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The crazy energy of Leipzig wins in the east

REPORTAGE – Still very much influenced by the old Eastern Europe, the city which caused the “Wall of Shame” to fall on November 9, 1989, has established itself as the trendiest destination in Germany.

Special correspondent in Leipzig

It is 5 p.m. and like every day, the bells of the Saint-Nicolas church are ringing loudly. They announce the religious service, like Monday October 9, 1989. That day, in a Leipzig in turmoil, less gleaming than it is today, a wind of freedom blew. Since September 4, Pastor Christian Führer has organized a prayer for peace, which quickly became, in the face of a faltering German Democratic Republic (GDR), “the Monday demonstrations » (montagsdemonstrationen). From a few hundred, participants increased to thousands, 70,000 on October 9. “ My husband went, but I stayed at home, because it was too dangerous to go there as a couple. We had very young children, who would have taken care of them if we had been arrested? » recalls movedly, Birgit Feilhuer, today a tourist guide in Leipzig.

To the cries of « We are the people ! » « We are the people ! »…

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