It happened 30 years ago...
During the 1980s, political opposition in the GDR developed in the Protestant churches and at private meetings. The oppostion groups and networks increasingly succeeded in reaching the public, raising awareness of subjects such as human rights, militarisation, environmental destruction, education policy and urban decay. The exposure of the electoral fraud in May 1989 became a defining moment. The growing dissatisfaction became evident, particularly amongst young people who, increasingly, began to reject the state-imposed constraints.
Migration and flight were key to the breakdown of the SED regime. While many voted with their feet, leaving the GDR, others sought to reform its society. Grass roots movements and parties were founded. The will for change grew among the population. On 7 October, the 40th anniversary of the founding of the GDR, security forces once again beat down the protests; however, on the day of judgement, 9 October in Leipzig, the demonstration passed off peacefully, despite a high security presence. The SED tried to hang on to power by replacing their leaders, but the wave of demonstrations continued to grow.
The Alexanderplatz demonstration on 4 November 1989 in East Berlin
On 4 November 1989, the largest demonstration in the history of the GDR took place at Alexanderplatz in Berlin. Just a few days later, the Wall fell. By fighting for power, the SED visibly lost ground: The people continued to demonstrate, countless new movements, parties and initiatives were established and the question of power was more openly discussed.
The
Alexanderplatz demonstration was a demonstration for political reforms and against the government of the German Democratic Republic on Alexanderplatz in East Berlin on 4 November 1989. With between half a million and a million protesters it was one of the largest demonstrations in East German history
and a milestone of the peaceful revolution that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification. The demonstration was organized by actors and employees of theaters in East Berlin. It was the first demonstration in East German history that was organized by private individuals and was permitted to take place by the authorities. The speakers during the demonstration were members of the opposition, representatives of the regime and artists, and included the dissidents Marianne Birthler and Jens Reich, the writer Stefan Heym, the actor Ulrich Mühe, the former head of the East German foreign intelligence service Markus Wolf and Politburo member Günter Schabowski.
The first idea for a demonstration on the Alexanderplatz in the center of the capital of East Germany came from actors and employees of theaters in East Berlin, who had been struck by the assaults on peaceful protesters by the Volkspolizei and the Stasi during the celebrations of the 40th anniversary of East Germany on 7 October 1989.
On 15 October 1989 at 11 am, an assembly of actors and employees of theaters in East Berlin met at the Deutsches Theater and decided to hold a demonstration for democratization and against the East German government. It was not the first meeting as on 7 October, the 40th anniversary of the German Democratic Republic, actors of the Volksbühne had invited their colleagues to discuss the political situation.
The application for a permit to hold a demonstration was submitted two days later to the authorities by Wolfgang Holz of the Berliner Ensemble.
The application was met with confusion by the SED and Stasi who could not decide whether to ban, allow or subvert the planned demonstration. After long deliberations the authorities decided on 26 October to permit the demonstration. A list of speakers was prepared by the organizers, including representatives of the regime, members of the opposition and artists. After having permitted the demonstration authorities tried to subvert the demonstration by spreading rumors – rumors such as that the Friedrichshain hospital is scheduling extra shifts for their doctors, that the German Reichsbahn will transport agent provocateur to Berlin or that the protesters are planning to march toward the Brandenburg Gate at the Berlin Wall. At the same time the organizers hired marshals who would wear a yellow sash with the words "No violence!".
On 4 November 1989 the demonstration started at 9:30 with a protest march to the Alexanderplatz in the center of East Berlin. At 11:00 the first protesters arrived at the Alexanderplatz. The more than 500,000 protesters came not only from East Berlin but from all over East Germany. Thousands of banners showed the slogans that were already used by hundred of thousands of protesters in other East German cities during the still illegal Monday demonstrations. Neither the opening of the Berlin wall nor a possible German reunification were among the demands. Instead the protesters concentrated on the democratization of East Germany, with references to paragraphs 27 and 28 of the East German constitution which in theory but not in practice guaranteed freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.
Stage actors Ulrich Mühe and Johanna Schall during the demonstration
The opening speeches were held by Marion van de Kamp, Johanna Schall, Ulrich Mühe and Jan Josef Liefers, who were stage actors from East Berlin. Ulrich Mühe, actor at the Deutsches Theater demanded in his speech the abolition of the first paragraph of the East German constitution which guaranteed the leading role of the Socialist Unity Party. In the next three hours a series of speakers voiced their demands for democratic reforms in East Germany. The three-hour-long demonstration was televised live on East German television, including the scenes of representatives of the regime being jeered and booed by the protesters.
Later the dissident Bärbel Bohley would say about Markus Wolf, former head of the East German foreign intelligence service and speaker during the demonstration:
| "When I saw that his hands were trembling because the people were booing I said to Jens Reich: We can go now, now it is all over. The revolution is irreversible." | |
The speakers were, in order of appearance: lawyer Gregor Gysi, Marianne Birthler of the opposition group Initiative for Peace and Human Rights, Markus Wolf, Jens Reich of the opposition group New Forum, LDPD politician Manfred Gerlach, actor Ekkehard Schall, SED Politburo member Günter Schabowski, writer Stefan Heym, theologian and dissident Friedrich Schorlemmer, writer Christa Wolf, actor Tobias Langhoff, film director Joachim Tschirner, dramatist Heiner Müller, university rector Lothar Bisky, university student Ronald Freytag, writer Christoph Hein, Hungarian student Robert Juhoras, and actress Steffie Spira.
Protesters referring to paragraph 27 and 28 of the East German constitution
The most often used protest slogan of the Monday demonstrations as well as the Alexanderplatz demonstration was "We are the people" (German:
Wir sind das Volk) which became "We are one people" (German:
Wir sind ein Volk) after the fall of the Berlin Wall, thus changing the nature of the demonstrations. Many other slogans and banners have been documented by photographs and by an exhibition in the Deutsches Historisches Museum:
- "Change without ifs and buts" ("Wende ohne wenn und aber")
- "Civil rights not only on paper" ("Bürgerrechte nicht nur auf Papier")
- "Rehabilitate Robert Havemann" ("Rehabilitiert Robert Havemann")
- "Privileges for all" ("Privilegien für alle")
- "Socialism yes, Egon no" ("Sozialismus ja, Egon nein")
- "No lies – new people" ("Keine Lügen – neue Leute")
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- "New thinking in old heads?" ("Neues Denken in alten Köpfen?")
- "Democracy for the SED" ("Demokratie für die SED")
- "No Nazi-methods in the penal system" ("Keine Nazimethoden im Strafvollzug")
- "Open door day in Wandlitz" ("Tag der offenen Tür in Wandlitz")
- "Independent labor union!" ("Unabhängige Gewerkschaft!")
- "40 years are enough" ("40 Jahre sind genug")
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This double cd features the speeches held at this demonstration.
The demonstration is also well documented on
youtube.
Berlin Alexanderplatz - 4.11.`89 - Die Kundgebung am Vorabend des Mauerfalls CD 1
Berlin Alexanderplatz - 4.11.`89 - Die Kundgebung am Vorabend des Mauerfalls CD 2
(256 kbps, cover art included)
