Geo Quiz

Monday demonstrations

For Friday’s Geo Quiz — think Monday. 20 years ago today, as it turns out, was a Monday. Which accounts for the name Monday demonstrations … They were getting underway in a German city.

A tram is blocked by East German demonstrators in the center of Leipzig on Oct, 17, 1989. Their banner reads: "Legalization of opposition parties, free democratic elections, free press and independent unions." AP

In those days, this city was part of East Germany, behind the Iron Curtain. The Monday demonstrations started with a few dozen protesters, who were demanding democracy and freedom of movement.

St. Nicholas' Church

Thousands more joined up every Monday thereafter. Within a couple of months, the protests had gone national, the Berlin Wall came down and Communism collapsed.  So — do you know which city in the former East Germany these mass protests took place exactly 20 years ago?

The Monday Demonstrations that began 20 years ago today quickly snowballed into a mass movement.
And where did they take place?

It was Leipzig and Leipzig’s the answer to our Geo Quiz. These peaceful protests helped bring about the fall of the Berlin Wall…and a year later, the reunification of Germany.

Leipzig's Nikolai Church was the focal point of the Monday demonstrations. The first protest on Sept. 4, 1989 began after prayers for peace at the church. Here, two members of the East German secret police, the Stasi (on the right), take away a banner carried by young East Germans during one of the Leipzig demonstrations. AP

“The atmosphere was full of tension.”

That’s Pastor Ulrich Seidel.  He’s a protestant priest who took part in the so-called “peace prayers” that soon grew into the mass demonstrations. Seidel says at first, it was very risky.

“We had to fear the state authorities- the army, the police, the secret forces – when we participated in the ‘peace prayers’ on Monday night. After the ‘peace prayers’ when people left the church and showing their frustration against the Communist rule this was a very dangerous point but people became more and more courageous to show protest and this was the beginning of the conflict which ended in the collapse of the Communist system.”

At this demonstration In Leipzig on Sept. 4, 1989 young protesters carry a banner calling for "freedom to travel instead of mass exodus." AP

Leipzig’s Nikolai Church was the focal point of The Monday demonstrations, though as the protests grew, Seidel says other churches got involved too.

“The peace prayers were growing more and more … the churches were only the free space within the communist society you were safe, but when you left this was a dangerous … streets were full of police.”

Photographs from the first Monday demonstration show members of the East German secret police, the Stasi, ripping banners away from the protesters.

But Seidel says that as the protest movement grew, his Church tried to act as a mediator between the crowds, and the Communist authorities. He says that helped ensure a peaceful transition of power when Communism fell. 20 years later, Seidel sees that a major accomplishment.
“Of course, we don’t now have a heaven on earth. Another system Money rules the world but what we are proud of is the church could achieve a non violent change and avoid bloodshed and avoid civil strife.”

Pastor Ulrich Seidel speaking from Leipzig, Germany where The Monday Demonstrations began twenty years ago today.