlin , AVAAZ. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  14. ↑ Thousands at Lichterkette in Vienna's government district , mein district.at, November 16, 2017. Accessed April 8, 2019.
  15. ↑ Hundreds of Bornheim residents form a chain of lights against the right , Generalanzeiger, November 19, 2019. Accessed April 8, 2019.
  16. ↑ For tolerance and solidarity! Against racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism , SPD. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  17. ↑ Welzheimer Zeitung , March 11, 2019. Accessed April 8, 2019.
  18. ^ Heinz Kleger: Tolerance and " tolerant Brandenburg " . LIT-Verlag, Münster / Hamburg / London 2006 (= Region - Nation - Europe, 34), p. 30ff. ("Fairy lights movement")
  19. ↑ chain of lights . Retrieved April 7, 2019.
  20. ^ The city lights on , Süddeutsche Zeitung, December 6, 2017. Accessed April 8, 2019.
  21. ↑ Youthnet . Retrieved April 7, 2019.
  22. ↑ Youthnet , HaGalil. Retrieved April 8, 2019.