In the mid-1980s, around 1,700 un-renovated apartments stood empty in Pirna, 400 of them in the old town. Individual particularly badly dilapidated houses were demolished in the period that followed, for example a house on the southeast corner of the market square and the so-called "Kern’sche Haus" in the "Burgstraße". When in 1989 the "Teufelserkerhaus" was to be torn down as part of demolition measures in the old town, public demonstrations happened with people shouting “Save Pirna”. From this circle, the "Kuratorium Altstadt" (literally "Old Town Board of Trustees") was formed, which provided outstanding services during the period of reconstruction which began after the fall of the Berlin wall.