(Minghui.org) Practitioners held activities in several cities between April 24 and 25 to commemorate the April 25 Appeal 26 years ago. They also submitted letters to the Chinese Embassy and Consulates urging the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to stop persecuting Falun Dafa. The events were held in Berlin, and Frankfurt in central Germany, Düsseldorf in the west, and Munich in the south.

A practitioner reads an open letter to Chinese Consulate staff in Düsseldorf on April 25, 2025

After several dozen practitioners were arrested in Tianjin in April 1999, about 10,000 practitioners went to the State Council’s Central Appeals Office on April 25, 1999, to request their release. They followed the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, were very peaceful, and did not shout slogans or hold banners. The police were very relaxed and the detained practitioners were released later that day.

The peaceful appeal in 1999 was viewed as one of the largest and most peaceful appeals in Chinese history. However, the CCP started to persecute Falun Gong several months later in July 1999 and the suppression has continued since then.

In the letters submitted to the Chinese Embassy and Consulates, practitioners explained how the Falun Gong benefits society through five sets of exercises and teachings centered on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. By reviewing the peaceful appeal 26 years ago and the brutality against Falun Gong in these years, practitioners urged officials to follow their conscience instead of blindly following the CCP and doing bad deeds.

Practitioners held an event on Jannowitz Bridge near the Chinese Embassy in Berlin on April 25

Across the street from the Chinese Embassy in Berlin, practitioners had group exercises on Jannowitz Bridge on April 25, 2025. Some passersby asked about Falun Gong.

A practitioner talks about Falun Gong.

Activity in front the Chinese Consulate in Düsseldorf on April 25

In addition to the exercise demonstration near the Chinese Consulate in Düsseldorf, practitioners also read an open letter to Chinese officials.

Event in front the Chinese Consulate in Munich on April 24

A practitioner reads an open letter in front of the Chinese Consulate in Munich.

Activity in front of Chinese Consulate in Frankfurt on April 25, 2025

Two practitioners submitted an open letter to the Chinese Consulate in Frankfurt.

Background: What Is the April 25 Appeal?

Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries worldwide. Millions of people have embraced the teachings—which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance as well as five gentle exercises—and experienced improved health and well-being.

On April 23 & 24, 1999, police officials in Tianjin, a city near Beijing, assaulted and arrested dozens of practitioners who had gathered outside a magazine office to discuss errors in a recently-published article attacking Falun Dafa. As word spread of the arrests and more practitioners inquired with officials, they were told they had to take their appeals to Beijing.

The following day, April 25, some 10,000 Falun Dafa practitioners spontaneously gathered at the Central Appeals office in Beijing, as they had been instructed by Tianjin officials. The gathering was peaceful and orderly. Several Falun Dafa representatives were called in to meet with Chinese Premier, Zhu Rongji, and members of his staff. That evening, practitioners' concerns were answered. The arrested practitioners in Tianjin were released and everyone went home.

Jiang Zemin, former head of the CCP, perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology and issued an order to ban Falun Dafa on July 20, 1999.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners due to the persecution over the years; the actual number is suspected to be much higher. More have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.

There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply the organ transplant industry.