Christian F\u00fchrer, the Leipzig pastor who rallied East Germans to resist the injustice of the former communist system before reunification in 1990, died June 30 at a hospital in Leipzig. He was 71.<\/p>\n
The cause was lung disease, according to German news media.<\/p>\n
Starting in the early 1980s, Rev. F\u00fchrer organized \u201cpeace prayers\u201d every Monday in the city\u2019s Church of St. Nicholas, which became a focal point for East Germans engaged in peaceful protest against the regime of Erich Honecker.<\/p>\n
The nonviolent demonstrations that ensued in October 1989 led to Honecker\u2019s removal as leader and the appointment of Egon Krenz as his successor. The German Democratic Republic had its first free elections in March the following year, opening the way for reunification of East and West Germany.<\/p>\n
\u201cChristian F\u00fchrer was a bearer of hope to many people, both in his profession as a pastor and as one of the defining figures of the peace prayers in the Church of St. Nicholas as well as the Monday demonstrations in Leipzig that led to the peaceful revolution in East Germany,\u201d German President Joachim Gauck wrote Monday in a letter to Rev. F\u00fchrer\u2019s son, Sebastian.<\/p>\n
The Monday prayers at the Lutheran church culminated in a standoff between the resistance and Honecker\u2019s communist party, known in German as the SED, on Oct. 9, 1989. About 70,000 people protested in the streets after the Ministry for State Security arranged for Honecker loyalists to occupy more than 500 seats in the church during the prayer session.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always wanted also to move in the earthly realm,\u201d Rev. F\u00fchrer said in a 2008 interview with the New York Times. \u201cIt is not the throne and the altar, but the street and the altar that belong together.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Lutheran pastor, Christian F\u00fchrer, whose prayer meetings became a catalyst for the protests that overthrew Communism in East Germany died Monday at age 71. I was struck by this quotation from him:\u00a0 \u201cIt is not the throne and the altar, but the street and the altar that belong together.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s an interesting version of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,20],"tags":[541,679,2873,3237,2264],"class_list":["post-19311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church","category-history","tag-communism","tag-dissidents","tag-east-germany","tag-rev-christian-fuhrer","tag-two-kingdoms"],"yoast_head":"\n
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