Leipzig - the City in East Germany - is where it all begun

Source: Website of St. Nicholas Church in Leipzig

Recently, my family and I went back to Germany for a short vacation. Traditionally, we always take a trip to Leipzig. Leipzig has about 500,000 inhabitants and is situated in Saxony about 120 miles Southwest of Berlin.

Already in 1813, Leipzig played a prominent role in world history. In the Battle of the Nations (also known as the Battle of Leipzig), Napoleon suffered one of his greatest defeats which led to his downfall and marked an important turning point in history.

In October 1989, another memorable turning point in history was initiated in Leipzig. What begun with hundreds of people gathering for peace prayers in the Nikolaikirche (St. Nicholas Church), turned into hundreds of thousands of people by the end of October 1989. Each Monday after the church service, masses of people would then march peacefully through the city of Leipzig and chant "Wir sind das Volk" or "We are the people!". Not only gathered people in Leipzig, but also in other East German cities to demonstrate against the socialist regime.

The protesters, especially those in Leipzig, walked on the fringe of a violent escalation. Security forces were alarmed and ready to intervene. Hospitals were prepared for the worst case stashing away blood for potential casualties. Luckily, the leaders in East Berlin did not give orders to end this movement with brute force.

The Monday demonstrations (known as "Montagsdemos") increased the pressure on the East German government vehemently. This internal pressure ultimately led to the Fall of the Wall on November 9, 1989.

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How one American experienced East Germany

Hello my name is Joseph and I lived almost 14 years in Berlin. The first time in 1987, when the Wall was still standing. I lived in an "occupied" house (aka "squat") in Kreuzberg, directly next to the Wall. When I looked out my bedroom window I would see the guard in the watchtower direct his binoculars at me. I must say, after a while, it became totally "normal" for me, that there be a wall dividing a city. How ideological can people get, anyway? Utterly fascinating! I can think of some funny stories, like when we moved out of one of our flats we found it easier to throw our old sofa over the Wall than to just leave it for the Staatreinigung (city sanitation). There was already enough trash in that neighborhood, so why not simply get a gang of guys together and make a statement, "Weg mit dem Scheißding" [Get rid of the f-ing thing]. I had moved to Berlin after having studied German in Munich. What a contrast between Kreuzberg and Munich! Crass!!!

About 9 months later I returned to the U.S. and moved for 4 1/2 years to California. I'll never forget that morning when the Wall "fell": I came into work, and there was a 9-hour time difference between California and Germany. A German colleague came to me and asked, "Did you hear about the Berlin Wall?" And I countered, "No." My curiosity was peaked. When he told me that the border points between East and West had been opened, and that there were people literally dancing on the Wall and partying in the streets, I at first looked at him like this was some sort of joke. Only after his serious convincing did I believe him, and promptly walked into my boss's office and immediately requested vacation. I flew that evening with a flight on BA leaving just after work, and connected to Hamburg. When I arrived in Hamburg, we were surprised because that City was filled with "Ossis" (nickname for East Germans), too. But, we were more interested in driving to Berlin. I have a picture of me sitting on top of a car in front of the Reichstag when we finally arrived in Berlin. It was like one huge street party, and whole city gone crazy with utter joy. I stayed a few days and had to go back to work.

Little did I know, that just a few years later, I would move there for most of my adult life! At a certain point, I met a girl from Berlin, whose boyfriend offered me a job in my field of specialization: IT for the travel industry. One year prior to this, I had married a girl from Hamburg (we've been divorced since 1998). So in 1992, I sold almost everything I owned and moved to Berlin. I lived there until 2004, so 12 1/2 year this time. It was AMAZING witnessing the transition and metamorphosis of a city. I'll be happy to relate those special times, and I'm glad to have been there first hand twice to see history in the making: first, the "Fall", then the "Transformation" that followed the initial euphoria.

Stay tuned, friends. I'll write more soon.

Thanks!
Joseph

Why East Germany was Looking for Freedom

"I've been looking for freedom", by David Hasselhoff was one of the most popular songs in 1989. The timing for this song could not have been more perfect. It captured the spirit of 1989. The following video is the best recording that I found from that night of New Year's Eve in 1989. From talking to people in the USA, this song did not seem to be as popular in the US.



Millions of people in East Germany and other East block countries were desperately looking for freedom and for change. For me, three types of freedom stood out:

Freedom of Speech
"But don't tell anyone at school!" said my mom. I must have been 8 years old. I saw a news cast about politics on West German TV, which we were not supposed to watch. I told my mom about it. It must have been something critical about the East. My mom did not want me to tell what I had seen at school. The Stasi, the Ministry for State Security, had its ears and eyes everywhere. The parents of my classmates could have been potentially involved with the Stasi and reported suspicious behaviors. Also, teachers could have been Stasi spies. It could have been anyone: neighbors, co-workers, wives, husbands... One could never feel safe and always had to watch what one said.

Freedom of Assembly
Stopping the formation of resistance groups or movements was one of the top priorities of the socialist regime. Even seemingly harmless church groups or peaceful movements came under scrutiny. The system was everywhere. It was powerful, strong, and very effective in maintaining an inner equilibrium. In the late 1980ies, however, the equilibrium went out of balance. The number of people longing for a change was too big. It's very likely that the system itself lost the beliefe in Socialism.

Freedom of Travel
My uncle left East Germany before the Wall was entirely completed. He was one of our few relatives that lived in the West. Unfortunately, it was not very easy to visit him in West Germany. East Germany imposed very strict travel restrictions. One was not at liberty to decide when to go to the West and for how long. Everything was regulated. The government was aware of the drastic differences between the East and the West. They were afraid losing their people to the West. If they let someone visit West Germany for example, the government had to be sure that there were compelling reasons for people to return. Travelling to other East block countries was a little bit easier. Since 1972, one could even travel to Poland and the Czech Republic without visa.

The longing for these three basic forms of freedom was probably the most decisive driver of change. If it was not for the thousands of brave men and women who stood up against the regime, especially in 1989, the Change might have come later. But I am very certain it would have come eventually.

IG

Why East Germans Craved Material Things

We could have been perfectly happy from a materialistic point of view if we had not had "West TV". We were lucky (or unlucky) to live close enough to West Berlin which broadcasted the two public West German TV stations ARD and ZDF. Both were our window to the other world. On TV, we saw how life was in the West. Watching TV made the contrast between East and West very apparent and inflamed a strong material desire. Even though, we had similar products, there were some very distinct differences between the goods available in the West and the goods available in the East.

The first difference was pricing. In the planned market economy, the federal government defined retail prices. Here are a few examples of how the federal government set the prices in East Germany. The prices are in East German Mark (M). 1 EUR = ~2 DM = ~10 M.

Price Product Name

0.05 M    Bread Rolls (Broetchen)
0.08 M    Electricity (price per kWh)
<1.00 M    Loaf of Bread
2.55 M    Gallon of Milk
2.40 M    250g butter (2 American Sticks of butter)
~5.70 M    1 gallon of gasoline (1.50 M / liter)
16.00 M    LP (music album)
70.00 M    Monthly rent for 60m² (645 square feet)

400 M   Digital watch
>1,000 M    Sony-Walkman
1,900 M    Moped (Simson S51)
~3,000 M    Washing machine
4,500-8,300M   Color TV
~10,000 M   Trabant Standard Edition, smallest and most affordable car model
~25,000 M   Wartburg 353, one step up
~35,000 M   Lada Samara
~45,000 M   Volvo 244

(More prices at http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einzelhandelsverkaufspreis and http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_(DDR))

You will notice that prices for basic need products such as food, transportation, energy, and shelter were extremely low. That is because the government heavily subsidized these products. Prices for consumer products such as TVs, washing machines, and cars were disproportionately high. However, with a monthly income between 500 and 1,000 M, not out of reach.

The second difference was availability of consumer products. In order to buy a car, for example, one either had to wait very long or had to rely on "connections". Because of production shortages for cars, it took up to 15 year from order to delivery. In the black market, used cars often sold for more than the retail price. One closing remark regarding availability. Contrary to common belief, we really had enough to eat in the East. Food supply was not an issue.

The third difference was product innovation. Like price, product development was driven by the federal government and not by consumer needs or demand. Cars provide a very striking example for the lack of innovation in the East. I am sure our engineers would have had the ability to innovate, but the socialist system limited their freedoms. The following chart illustrates the difference of 40 years of car development between the East and the West.


40 Years of Car Innovation

Notice how little the Trabant changed in 40 years. Compare this to the innovation leap at VW from the VW Beetle to the VW Golf.

The fourth difference was product variety. Continuing with the car example, there were only a handful of car brands on the market in East Germany. The same was true for cameras, TVs, digital watches, chocolate, coffee, beer, career options, etc.. The good thing about having limited options is that it made life simpler. The bad thing is that one can not fully satisfy individual preferences and is not able to learn to make decisions in more complex situations. Consider an example from today's world. Picking the right breakfast cereal out of 30-50 different types requires some decision-making skill. One has to know the individual preferences (strawberry flavor, crunchy texture, little sugar, whole wheat, organic, etc.) and has to stay on top of health trends. In a way, the more variety, the more responsibility for the customer to decide for right product. (More about psychological aspects of life behind and beyond the Iron Curtain in another article.)

Differences in pricing models, product availability, product innovation, and product variety led to a strong material desire for West products. Expressing and fulfilling this desire was one of the drivers for the Change that happened in 1989.

IG

Thousands of East Germans waited in Prague to leave for West Germany

Pivotal Moments of German History (Part 1)

More and more East Germans tried to escape their home country through Hungary to Austria and then West Germany. Others tried to escape through the Czech Republic.

Starting in August 1989, hundreds and later thousands of East Germans sought refuge in the West German Embassy in Prague. I remember watching TV and seeing people climbing the fence to get into the embassy. The inside was crowed with people and tents and the outside with hundreds of abandoned cars.

People were both afraid of the consequences of their attempt to escape and hopeful to start a new, free, and better life in the West. One could feel the immense tension even through TV.

In September, the conditions at the embassy worsened. There were not nearly enough sanitary facilities to accommodate several thousands of people. Supply became a growing issue. Bad weather made the situation even more dramatic.

The night of September 30, 1989 would decide the fate of 4,000 refugees. At an UN General Assembly, former Foreign Secretaries of West Germany, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, and the Soviet Union, Eduard Schewardnadse, negotiated a deal. Genscher returned from New York to address the waiting people from East Germany in Prague. Genscher stepped on the balcony to announce his famous words:




„Liebe Landsleute,
wir sind zu Ihnen gekommen,
um Ihnen mitzuteilen,
dass heute Ihre Ausreise...“

"Dear fellow countrymen,
we have come to you
to tell you
that today your departure..."

After the keyword "departure" exclamations of pure joy and relieve. The most famous half sentence in German History changed not only the lives of the refugees in Prague but also the lives of millions of others in the East. 4,000 people escaped to West Germany by train. Nine days later the borders were opened and people were free to leave or stay.

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