Wednesday 2 December 11:00 and Thursday 3 December 18:00 

Das Wunder von Leipzig – Wir sind das Volk
 The Miracle of Leipzig  

Leipzig in the autumn of 1989: thousands of East Germans take to the streets. They are demanding more freedom, civil rights, and democracy! The people are rising up in protest against a state which suppresses its own citizens, incites people to spy on each other and keeps them under constant surveillance. This autumn history is written on the streets of Leipzig. It is the story of party officials prepared to resort to violence and of people who overcome their fears. It is the story of nameless individuals whose courage changes the world and marks the beginning of the end of the East German state - and of the entire Eastern Bloc. It is the story of the “Miracle of Leipzig”.

Autumn 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the peaceful revolution of Leipzig. What began in September 1989 in St Nicholas’ church in Leipzig as prayers for peace develops within just a few weeks into the immensely powerful Monday demonstrations, calling for more freedom, reforms and free elections in the German Democratic Republic - though this revolution very nearly ended in catastrophe. The docu-drama The Miracle of Leipzig reconstructs the events. Eyewitnesses from both sides of the conflict, along with citizens of Leipzig, explain how they experienced these decisive weeks. They describe fears and hopes, courage and despair, conflicts and solidarity.