Monday demonstrations in East Germany
Encyclopedia
The Monday demonstrations in East Germany in 1989 and 1990 were a series of peaceful political protests against the authoritarian communist government of the German Democratic Republic
(GDR) that took place every Monday evening.
In Leipzig
the demonstrations began on 4 September 1989 after the weekly Friedensgebet (prayer for peace) in the Nikolaikirche with parson
Christian Führer
, and eventually filled the nearby downtown Karl Marx Square (today known again as Augustusplatz
). Safe in the knowledge that the Lutheran Church supported their resistance, many dissatisfied East German citizens gathered in the court of the church, and non-violent demonstrations began in order to demand rights such as the freedom to travel to foreign countries and to elect a democratic government.
Informed by (West German) television and friends about the events, people in other East German cities begun repeating the Leipzig demonstration, meeting at city squares on Monday evenings. A major turning point was the events in the West Germany Embassy of Prague, where thousands of East Germans had fled to in September, living there in conditions reminiscent of the Third World. Hans-Dietrich Genscher
had negotiated an agreement that allowed them to travel to the West, in trains that had to pass first through the GDR. The speech of Hans-Dietrich Genscher
from the balcony was interrupted by a very emotional reaction to his announcement. When the trains passed Dresden
central station in early October, police forces had to stop people from trying to jump on the trains.
By 9 October 1989, just after the 40th anniversary celebrations of the GDR, what had begun as a few hundred gatherers at the Nikolaikirche had swelled to more than 70,000 (out of the city's population of 500,000), all united in peaceful opposition to the regime. The most famous chant
became Wir sind das Volk! - "We are the people!", reminding their leaders that a democratic republic has to be ruled by the people, not by an undemocratic party claiming to represent them.
Although some demonstrators were arrested, the threat of large-scale intervention by security forces never materialised as local leaders (SED
party leader Helmut Hackenberg and Generalmajor Gerhard Straßenburg of the armed police), without precise orders from East Berlin and surprised by the unexpected high number of citizens, shied away from causing a possible massacre, ordering the retreat of their forces. Later, Egon Krenz
claimed it was he who gave the order not to intervene.
The next week, in Leipzig on 16 October 1989, 120,000 showed up, with military units again being held on stand-by in the vicinity. The next week, the number more than doubled to 320,000. This pressure led to the Fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, marking the imminent fall of the socialist GDR regime.
The demonstrations eventually ended in March 1990, around the time of the first free multi-party elections on all-GDR level, for the Volkskammer
parliament that paved the way to German reunification
.
Years later, Monday demonstrations were also held in the early and mid-2000s as a protest against the Iraq war, against social security
changes (Hartz IV), and since the fall of 2009 against the Stuttgart 21
project.
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
(GDR) that took place every Monday evening.
Overview
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
the demonstrations began on 4 September 1989 after the weekly Friedensgebet (prayer for peace) in the Nikolaikirche with parson
Parson
In the pre-Reformation church, a parson was the priest of an independent parish church, that is, a parish church not under the control of a larger ecclesiastical or monastic organization...
Christian Führer
Christian Führer
Christian is a Protestant Pastor and one of the leading figures and organisers of the 1989 Monday demonstrations in East Germany which finally led to the German reunification and the end of the GDR in 1990.-Life:...
, and eventually filled the nearby downtown Karl Marx Square (today known again as Augustusplatz
Augustusplatz
The Augustusplatz is a square located at the east end of the city centre of Leipzig. It is the city's largest square and one of the largest squares in Germany...
). Safe in the knowledge that the Lutheran Church supported their resistance, many dissatisfied East German citizens gathered in the court of the church, and non-violent demonstrations began in order to demand rights such as the freedom to travel to foreign countries and to elect a democratic government.
Informed by (West German) television and friends about the events, people in other East German cities begun repeating the Leipzig demonstration, meeting at city squares on Monday evenings. A major turning point was the events in the West Germany Embassy of Prague, where thousands of East Germans had fled to in September, living there in conditions reminiscent of the Third World. Hans-Dietrich Genscher
Hans-Dietrich Genscher
Hans-Dietrich Genscher is a German politician of the liberal Free Democratic Party . He served as Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of Germany from 1974 to 1982 and, after a two-week pause, from 1982 to 1992, making him Germany's longest serving Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor...
had negotiated an agreement that allowed them to travel to the West, in trains that had to pass first through the GDR. The speech of Hans-Dietrich Genscher
Hans-Dietrich Genscher
Hans-Dietrich Genscher is a German politician of the liberal Free Democratic Party . He served as Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of Germany from 1974 to 1982 and, after a two-week pause, from 1982 to 1992, making him Germany's longest serving Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor...
from the balcony was interrupted by a very emotional reaction to his announcement. When the trains passed Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
central station in early October, police forces had to stop people from trying to jump on the trains.
By 9 October 1989, just after the 40th anniversary celebrations of the GDR, what had begun as a few hundred gatherers at the Nikolaikirche had swelled to more than 70,000 (out of the city's population of 500,000), all united in peaceful opposition to the regime. The most famous chant
Chant
Chant is the rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of notes to highly complex musical structures Chant (from French chanter) is the rhythmic speaking or singing...
became Wir sind das Volk! - "We are the people!", reminding their leaders that a democratic republic has to be ruled by the people, not by an undemocratic party claiming to represent them.
Although some demonstrators were arrested, the threat of large-scale intervention by security forces never materialised as local leaders (SED
Socialist Unity Party of Germany
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the governing party of the German Democratic Republic from its formation on 7 October 1949 until the elections of March 1990. The SED was a communist political party with a Marxist-Leninist ideology...
party leader Helmut Hackenberg and Generalmajor Gerhard Straßenburg of the armed police), without precise orders from East Berlin and surprised by the unexpected high number of citizens, shied away from causing a possible massacre, ordering the retreat of their forces. Later, Egon Krenz
Egon Krenz
Egon Krenz is a former politician from East Germany , and that country's last Communist leader...
claimed it was he who gave the order not to intervene.
The next week, in Leipzig on 16 October 1989, 120,000 showed up, with military units again being held on stand-by in the vicinity. The next week, the number more than doubled to 320,000. This pressure led to the Fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, marking the imminent fall of the socialist GDR regime.
The demonstrations eventually ended in March 1990, around the time of the first free multi-party elections on all-GDR level, for the Volkskammer
Volkskammer
The People's Chamber was the unicameral legislature of the German Democratic Republic . From its founding in 1949 until the first free elections on 18 March 1990, all members of the Volkskammer were elected on a slate controlled by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany , called the National Front...
parliament that paved the way to German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
.
Years later, Monday demonstrations were also held in the early and mid-2000s as a protest against the Iraq war, against social security
Social security
Social security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...
changes (Hartz IV), and since the fall of 2009 against the Stuttgart 21
Stuttgart 21
Stuttgart 21 is an urban development and under construction transport project in Stuttgart as part of the Stuttgart–Augsburg new and upgraded railway project in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria in Germany. It consists of the replacement of the tracks and platforms of Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof, the city's...
project.
See also
- Uprising of 1953 in East GermanyUprising of 1953 in East GermanyThe Uprising of 1953 in East Germany started with a strike by East Berlin construction workers on June 16. It turned into a widespread anti-Stalinist uprising against the German Democratic Republic government the next day....
- Alexanderplatz demonstrationAlexanderplatz demonstrationThe Alexanderplatz demonstration was a demonstration for political reforms and against the government of the German Democratic Republic on Alexanderplatz in East Berlin on 4 November 1989...
- Revolutions of 1989Revolutions of 1989The Revolutions of 1989 were the revolutions which overthrew the communist regimes in various Central and Eastern European countries.The events began in Poland in 1989, and continued in Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and...
- History of the German Democratic RepublicHistory of the German Democratic RepublicThe German Democratic Republic , , often known in English as East Germany, existed from 1949 to 1990. It covered the area of the present-day German states of...
Literature
- Wolfgang Schneider et al. (Hrsg.): Leipziger Demontagebuch. Demo – Montag – Tagebuch – Demontage, Leipzig/Weimar: Gustav Kiepenheuer 1990
- Norbert Heber: Keine Gewalt! Der friedliche Weg zur Demokratie – eine Chronologie in Bildern, Berlin: Verbum 1990
- Jetzt oder nie – Demokratie. Leipziger Herbst 1989, Leipzig: C. Bertelsmann 1989
- Ekkehard Kuhn: Der Tag der Entscheidung. Leipzig, 9. Oktober 1989, Berlin: Ullstein 1992
- Karl Czok: Nikolaikirche – offen für alle. Eine Gemeinde im Zentrum der Wende, Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt 1999
- Tobias Hollitzer: Der friedliche Verlauf des 9. Oktober 1989 in Leipzig – Kapitulation oder Reformbereitschaft? Vorgeschichte, Verlauf und Nachwirkung, in: Günther Heydemann, Gunther Mai und Werner Müller (Hrsg.) Revolution und Transformation in der DDR 1989/90, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot 1999, S. 247–288
- Martin Jankowski: „Rabet oder Das Verschwinden einer Himmelsrichtung“. Roman. München: via verbis, 1999, ISBN 3933902037
- Thomas Küttler , Jean Curt Röder (Hrsg.): "Die Wende in Plauen", Plauen: Vogtländischer Heimatverlag Neupert Plauen 1991
- Martin Jankowski: Der Tag, der Deutschland veränderte - 9. Oktober 1989. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2007, ISBN 978-3-374-02506-0
- Schmemann, Serge, Upheaval in the East; Leipzig Marchers Tiptoe Around Reunification New York Times, December 19, 1989.