Leipzig and The Peaceful Revolution
By Lothar. Filed in Germany |
On Thursday, we are taking taxis for 30 persons from the youth hostel to the train station. I get into the first taxi, together with 5 students, and pay each of the drivers, as they arrive at the station.
We are traveling on ICE 1512 from Nürnberg to Leipzig, with brief stops in Saalfeld, Jena Paradies (Paradise) and Naumburg. From Bamberg to Lichtenfels, our train follows the upper “Main” river valley, then we travel along the river “Saale” to Naumburg, in former East Germany. We are in the German state “Thüringen” and see some of the Nature Park “Thüringer Schiefergebirge” ( slate mountains). The river valley looks beautiful, the river calm enough for canoeing. I want to come back here some time in the future, to enjoy the scenery on a bike tour with Gabi.
We arrive in Leipzig at 11:42 and Herr Doktor Krämer gives our group a warm welcome, holding up a big sign, greeting the GAPP students. He will be our tour guide for the next 5 hours. Dr.Krämer is 76 years old, a native of Leipzig, who lived through the bombing raids of WW II and the entire time of the inefficient Communist East German Rulers. Before the war, Leipzig used to be a big metropolis in the center of Europe and still has the biggest train station of any European city. Dr. Krämer is taking us on a walking tour and is pointing out all the still empty lots in the center of town, more than 60 years after the bombs fell on Leipzig.
Leipzig is full of history : Martin Luther preached his “Reformation” in the “Thomas”-Church in 1539, from 1723 to 1750 Johann Sebastian Bach is working at the “Thomas”-Church (Thomaskantor and Music Director of Leipzig), Goethe studied here 1765-68.
Richard Wagner is born here in 1813, the same year when Napoleon gets defeated in the “Battle of the Nations” (Völkerschlacht). In the largest battle of the 19thCentury, more than half a million soldiers were fighting around Leipzig about the destiny of Europe.
Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy founded the Leipzig Music Conservatory in 1843.
The American troops were here on April 18th 1945, but in July turned Leipzig over to the Russians.
After more than 40 years of Communist repression and spying by the State on it’s own people, in 1989 the “Leipzig Peaceful Revolution” brings down “The Wall” and is the catalyst for the Reunification of West and East Germany. Every Monday, people congregated in the “Nikolaikirche” and prayed for peace. This lead to peaceful demonstrations in the streets, when people were demanding more personal freedom and the right to travel outside of the borders of the “DDR”. At first they were arrested by the state police, but then the movement spread around the country and the”Peaceful Revolution” brought down the Communist Regime. The “Wall” opened on November 9th, 1989.
Back to our walking tour with Dr.Krämer. For 3 hours, he is leading our group through Leipzig, walking at a brisk pace and spilling over with historical data. His excellent physical shape is outperforming the rest of us and the kids are quite impressed. Towards the end, some request a bathroom break. He reluctantly grants them a quick break, and calls them “weak’, which they do not understand or appreciate.
We visit the “Nikolaikirche” as well as the “Thomaskirche”, the town hall and Bach exhibit, as well as the “Mädlerpassage” with the famous “Auerbachkeller” depicted in Goethe’s Faust. Later in the afternoon, we have coffee and cake in the historical “Coffe Baum”. Finally, the students get a break with some time on their own and later we reassemble again for a nice dinner in the “Ratskeller”. Another 15 minute brisk walk back to the train station, where I help the one and only attendant at the stored-luggage counter to retrieve all the luggage for our group of 30. Otherwise, we might have missed the train.
We arrive in Martin Luther’s town, Wittenberg, around 20:20, and the walk (with luggage) to the youth hostel takes 25 minutes, instead of the advertised 10 minutes. We are certainly doing a lot of walking on this trip and we have been up for another 18 hours, by the time we go to bed. Again so far no sign of a relaxing vacation!