Vigils for Peace

The vigils were triggered by the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine and the concerns it generated in Germany about conflict and war, but a primary focus has been the Federal Reserve System in the United States and its argued effects on the global economy and political events.

The vigils in Berlin were soon emulated by other activists in over 80 other cities in German-speaking countries, who used Facebook and social media to set the meeting times and locations.

[6] In May 2014, the Center for Technology and Society ("Zentrum Technik und Gesellschaft") at Technische Universität Berlin administered a survey of vigil participants.

[8] Some members of the Left Party, including Andrej Hunko, Heike Hänsel, Sabine Leidig, and Volker Külow, have argued that solidarity with the vigils is worthwhile.

However, on 25 and 26 May, the official federal party organ distanced itself from the vigils, arguing that the claimed participation of "right-wing populists, nationalists, conspiracy theorists, and anti-Semites" can serve to make Third Position strategies "socially acceptable".

Vigil for Peace in Hamburg , 23 June 2014
Sticker calling for participation in the Hamburg Vigil