According to public opinion polls, after the fall of the Wall, an independent German Democratic Republic was initially favored not only by East German intellectuals but also by many East German citizens as well. But when East Germans compared their living conditions with those in the West, and when fears arose that the political system in the GDR would not undergo quick and fundamental change, there was a rapid shift in public opinion. The photograph shows demonstrators at a "Monday demonstration" in Leipzig on December 11, 1989 with posters demanding unification: "Wir wollen 1 neues Deutschland" [We demand 1 new Germany.]