Leipzig Festival of Lights

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Monday demonstration in Leipzig in October 1989 on Augustusplatz, which was then called Karl-Marx-Platz

The Leipzig Festival of Lights is an event in Leipzig that has existed since 2009 and commemorates the Monday demonstration on October 9, 1989. The venue is Augustusplatz or the inner city ring (2009, 2014, 2019).

Since then, the festival has been organized annually by Leipzig Tourismus und Marketing (LTM) GmbH, the City of Leipzig and the Autumn '89 initiative. Since 2019, the advisory board “Kuratorium Day of the Peaceful Revolution 1989” has been responsible for setting the topics and the accompanying program.

The art and citizens' project has received several national and international awards and is designed by changing artists every year. In addition, the Leipzig Festival of Lights is characterized by a strong national exchange, particularly through the various city partnerships in Leipzig.

150,000 people took part in the 2009 event on the occasion of 20 Years of the Peaceful Revolution. On October 9, 2014, on the 25th anniversary of the Peaceful Revolution, around 200,000 people remembered the historical events in autumn 1989. On the 30th anniversary of 2019, only 75,000 people moved around the Leipzig inner city ring in memory of the Peaceful Revolution.

Festival of Lights 2009

The first Festival of Lights in 2009 was titled “Leipzig Departure - 20 Years of Peaceful Revolution and European Unity”. The starting point was Augustusplatz. There the festival of lights was officially opened by Hans-Dietrich Genscher , Kurt Masur , Leipzig's Lord Mayor Burkhard Jung and civil rights activists Katrin Hattenhauer and Jochen Läßig. From more than 20,000 candles, the visitors formed the symbolic lettering “Leipzig 89”.

20 years after the Peaceful Revolution, 150,000 people from Leipzig and guests took the historic demonstration route again between Augustusplatz and the museum in the “Round Corner”. There were more than 20 artistic installations on it that inspired memories.

The historical year is displayed on the city ​​high-rise , here at the 2013 Festival of Lights

Festival of Lights 2010

The celebrations began with a sound carpet by Marek Brandt and Sven Ihlenfeld, while black and white pictures from the 2009 Festival of Lights were shown on the screens. In addition, the musician Rolf Stahlofen played the song “Zeit was zuchange” with his band. The audience formed a glowing “89” from 10,000 candles.

The highlight of the Festival of Lights 2010 was a synchronously transmitted and played organ concert, which was supposed to span an arc between Leipzig and Berlin. In the process, Nikolaikantor Jürgen Wolf in Leipzig and Domenico Tagliente improvised together in the dome of the Berlin Reichstag on subjects by Johann Sebastian Bach . A laser show was staged to accompany the live broadcast of the organ concert on Augustusplatz. This projected the word "we" in different languages ​​onto the neighboring houses. 40,000 people attended the event.

Festival of Lights 2011

The motto of the 2011 Festival of Lights was "Building a bridge from Leipzig to Gdansk : Leipzig Festival of Lights commemorates autumn '89 in Germany and Poland". A special concert was held in the Polish Baltic Sea Philharmonic in Gdansk on October 9th to mark the anniversary of the Peaceful Revolution. The orchestra played works by Polish and German composers under the direction of Jürgen Wolf. At the same time, the Festival of Lights took place in Leipzig on Augustusplatz. There, the participants experienced a video performance as a large projection on the facade of the Leipzig Opera House . The artistic director of the Festival of Lights, Jürgen Meier, combined historical references from Gdansk and Leipzig with current perspectives and embedded them in live broadcasts from the concert from Gdansk. 25,000 people took part.

Dancing the idea of ​​freedom: the Leipzig Ballet impressed at the 2012 Festival of Lights .

Festival of Lights 2012

In 2012, the Leipzig Festival of Lights remembered the fall of 1989 and Hungary's contribution to the opening of the Iron Curtain under the heading “Overcoming Borders” . The occasion for the main topic was the 20th anniversary of the signing of the German-Hungarian friendship treaty. On Augustusplatz, the participants experienced an overall artistic performance consisting of a video projection on the facade of the opera, a choreography by the Leipzig ballet and a musical staging. The greetings for the event were given by the Mayor of Leipzig, Burkhard Jung, and Zoltán Balog , Minister for Human Resources of the Republic of Hungary. The 30,000 festival visitors created a glowing “89” with candles.

Festival of Lights 2013

24 years after October 9, 1989 in Leipzig, around 30,000 participants at the Leipzig Festival of Lights remembered autumn '89. With “How are you? About Prague! ”They experienced an artistic examination of the events in the Czech Republic and Slovakia (until 1989, ČSSR), including the Prague Spring in 1968 and the embassy occupation by GDR refugees in Prague in 1989 as part of the Leipzig Festival of Lights also Joachim Gauck , Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Festival of Lights. The greetings were given by the Mayor of Leipzig, Burkhard Jung, and the Slovak actor Róbert Roth.

Festival of Lights 2014

“Decision day”: On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Peaceful Revolution, around 150,000 Leipzig citizens, guests and political representatives from all over the world came to Augustusplatz and the inner city ring. As part of the Leipzig Festival of Lights, they experienced greetings from Leipzig's Lord Mayor Burkhard Jung, the Saxon Prime Minister Stanislaw Tillich and u. a. by Federal President Joachim Gauck and the Presidents of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. After the official opening, art projects started at more than 20 stations along the 3.6 kilometer long inner city ring.

Festival of Lights 2015

The Leipzig Festival of Lights 2015 focused on aspects of civil society. "Freedom - equality - brotherhood?" Is the motto - 25,000 people from Leipzig, guests and high-ranking representatives remembered autumn '89 on Augustusplatz Leipzig. A multimedia production with texts, photos, videos and music made historical and current references. In the evening z. B. the actor Florian Lukas (including " Weissensee "; " Grand Budapest Hotel "), the journalist and TV presenter Pinar Atalay and the choir of the Leipzig Opera under the direction of Alessandro Zuppardo .

Festival of Lights 2016

More than 15,000 visitors took part in the Leipzig Festival of Lights 2016 and remembered the peaceful protests 27 years ago. Under the motto “Courage - Values ​​- Change”, the participants experienced a multifaceted artistic staging that combined historical and current text and photo material, videos, dance and music into an emotional performance. In a permanent exchange, actor Sylvester Groth and the Leipzig Ballet brought civil society aspects of the Peaceful Revolution into the current political context. The Leipzig Festival of Lights was opened by Leipzig's Lord Mayor Burkhard Jung , the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz , and the Federal Government Commissioner for the new federal states, Iris Gleicke .

Festival of Lights 2017

Under the motto “New beginnings - Responsibility - Openness”, the 2017 Festival of Lights focused on the topics of freedom of expression and freedom of the press. These central demands of the Peaceful Revolution '89 shaped the design of the evening by the artistic director Jürgen Meier. Presenter Claudius Nießen was on stage in conversation with contemporary witnesses, journalists and filmmakers who dealt with the main topic. Historical and current photographs as well as video recordings supplemented the discussions and made references to past and current events. The program was musically accompanied by the Stephan König Jazz Quartet with five compositions specially created for the occasion. More than 15,000 citizens took part in the event on Augustusplatz.

Festival of Lights 2018

The Leipzig Festival of Lights 2018 under the motto “I. the. wir. ”was announced by Leipzig's Lord Mayor Burkhard Jung , former Federal Minister of Justice. D. Herta Däubler-Gmelin , Michael Kretschmer , the Prime Minister of the Free State of Saxony, the GDR civil rights activist Gesine Oltmanns, the spokesman for the initiative “Day of the Peaceful Revolution - Leipzig October 9, 1989” Michael Kölsch and Volker Bremer, the managing director of LTM GmbH opened.

The aspect of participation as one of the central demands of the Peaceful Revolution was taken up and particularly focused on the participation of women in society. This was also reflected in the evening's program, which was designed exclusively by women. The compositions performed by the 24 musicians of the Free Orchestra Leipzig under the direction of the conductor Eva Meitner were also almost exclusively by women. Accompanied by video recordings and 5 actresses who recited statements from contemporary witnesses from the civil rights movement, a scenic work of art was created from words, images and music. Once again, over 15,000 participants took the opportunity to remember the Peaceful Revolution of 1989 with burning candles.

Festival of Lights 2019

The concept for the 30th anniversary of the Peaceful Revolution, which was developed by LTM GmbH in collaboration with the Viennese artist Victoria Coeln and civil rights activist Gesine Oltmanns, pursues a light-based, participatory approach. Over a period of 5 weeks, starting September 4, 2019 in the Nikolaikirche , light spaces were created along the inner city ring on the following Mondays (9.9., 16.9., 23.9., 30.9., 7.10.). The total of 6 light rooms each had a motto that reflected the concise demands and slogans from 1989.

As a highlight, the entire inner city ring, the historic demonstration route from 1989, turned into a light ring on October 9th. In addition, the traditional “Candle 89” was once again lit up by the visitors on Augustusplatz, supplemented by the “LEIPZIG” logo. The preliminary work for the light ring and the light rooms was carried out between May and August 2019 as part of a light studio in the Museum of Fine Arts . The preparatory work in the light studio enabled the direct participation of the citizens, who can themselves become part of the large-scale projections for the light festival.

Awards

2008 International German PR Prize - Special Jury Prize

2010 EVA Award Bronze in the “Cultural Events” category for outstanding measures in live communication

2010 EUROCITIES Award - Participation and Identity Building of the City category

2011 Lebendige Stadt Foundation - recognition of the Foundation as part of the 2011 Stifterpreis "Unmistakable City"

2015 European Festival of Tourism Promotion in Rueil-Malmaison - 1st prize in the event strategy category

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Leipzig. The city with no limits .: Festival of Lights 2011. Accessed on March 29, 2019 .
  2. ^ Kuratorium Day of the Peaceful Revolution 1989 constitutes itself. Retrieved March 29, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Leipziger Lichtfest nominated for event award  ( 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 online from October 20, 2010@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / nachrichten.lvz-online.de  
  4. ↑ Leipzig Festival of Lights 2014. Retrieved on March 29, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Leipziger Ring becomes a light ring - minutes of silence for victims in Halle. Retrieved October 10, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Leipzig Festival of Lights 2009 - LTM , leipziger-freiheit.de accessed on November 25, 2011
  7. ↑ 40,000 visitors commemorate the Peaceful Revolution of 1989 at the Leipzig Festival of Lights 2010 ( Memento of the original from October 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , In: Leipziger Volkszeitung online from October 9, 2010 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / nachrichten.lvz-online.de
  8. ↑ Leipzig Festival of Lights 2011 - LTM ( Memento of the original from November 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , leipziger- Freiheit.de accessed on November 25, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.leipziger-freiheit.de
  9. ↑ Lichtfest 2012: Leipzig celebrates in memory of the Peaceful Revolution ( Memento of the original from September 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , In: Leipziger Volkszeitung online from October 9, 2012 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / lichtfest.lvz-online.de
  10. ↑ Festival of Lights 2013 "How are you? About Prague!"  ( 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. , leipzig.de, accessed on August 6, 2015@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.leipzig.de  
  11. ↑ That was October 9, 2014 in Leipzig , mdr.de accessed on August 6, 2015
  12. ↑ Lichtfest Leipzig 2015 ,jahr-des-lichts.de accessed on August 6, 2015
  13. ↑ Leipzig Festival of Lights: 25,000 remember October 9, 1989 under the motto "Freedom - Equality - Fraternity?" , Port01.com accessed on October 12, 2015
  14. ↑ Leipzig Festival of Lights: More than 15,000 visitors remember October 9, 1989. Leipzig Tourismus und Marketing GmbH, October 9, 2017, accessed on October 10, 2017 (the 2017 event).
  15. ↑ Festival of Lights 2018 sets a strong signal for participation - Festival of Lights. Retrieved April 1, 2019 .
  16. ↑ Leipzig Festival of Lights 2018. Retrieved on April 1, 2019 .
  17. ↑ Autumn '89 - Departure to Democracy: September 1989. Accessed April 1, 2019 .
  18. ↑ Leipzig Festival of Lights 2019 - Light Studio. Retrieved October 10, 2019 .
  19. ^ Festival of Lights Leipzig: The program - Festival of Lights. Retrieved April 1, 2019 .
  20. ^ German PR Prize 2008 for student project , University of Leipzig from September 22, 2008
  21. ↑ The winners of the Adam & Eva Awards 2010 , eveosblog from November 5, 2010
  22. ↑ Leipzig Festival of Lights honored with "Eurocities Award" , In: Leipziger Volkszeitung online from November 4, 2010
  23. ↑ The “Lebendige Stadt” foundation distinguishes Leipzig Festival of Lights  ( 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. , Leipziginfo.de of November 11, 2011@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.leipziginfo.de  
  24. ↑ Leipzig Tourismus Marketing receives an award for the best tourism campaigns , sputnika.de from June 9, 2015