LEIPZIG, Germany — Christian Fuehrer has done this before.
Fourteen years ago, Fuehrer and the church he leads lighted the spark that ignited protests across East Germany by people sick of Communist repression. By the time Fuehrer's famous "Montagsdemos" -- Monday demonstrations -- were done, the Soviet-backed regime had fallen and with it the Berlin Wall.
Now, 60 but no less fiery, Fuehrer is pitting himself against another government he describes as power-hungry and oppressive, bent on inflicting needless misery on innocent thousands.
Not Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Rather, Fuehrer says, George W. Bush's America.
And so St. Nikolai Church's Montagsdemos are back in force, outpourings of protest that have pulled thousands of Leipzigers into the streets once again in the most sustained of Germany's many public displays of opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
"This is a war of aggression, and it's happening against the worldwide opposition of churches, against the will of the people of the world, [including in] countries that are leading the war," Fuehrer said. "People are seeing that it's a new kind of violence, with power being put above the law."
Since Christmas, Fuehrer's church has led prayers, vigils and protests for peace at least weekly and sometimes daily. What started as a small, candlelight event with 18 people on Dec. 25 grew exponentially, until tens of thousands of people showed up Thursday after the war began, turning Leipzig's historic stone streets into a flowing river of humanity, with rainbow flags flying and whistles blowing.
Influential City
When this city speaks, Germany -- and the rest of the world -- have often sat up and listened.
For several centuries, Leipzig's music and poetry captured national and international attention. Bach served as the cantor of St. Thomas Church from 1723 until his death in 1750. Goethe studied law and set part of "Faust" in the city. Felix Mendelssohn composed here; Richard Wagner was born here.
In the 20th century, the city went from a cultural mecca to a smoking ruin after Allied bombing campaigns during World War II. Under East Germany's Communist government, Leipzig deteriorated further into an industrial wasteland of drab apartment blocks and a rundown city center.
In 1982, at the soaring 12th century St. Nikolai Lutheran Church, where he had been installed as pastor just two years earlier, Fuehrer decided to start Monday night gatherings to pray for peace.
