What happened at the Leipzig Monday demonstration of 9 October 1989?

The Leipzig Monday demonstration

Die Leipziger Montagsdemonstration

9 October 1989. In the autumn of 1989 thousands of East Germans were fleeing to the West through Hungary, and those who stayed began to protest.

Where: Germany

What happened

In the autumn of 1989 thousands of East Germans were fleeing to the West through Hungary, and those who stayed began to protest. In Leipzig, peace prayers in the Nikolaikirche on Monday evenings led to marches round the city's ring road. On 9 October, two days after the GDR's fortieth anniversary, around 70,000 people marched, although police and army stood ready and hospitals had been prepared for casualties. Nobody fired. Their chant, 'Wir sind das Volk', we are the people, spread across the country. Many see this evening as the turning point of the peaceful revolution.

Say it

In Leipzig riefen die Menschen: „Wir sind das Volk!“

In Leipzig the people chanted: "We are the people!"

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