Leipzig (dpa/sn) - Hundreds of people took to the streets in Leipzig on Monday to send a signal for democracy and human rights. According to initial police estimates, around 1,500 people came in the evening, said a police spokeswoman at the request of the German Press Agency. Various clubs, parties, organizations and companies as well as the singer of the Leipzig band Prinzen, Sebastian Krumbiegel, called for the event. The rallies were consistently peaceful, it said.
The demonstrators spread out along the inner city ring of the trade fair city to make it shine with white umbrellas lit from below. According to the organizers, they had expected several thousand people.
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 - including on the Leipzig inner city ring road. Members of right-wing extremist groups also took part in "Monday walks". Radical left-wing groups also called for protests. There were always riots at the events.
With the event on January 30, the organizers in Leipzig tied in with historical events. On that day in 1933, the National Socialists seized power in Germany. During GDR times in 1989, numerous people protested against the SED regime on the Ring on Mondays. The Wall fell a few weeks after the largest Monday demonstration on October 9th in Leipzig.
