With a view to the regular Monday demonstrations, the frontman of the band Die Prinzen, Sebastian Krumbiegel, called for people to take a stand for democracy and human rights. “I am – also with the experience from 1989 – convinced that we can do a lot together,” said the singer of the band from Leipzig in an interview with the German Press Agency. According to Krumbiegel, participants in the so-called Monday walks represent racist and exclusionary opinions, not basic democratic and liberal values.
In the past few months, protests have taken place regularly, especially in East German cities, which were directed, among other things, against the measures taken during the pandemic or the policy after the outbreak of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. Members of right-wing extremist groups also took part in “Monday walks”. Radical left groups also called for protests. There were always riots at the events.
After the start of the corona pandemic, a “weird mix” of different people took to the streets to protest, said Krumbiegel. “It wasn’t like that before. There were these so-called patriots against the Islamization of the West, who stood up against foreign infiltration.” It is important to take people’s concerns seriously: “I always try to shake hands,” said the musician. However, among the demonstrators there were also violent, anti-Semitic, racist and anti-gay people, from whom it was important to distance oneself. This is one of the reasons why it is important to point out to the demonstrators who they are on the street with.
Together with clubs, parties, organizations and companies, Krumbiegel called for a demonstration on January 30 – the day the National Socialists seized power in 1933. According to the organizers, they expect several thousand participants. With white umbrellas illuminated from below with flashlights, the ring along Leipzig’s city center is to be made to glow. During the GDR era in 1989, numerous people protested there against the SED regime on Mondays. The Wall fell a few weeks after the largest Monday demonstration on October 9th in Leipzig.
