Day 6: Leipzig

WOW!!!! What an amazing day in a truly incredible city. We were so struck not only by the beauty of the city and the history that happened here, but more so by the strength of the people of Leipzig as they made history. I am referring to the peaceful revolution of October 9, 1989, which actually started years earlier and continued for months after the opening of the German border on November 9, 1989.

We started the day at the Stasi museum, which is located in the building that formerly housed the Stasi headquarters. Although we knew much of the history surrounding the East German secret police and their methods, as well as the demonstrations that lead to the fall of the East German government, to be standing where so much of it actually occurred and to see the systematic methods that the Stasi used was extremely powerful. In the Leipzig district alone, the Stasi had files on 300,000 citizens. They regularly opened private mail, listened to phone calls, and followed daily activities of the citizens.

 Here are some pictures of the machines used to open mail, take handwriting samples (over 100,000 had been collected), collect the scent of suspects (in case the Stasi needed to search for them with dogs), as well as the machine used in their attempt to destroy documents by turning them into pulp.

 

Seeing the level of surveillance and the brutality with which suspects were treated, the bravery of those who resisted is all that much more awe inspiring. Because they were not allowed to show any resistance to the government, in 1982 many people began meeting on Mondays at the Nikolaikirche to pray for peace. These meetings grew in size over the next seven years and gradually became more politically inspired. In October and November of 1989, the meetings grew to the level of demonstrations, although because they remained peaceful, the East German government did not stop them. The demonstration on October 9, is considered the beginning of the events the lead to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the opening of the border between East and West Germany.

On December 4, 1989, almost a month after the East German government stepped down and the border was opened, the citizens of Leipzig were still showing their strength and conviction. The Stasi had begun to destroy all of the files in their Leipzig headquarters. On December 4, 1989 the citizens of Leipzig occupied the headquarters and put a stop to the destruction of the files. They proceeded to reorganize the files and made them available to the public for viewing. The people of Leipzig took this a step further when they made a museum out of the former Stasi headquarters. What had once been the most terrifying building in the city had become an example of what the new Germany aspires to be.

Here are some pictures of the peaceful revolution ("Wir sind das Volk" - "We are the people"), the revolutionaries working to restore the documents following the occupation of the Stasi building on December 4, and the plaque outside the museum.

 
Although the museum was one hallway with the rooms on each side, I think we could have spent all day there. However, we did not spend all day there. We walked back to the Marktplatz, where we could see the giant Christmas tree and the beginnings of the Christmas market being set up.

We went on a walking tour of downtown Leipzig, including the old weigh-house and exchange building. The two highlights of our walking tour were the Nikolaikirche, where the events of the 1989 revolution took place and the Thomaskirche, home of the Thomanerchor (St. Thomas Boys Choir) and where the current grave of Johann Sebastian Bach is located. Bach actually played the organ at service at both the Nikolaikrche and the Thomaskirche, but the Thomaskirche was where he attended church and where his 12 children were baptized.

The Nikolaikirche

 

 The Thomaskirche

Overall, we really enjoyed our visit in Leipzig and would love to return here at some point in the future.