This morning we did Leipzig, primarily the Thomas and Nicholas churches. Johann Sebastian Bach was music director and is buried at the Thomaskirche but introduced most of his most famous work at the Nikolaikirche. I learned something new, that Felix Mendelson rediscover the work of J.S. Bach and without him it likely would have been forgotten forever. All very fascinating but what intrigued me the most was the recounting of the peace prayer service at the Nikolaikirche which grew to 70,000 on October 9, 1989. The police were supposed to crack down that Monday with guns to put an end to this movement, but as the protesters and prayers filled the Platz holding candles and sheilding the flames from the wind they gave no excuse for the police and troops to open fire. The DDR (East Germany) fell one month later in the peaceful revolution that resulted a year later in the reunification of Germany. It was special to be in the place where such a pivotal moment of history in my lifetime was made.
Tonight we are in Wittenberg.
Jeff Silvernail
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