Six from Leipzig

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The Six of Leipzig (often referred to as the Leipzig Six ) is the name given to a group of six who, with their joint appeal on October 9, 1989, contributed to the nonviolence of the Monday demonstration during the Peaceful Revolution in Leipzig .

Members of the Six of Leipzig

Formulation of the appeal

On October 9th at 1:45 p.m. Kurt Masur called the SED cultural secretary Kurt Meyer, with whom he had already discussed the increasingly threatening situation three days earlier, full of concern. Masur suggested that we think together about what we could do to "prevent the worst" in the evening. Meyer then consulted with his secretary colleagues Jochen Pommert and Roland Wötzel. They suggested to Masur to come together at his home. Masur agreed and also agreed that the theologian and CDU politician Peter Zimmermann and the cabaret artist Bernd-Lutz Lange take part in the meeting. There, the group jointly formulated their call for “prudence” - addressed to both sides - including a promise to work for a political dialogue.

Lange reproduced the text with a typewriter and carbon paper. Zimmermann ran with the copies into the four churches in which the Monday prayers for peace were taking place and asked the pastors to read out the text “with great emphasis” at the end of the service. Pommert, who was responsible for agitation and propaganda, organized an employee of the Leipzig broadcaster of the GDR radio to record the text spoken by Masur on tape, and also arranged for it to be broadcast by the Leipzig city radio .

Demonstration on October 9, 1989

On October 9, 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 “ Tiananmen Square massacre ”, 70,000 citizens came together after the peace prayers. Shortly before the end of the peace prayer, the “Call of the Leipzig Six” was read out in all churches. From 6 p.m. the roll call was broadcast over and over again on the city radio.

“The citizens of Leipzig Professor Kurt Masur, Pastor Dr. Peter 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 Leipzig residents with the following appeal: "

- Radio announcer : original sound from city radio

“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 calm so that peaceful dialogue becomes possible. Kurt Masur spoke "

- Kurt Masur : Original sound from city radio

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. 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 Helmut Hackenberg and Police President Major General Gerhard Strassenburg decided to withdraw and gave the instruction: “Do not take any active actions against people, if there are no public enemies. Activities u. Attacks on security forces, objects, etc. Facilities take place ". The reasons and the exact course of events have not yet been fully clarified. Candles were placed on the steps leading to the entrance to the State Security District Administration ( "round corner" ). At around 8 p.m. the demonstration ended and the power of the SED state was broken.

literature

Radio broadcast

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sven Felix Kellerhoff: The day when Leipzig changed all of Germany. In: Die Welt , October 9, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Some were corrupted". How the Ministry for State Security infiltrated the Evangelical Church in the GDR . In: Der Spiegel . No. 52 , 1990, pp. 41-51 (45) ( online ).
  3. ↑ Jochen Bölsche: "You saved our lives" . In: Der Spiegel . No. 41 , 1999, p. 100 f . ( online ).
  4. ↑ Bernd-Lutz Lange, Sascha Lange: David versus Goliath. Pp. 82-84.
  5. ↑ "We ask you to be prudent". Roland Wötzel on the appeal of the Leipzig Six on October 9, 1989 in the trade fair metropolis. In: Neues Deutschland , October 8, 2014.
  6. ↑ Karsten Timmer: From departure to change. The citizens' movement in the GDR in 1989 . Ed .: New Forum Leipzig. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2000, ISBN 3-525-35925-X , Section IV.1. The critical moment: Leipzig, October 9 , p. 175–189 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  7. ^ A b c Monday demonstrations in Leipzig 1989: "We are the people". City of Leipzig, accessed on October 10, 2019 (with audio version of the call).
  8. ↑ Journal 9/1999, October 9, 1989 - the day of the decision. In: Leipziger Menschenrechtegruppen 1999. IFM-Archiv Sachsen e. V., 2009, accessed October 10, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Mario Niemann , Andreas Herbst :  Hackenberg, Helmut . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
  10. ^ Stefan wool: omnipotence and powerlessness in the dictatorship. The SED system on the way to collapse . In: Hans-Hermann Hertle , Stefan Wolle (ed.): At that time in the GDR. Everyday life in the workers 'and peasants' state . 2nd Edition. Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-442-15383-2 , p. 299-390 .