About half a million people in nine East German cities took to the streets to demand democratic change on the eve of a trip by Egon Krenz to Moscow, his first foreign journey as the country's leader.
Also Monday, a leader of a party allied with the ruling Communists suggested a new political system is needed in which the Communists are no longer guaranteed primacy.Krenz, who rose to power nearly two weeks ago amid a rising din of demands for a more open society, was expected to hold talks with Mikhail S. Gorbachev on his government's approach to reform.
West Germany's ARD television network said Tuesday the latest figures show that about 500,000 East Germans mounted protest rallies Monday in the country of 16.6 million people.
Protests took place in Leipzig, Halle, Schwerin, Karl-Marx-Stadt, Cottbus, Magdeburg, Dresden, Poessnitz and East Berlin, according to East Germany's state-run news agency ADN.
In Leipzig alone, 300,000 people took to the streets. The city has about 650,000 residents, and large protests there have become almost a weekly ritual.
Activists said many marchers demanded that the Communist Party relinquish its monopoly on power. Witnesses also said the protesters carried signs demanding free elections and the legalization of opposition groups.
There were no reports of violence or arrests.