Leipzig – Peaceful Revolution – The Fall of ´89 in Leipzig – Private Walking Tour

The Berlin Wall opened on 9 November 1989, but the month that made it inevitable happened in Leipzig. This private walking tour follows the streets where that happened, with a guide who can explain not only what took place but what it cost the people who turned up. For clients who have already done the Berlin version of this story, Leipzig is where it becomes specific.

Where it started

The walk begins at the Nikolaikirche, the church at the centre of it all. Peace prayers had been held there on Monday evenings since the early 1980s, tolerated because they were small. Through the autumn of 1989 the congregation spilled into the square, and on 9 October some seventy thousand people walked the ring road around the old town while the security forces, hospitals and blood banks stood prepared for something else entirely. Nobody gave the order. Your guide walks that ring with your clients and explains, corner by corner, how close it came to going the other way, and why the phrase used afterwards was that the authorities had planned for everything except candles and prayers.

The state that was being resisted

The route also covers the machinery on the other side: the district headquarters of the Ministry for State Security, now a museum still furnished with its own filing systems, disguise kits and steaming devices for opening mail, and the buildings around Augustusplatz that carried the official face of the republic. The guide sets out how ordinary surveillance was, how many people informed, and what happened to those who did not. It is uncomfortable material, handled carefully, and guides here are practised at pitching it to the party in front of them rather than to a script.

How the tour works

• Private walking tour with an expert local guide; typically two to three hours
• Level ground throughout and short distances, so it suits guests of any age
• Depth and tone adjusted in advance – some parties want the politics, others the personal accounts
• Museum admissions are not included in the guiding rate and are quoted separately
• Available year-round; the commemorations around 9 October are a particularly resonant time to be in the city

Who books it and what follows

It suits historically minded travellers, guests old enough to remember 1989 on the news, and students of civil resistance – and it gives a city that is often treated as a stopover a reason to be a night. Leipzig is also Bach’s city, and the guide can add St. Thomas Church and the musical tradition to the same walk. The natural continuation is the meeting with survivors of the Stasi prison in Berlin, and the natural container is the five-day Eastern German Highlights tour. Related products are gathered in our Leipzig portfolio and our East Germany portfolio.