|
Leipzig’s
Monument to Freedom and Unity: Competition to be conducted for
the Monument to the Peaceful Revolution
1989
On 9th October
2011, the 22nd anniversary of the Peaceful Revolution of 1989,
the City of Leipzig will hold an open application process for
a Monument to Freedom and Unity.
In 2008, the German
Bundestag assigned the Federal Government to erect a monument
to freedom and unity not only in Berlin, but also in the City
of Leipzig.
Monday
demonstration, 27.11.1989, ©: LTS-Kühne
The protest march
of 70.000 people in Leipzig on 9th October 1989 triggered the
breakthrough of the Peaceful Revolution in the GDR and cleared
the road to German unity. The Leipzig Monument to Freedom and
Unity is to be a national monument which transcends over the
City through its location, stature and significance. It is to
address a wide democratic public and above all, future
generations through its political and artistic
demands.
In May 2011,
Leipzig City Council designated Wilhelm-Leuschner-Platz as the
location for the monument, directly on the Leipziger Ring,
where the demonstration took place in 1989. The Leipzig
Monument to Freedom and Unity is to be inaugurated on 9th
October 2014 in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the
Peaceful Revolution in what will be the newly named ´Platz der
Friedlichen Revolution`.
Aerial view:
Wilhelm-Leuschner-Platz (©: ATKIS® -DOP, ©GeoSN
2009)
"The 9th October
1989 moves us all", said Burkhard Jung, Lord Mayor of Leipzig.
“On that day in Leipzig world history was made. The
non-violent march of 70.000 around the Promenadenring marked
the break through. The Peaceful Revolution strengthened the
self-deliverance of Eastern Europe and established the unity
of Germany”.
©: Leipzig 1989:
child on his father’s shoulder. Image by
LTM/Eckstein
Minister of Culture
Bernd Neumann said: “The Leipzig Monument is to remind us of
the Peaceful Revolution and of the civil courage shown by the
people of East Germany. The non-violent protest of tens of
thousands in Leipzig on 9thOctober brought about the
breakthrough for political change in the GDR. The courage
shown by the citizens of Leipzig and other cities, brought
about the fall of the SED regime. That we now live in freedom
and a unified Germany is thanks to those citizens. The
monument will be erected here in Leipzig it being one of the
most important areas of the revolution. It is however to stand
as a symbol for the complete Peaceful Revolution in the
GDR".
The symbolic value
is one of the main objectives for Saxony. "As German history
teaches us, Peace and freedom should not be taken for granted.
Courageous men and women overthrew a communist dictatorship in
Autumn 1989. They paved the way to democracy in a unified
Germany. The Monument to Freedom and Unity will be there to
permanently remind us of that", said Dr. Johannes Beermann,
the Head of State Chancellery in Saxony.
Artists, architects
and landscape architects from all over the world are invited
to submit an application by 16th December 2011 at the latest.
40 applicants/teams will then be chosen to take part in the
restricted competition according to RPW 2008 (guide lines for
planning competitions). The selection of participants will be
carried out by the client of Leipzig in consultation with a
selection committee consisting of external
experts.
The financial
framework for the whole project is 6.5 million euro, of which
5 million euro will be from the Government and 1.5 million
euro from the Free State of Saxony. A gross amount of 175.000
euro will be available for the competition.
Lars Loebner, City
Planning Office
Tel. ++49 341 123
4834
| 
