On October 7, 1989, the 40th birthday of the GDR, it was still quiet in Waren (Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district). Loud protests against the GDR government are already raging in Berlin and Leipzig. The police and Stasi are cracking down on the demonstrators. The next day, the riot also grips the town on the Müritz - at first very hesitantly. In a rear building on Langen Strasse, a small group of people who want to make a difference meet in the living room of vicar Christoph de Boer. It is the beginning of the Peaceful Revolution in today's Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. Thousands have taken to the streets in almost every major city in the Northeast in the coming weeks. The churches are at the heart of the movement.
"Something has to happen now"
"Fear played a big role back then," de Boer later recalled the events of the fall of the fall in Waren. "But linked to the will:Something has to happen now. Even if they arrest us all afterwards." Just a week later, 100 people are standing on the doorstep of the de Boers. The group moves to a room in the Marienkirche.
Tell what needs to change
"The main focus was on being able to tell stories - for example what needs to be changed in the GDR," said the vicar. "That was really great. All of a sudden, very different people wanted something in common, namely a changed, liberal German Democratic Republic," says the community educator at the time, Martina Domann. "In the beginning we didn't want the West at all."
The group is growing and growing
The first meetings took place in Vicar Christoph de Boer's living room.Another week later, at the next meeting, the community room is bursting at the seams. The group moves again - to the Marienkirche. Church workers, teachers, doctors, environmentalists and craftsmen sit close to you on the wooden benches. The group has grown to 300 people. Party comrades are seen among them for the first time. "It was probably clear to everyone that this is the place where you can vent," says Domann. The teacher Christiane Scherfig still remembers the spirit of optimism that was palpable. "I think everyone who was there for the first time felt extremely brave."
From Church to Church:The First Demonstration
In addition, there are intercession services every Monday in the Georgenkirche in Waren - as in other cities. On October 16, 1989, 400 participants parade through the city with candles - from the Georgenkirche to the Marienkirche. Observed by the Stasi. It is the first demonstration in the country. De Boer still remembers the reaction of the passers-by on the side of the street:not a trace of enthusiasm. "But rather silence, restraint, skeptical looks." Not everyone in Waren is ready to go yet.
Lighting candles in solidarity
Nevertheless, the movement is gaining strength:more and more people are joining in from week to week. Those who don't do so put burning candles in the window out of solidarity. Soon it no longer goes to church, but to the market square. People are now showing their displeasure in public. They hold up protest posters.
Debate with "red heads" in the gym forum
The Sunday meetings in St. Mary's Church also continue. The city is officially asking for larger rooms. The group moves again. From St. Mary's Church to a gymnasium on Feldstrasse, this is intended to encourage more people to take part in the discussions. The hall eventually becomes the new center of the movement. The "gym forum", as it is now called, is well organized.
Numerous topics such as nature conservation, electoral laws or education are debated in a number of working groups. "We sat there with red heads," says Scherfig. "Back then, nobody seriously wanted to rebuild the GDR from goods," says de Boer. "But to make it clear that it's not just people in Leipzig and other cities who say:We don't want that anymore. You can no longer do whatever you want up there."
Tens of thousands march through the streets of the northeast
The movement can no longer be stopped in all three northern districts of the GDR. On October 18, 3,000 people in Neubrandenburg march from the Johanneskirche to the market square. A week later it's already 30,000. In Rostock, the later Federal President Joachim Gauck, then a pastor, calls for the first demonstration. On October 19, 7,000 people march through the city center from the Marienkirche. Protests also flare up in Schwerin. The socialist leadership is still attempting to sabotage a New Forum call for a demonstration on October 23 by holding its own rally at the same time and place. When the civil rights activists are not allowed to speak there, they set off from the Old Garden - with candles in hand. Thousands of people follow them.
Future-oriented developments are initiated
The later Federal President Joachim Gauck called for a demonstration in Rostock in October 1989. (archive image)The discussions in the "gymnasium forum" and the churches are not without consequences in Waren either. The forum later occupies the Stasi headquarters in Waren, contributes to the establishment of the Müritz National Park and takes over Honecker's state hunt. "If someone wants to learn democracy today, they should beam themselves to the gymnasium on Feldstrasse in 1989. You can learn it there. It was an exciting time," says Scherfig.