Leipzig
City in Saxony, in 1989 part of the German Democratic Republic. Monday peace prayers in its Nikolaikirche were the starting point of the demonstration of 9 October 1989, which the state did not put down.
Leipzig lies in Saxony in eastern Germany. On 9 October 1989, by the count of the state security service, more than 5,000 people attended peace prayers in the Nikolaikirche, the Thomaskirche, the Michaeliskirche and the Reformed church in its centre, and 50,000 to 60,000 then marched from the Nikolaikirche round the ring of streets that encloses the old city (Stasi report on Leipzig, 9 October 1989, Bl. 100). See Churches and the Fall of Communism.
What happened here
- 9 October 1989, firm dateChurches and the Fall of Communism
On 9 October 1989, after peace prayers in four Leipzig churches, tens of thousands march round the city and the East German state does not use force. A bishop, church groups and party officials had all appealed for calm that day.