On 9 October 1989, in the Democratic Republic of Germany, in Leipzig, tens of thousands of people gather in churches before invading the streets. Despite the 8,000 policemen mobilized by the East German regime that night, the inhabitants of this northwestern town of Saxony are no longer afraid to speak out. They crave freedom and change.
In the following weeks, the demonstrations will multiply and reach the other cities of the country. A month later, the Wall collapses in Berlin. This is the end of the GDR and the beginning of Germany's reunification process.
Thirty years after these events that have tipped history, Leipzig is among the most flourishing cities of the former GDR. However, the standard of living, wages and pensions are even lower than in the West, and the trauma of the forced march in the 1990s from a planned economy to a market economy remains palpable.
According to a poll published earlier this year, 66% of people in Saxony feel they are second-class citizens. The far right is gaining ground, so that three decades later, activists in 1989 who mobilized at the time against the Wall militant today against racism and nationalism.
>> See also: "Thirty years after the fall of the Wall, more and more 'ghosts' are resettling in the East"