Leipzig Commemorates 25 Years Since 1989 Mass Protests

LEIPZIG, GERMANY - OCTOBER 09: People, walking along the same route marched by 70,000 protesters demanding freedom 25 years before, stop to watch one of many performances commemorating the 25th anniversary of the mass protests in Leipzig that preceded the fall of the communist government of East Germany on October 9, 2014 in Leipzig, Germany. On October 9, 1989, following weeks of protests that had resulted in beatings and arrests by police, 70,000 protesters demanding greater freedom marched unopposed through the city in a historic event that signaled the beginning of the end of the communist government's authority. Only a month later the infamous Berlin Wall fell, breaking the near isolation of East Germans under communist dictatorship. Revolutions continued to sweep across Eastern Europe and within months all of the communist governments collapsed. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)