The second half of the 20th century in Europe was one marked by the division of the continent. The democratic states of Western Europe stood opposite the communist regime under the dominating leadership of the Soviet Union. There was always resistance to be found in Middle and Eastern Europe; the popular uprising in East Germany on June 17, 1953, the violently suppressed Hungarian revolution, the 1956 Workers' Uprising in Posen and the failed Prague Spring of 1968 to name just a few major examples.

The Polish freedom movement Solidarność taking place in Poland in the early 1980's, was the initiator of the developments which finally led to the, for the most part, peaceful revolutions in the countries of Middle and Eastern Europe. East Germany's own peaceful revolution is therefore a part of greater European history and the self-liberation from the communist regime in 1989/90 is a European phenomenon.

In Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and the Baltic states: people took to the streets everywhere in order to demand democracy and freedom. Just as the public's protest in the GDR led to major changes within Germany including democracy and reunification, the mainly peaceful revolutions in all of Europe formed the continent anew and are an important part of the European identity. In the past years, the peaceful revolution has increasingly established itself as a central date in German national history in the minds of its people. For this reason, the developments which took place here and in neighboring Middle and Eastern European countries and which led to self-liberation from the communist dictatorship shall remain the focus in Leipzig until the 25th anniversary of the peaceful revolution. In 2011, the main focus is on our neighboring country Poland with Hungary following in 2012 and the Czech Republic in 2013.