At the end of the 1980s, different ideas and opinions on the reform of the GDR are overlapping. The retention of the familiar, the reform of socialism, and even the annexation to the Federal Republic are more openly discussed.
In Lübben like other towns of the GDR, the Change – the political upheaval and change of system – is also looming before 9 November 1989. An ecumenical working group is founded here in summer 1989. In autumn, the New Forum is formed. It organizes Monday demonstrations in the district town of Lübben.
In the autumn of the same year, the SED district committee in Lübben partially gives in to the pressure of the population. They invite to talks between representatives of the party and citizens. The Coat-of-Arms Hall in Lübben Castle is one of the venues. But there is hardly a real one.
The protest takes place in the streets. The speeches at the marketplace, given from the loading platform of a Framo car, attract thousands of people. Another meeting place is the church in Steinkirchen, a part of Lübben, other meetings take place in private rooms.
The Change and the fall of the wall itself evoke different feelings among the people of Lübben. Joy or relief is often mixed with the fear of the professional future. The latter is not unfounded. In the months following the system change, many large employers are shut down, often with the involvement of the privatisation agency Treuhandanstalt. For a long time, there is a lack of contact persons, many people feel left alone in the new system. The authorities and offices of the GDR do no longer exist, the administration of the FRG is often incomplete, trained contact persons are missing.
