First stop the Nikolai-Kirche. Started in 1165 as Romanesque, it has been added to in the 16th and 18th centuries. It has the most beautiful interior.
The church rose to national fame in 1989 with the Monday Demonstrations when it became the centre of peaceful revolt against communist rule. About 650 people gathered to pray for peace in the church. They wanted to leave the GDR and demonstrated in the streets demanding the right to go: ‘We want out!’.
It’s an easy city to get around; a lot of the old town is closed to traffic. Lotsa cyclists! A shopper’s paradise! Wonderful buildings.
The replica of a pillar, crowned with palm fronds from the nave
of the St. Nicholas Church, commemorates the starting point of Leipzig's Monday
Demonstrations. The prayers for peace and Monday Demonstrations turned
Leipzig's St. Nicholas Church into a global symbol of the Peaceful Revolution
of 1989.Second stop: the place I was really interested in - the Stasi Museum, housed in the famous Runden Ecke building. The Stasi were involved in blanket surveillance of all GDR citizens to keep so-called hostile negative elements in check.
During the years of the GDR, some citizens were subjected to ‘demoralisation strategies’ in the 1970s in particular; that is, the creation of life crises designed to isolate them from regular life - e.g. getting a job. These strategies included systematic discreditation of the person’s reputation - overseen by Erich Honecker in particular. All efforts were undertaken to distance the Ministery (MFS/Stasi) from being seen to be responsible for these strategies.
Interesting fact: The audio-guide made (particular) mention that Putin was working for the KGB in Dresden from 1985 to 1990. This makes interesting reading:
and
There were 90,000 sacks of shredded documents found after the Peaceful Revolution of 1989 in Leipzig that saw the bringing down of the Berlin Wall. The Leipzig Citizen Committee managed to save some of the files and the shredded ones are being re-constructed. Today, it is only by looking at the Stasi files of individuals that provides actual proof of the MFS involvement in their lives.
A young woman in a shop earlier had been keen to make some suggestions for Leipzig. One was a very cute spot called Moritzbastei which we headed for after our fascinating but sobering Stasi Museum visit - a good spot to relax before we headed off to the Thomas Kirche. In fact, the Moritzbastei are the only remaining part of the ancient town fortifications of Leipzig. Today it is widely known as a cultural centre.
The young woman I mentioned in fact is Spanish. She really misses Spain but she says she gets paid better in Germany. She says she can’t afford to live in Spain but keeps thinking of returning nevertheless.
From Moritzbastei, we walked past the Leipzig University to find the Italian (!) pizzeria recommended by my Spanish friend. The nonna there spoke Italian - THAT made life easy! So a booking for dinner tonight (it being Saturday so I expect things to be busy).
Then - the item on My List I really didn’t want to miss: the famed St. Thomas Boys Choir performing at the Thomaskirche. St Thomas Church is associated with a number of well-known composers such as Richard Wagner and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, but mostly with Johann Sebastian Bach who worked here as a Kapellmeister from 1723 until his death in 1750 and his remains are buried in the church - a large bronze plaque is embedded near the altar. Also, Martin Luther preached here in 1539.
It starts at 3 p.m. but my suggestion was to be there by 2:15 - yep, a queue was already forming! Nice church, nice singing.
On the way back to our apartment, we ran into a demonstration: something about ‘trees do not need a future’ I think!
We shared a bratwurst, bought some delicious chocolate cake and some blue-vein cheese, ham and bikkies and had them with beers and prosecco back at our apartment. Did our airline check-ins online.
Dinner out at the Palazzese Pizzeria - our Spanish girl has been spot-on with her recommendations.
Walking: 13,300 steps
Calories: too many!!!!
A city we want to see. Good Stasi musuems in Berlin too, and as you say very sobering, do we realize how fortunate we were to grow up in Australia. Erika
ReplyDeleteThat’s incredible history...I thought they stopped with the Jews...!! Magnificent buildings...was that gold or just paint? Not long now ...you are coming back to nice weather!
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