Monday demonstrations
In front of the backcloth of Perestroika and Glasnost, in view of growing numbers of refugees in the summer and autumn of 1989 and of the ignorant unwillingness to implement reforms of the leadership of the GDR, the anger of the population of the GDR grew from day to day. Initially, it was only possible to articulate it in the relatively protected church premises. Out of the prayers for peace in the Nikolaikirche, the Monday demonstrations in Leipzig then evolved, which began on 25/9/1989. In the past, comparable actions had always been violently suppressed in communist countries. The most dramatic event was the demonstration on 9/10/1989, where the danger of a massive military intervention threatened. Thanks to the presence of mind of the Leipzig population but also the holding-off of the leadership of the SED, the demonstration, in which around 70,000 citizens took part, ended peacefully. The "Montagsdemos" (Monday demonstrations) became a signal and impulse for the entire GDR. Soon massive protest demonstrations were held in accordance with this "model" after church services in many towns and cities. With their slogan "We are the people" hundreds of thousands of GDR citizens gave voice to their demands week after week and finally enforced the end of the SED rule.
