Festival of Lights 2024 - Leipzig commemorates the anniversary of the Peaceful Revolution

A ribbon of 21 large-scale light installations stretched around Leipzig's inner city ring road. The 35th anniversary of the decisive Monday demonstration of the Peaceful Revolution was the occasion to remember with light and tens of thousands of candles. However, the international art projects not only wanted to remember, but also to tell stories and touch people - and they succeeded in doing so. Each reflected in its own way a reference to the fall of '89 and at the same time referred to the present. Whether it was the large-format "Ode to Democracy" at the Protestant Reformed Church, a powerful audiovisual installation from Leipzig's twin city Frankfurt am Main, or the energetic dancers of the tri-national performance "(De)constructing" (twin city Lyon) in front of the main railway station - they all thrilled the audience. Installations illuminated the route where, on October 9, '89, the firing order threatened and fear prevailed, but the courage of the people prevailed.

Some light projects will be on display until the weekend of October 10-12, 2024. From 19:00 to 23:00, light installations at Nikolaikirchhof, Augustusplatz, Burgplatz and Wilhelm-Leuschner-Platz invite you to visit.

Further information and photos of the 2024 Festival of Lights

A day that changed the world

The special nature of this 9 October 1989 in Leipzig was also emphasized in the welcoming speeches on Augustusplatz. Burkhard Jung, Lord Mayor of the City of Leipzig, was clearly delighted with the many visitors to the Festival of Lights, whom he greeted on Augustusplatz. He expressly thanked "all the people who, with their big hearts and incredible courage, ensured that we can stand here today in freedom and democracy in 1989."

He reminded the audience to "defend the message of freedom and self-determination, to fight and fight for human dignity and democracy as inviolable goods."

Michael Kretschmer, the Minister President of Saxony, brought back a personal memory of the fall of '89: "I went to the Monday demonstrations in my home town of Görlitz as a 14-year-old. The same age as my son is today. And today I thought: How great that children and young people can experience this - together with their parents. You make this possible," said Kretschmer, thanking the people of Leipzig: "I don't know of any other day in the Federal Republic of Germany so steeped in history that is still being celebrated so vividly 35 years later. You are rightly the city of the Peaceful Revolution."

Background

Every year on October 9, the city of Leipzig commemorates the events of the Peaceful Revolution in autumn 1989 with the Leipzig Light Festival, the Peace Prayer and the "Speech on Democracy". Since 1982, peace, environmental and human rights groups have regularly invited people to pray for peace in St. Nicholas Church. It was from here that the Monday demonstrations began in September 1989. After prayers for peace in several churches, more than 70,000 people finally gathered in Leipzig's city center on October 9 to demonstrate without violence - the breakthrough for the Peaceful Revolution and a key event in German and European history. October 9, 1989 is regarded as the precondition for the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9 and German reunification.

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