On Oct. 9, not too long after they've washed and put away the last of the steins in Munich from Oktoberfest, the Saxony cities of Leipzig and Dresden will mark the 25th Anniversary of the Peaceful Revolution. It will be 25 years since the ordinary townsfolk in Leipzig showed a hero's courage in the face of Stasi Police Brutality and the full muscle of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) or East Germany as it was more familiarly known in the U.S.
It's important to remember that these were ordinary people who led this revolution, much as it was ordinary people who marched on Washington for Civil Rights in 1963. It all began in 1982 in front of Leipzig's St. Nicholas Square on Monday nights when just a handful of people began gathering, holding candles and "praying for peace." While they prayed for peace, their larger protest was against the GDR government.
Much like protesters today, they were harassed, called naïve and unpatriotic and even treasonous, but the police never opened fire though their guns were cocked and loaded. Little by little, Monday after Monday, the crowds grew larger and larger. On Oct. 9, 1989, some 70,000 Leipzigers met in Ausgustus Palaza and marched to the police station. A week later, 150,000 made the march and a week after that 300,000. The demonstrations made it clear to the tyrants running the GDR that their position was becoming untenable and a month after 300,000 had gathered in Leipzig the Wall in Berlin came down (Nov. 9).
The party of hammers that brought down the Berlin Wall in 1989 provided what TV Execs call "great visuals" and so they highlighted the scene in Berlin often playing Beethoven's Ode to Joy as a soundtrack. Leipzig's Monday evenings fell into the shadows as televisions around the world watched Berliners enjoy their long-awaited liberation in what looked like the party of the century.
Both Leipzig and Dresden will celebrate the Peaceful Revolution this October. The two Saxon towns have radically different DNA. Beautiful Dresden was the showcase of Baroque elegance much as Florence was a Renaissance showcase. Dresden was the creation of royalty and aristocracy while Leipzig was built by businessmen and burghers. Leipzig's location at the crossroads of two trade routes connecting Italy to Norway on the Via Imperiale and Spain to Russia on the Via Regia gave it an ideal opportunity to prosper.
The citizens of Leipzig created Europe's first trade fairs in the city's signature "Passage Court Yards." These courtyards, some almost 900 years old, today serve as small plazas in the midst of shopping centers, but they were originally modelled after Turkish caravansaries offering merchants a safe place to unload their wagons and sell their goods.
Those fairs created the wealth that attracted scholars and intellects to Leipzig University and musicians to work in its churches. At St. Thomas Church, Johan Bach served as boys' choir master from 1723 to 1750. He also served as the organist at St. Nicholas' Church and at St. Matthews. But Bach was only the first maestro among many to come to Leipzig as Grieg, Mahler, Schumann, Wagner and Telemann also spent significant time in the city.
In Leipzig this Oct. 9, prayers for peace will start at St. Nicholas Church at 5 p.m. followed by the Festival of Lights. The weekend will then be filled with a series of commemorative events. A Leipzig tourism trail dedicated to the Peaceful Revolution has such stops as the permanent exhibition, "Citizens on the Move" at the federal office for Stasi documents; the Stasi Museum's permanent exhibition, "Leipzig on the Path to the Peaceful Revolution" and much more.
Dresden will mark Leipzig's Peaceful Revolution from Oct. 2 to 5 during the four day DRESDEN REFLECT festival. Remembrances begin on Oct. 8 with Prayers for Peace at 5 p.m. at the Church of the Holy Cross followed by a march. Then the city will hold a grand ceremony in the town hall, "Revolution," followed by a performance of Bach's St. Matthew's Passion at the Church of the Holy Cross. The next day, on October 9, Dresden's Old Town will host Germany's largest street party (Dresdner.Unity.Night).
The Berlin Wall physically divided Germany, East from West, from 1961 to 1989. For all of its gritty physical details such as barbed wire and barking attack dogs, the Wall was even more powerful as a symbol of broken families, betrayals and a kind of spiritual oppression that only those who lived it can comprehend. To know more about life in the GDR you can get no better start than the 2006 Oscar Winner, The Lives of Others.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
