The opening and fall of the Wall

At 6:57 p.m., at the end of a press conference being televised live on 9 November 1989, Günter Schabowski, the GDR Central Committee member responsible for the media, made an initially unclear, passing reference to a new travel regulation for GDR citizens.

In response to the persistent demands of GDR citizens, the SED leadership had published a draft bill for a travel law on November 6; initially, only the section on permanent exit (with no right of return) was to go into effect. This law was intended to stop the mass departure of people fleeing the country via Czechoslovakia, but was rejected by the population as totally inadequate. Under the pressure of current events, especially the demonstrations taking place in Leipzig and Berlin, the new regulation was thoroughly revised on the morning of November 9. It now also included a provision on visits for private travel, although travelers would still need visas. Due to mistakes in communication and a lack of information, however, Schabowski ended up announcing the new regulation earlier than planned during his press conference.

Questioned by journalists, Schabowski said that private trips abroad could be applied for “without proof of eligibility, reasons for travel, or family ties.” Permission would be granted on short notice. In response to repeated questions, he confirmed that, as far as he knew, the regulation was to go into effect immediately.

After West Germany’s ARD news show had broadcast Schabowski’s announcement as its lead story at 8:00 p.m., more and more East Berliners started turning up at the checkpoints on the border to West Berlin, ready to exercise their new right to travel. Because the regulation was released prematurely, the border guards had not yet been informed, and the scene was initially one of complete chaos.

At 9:20 p.m., in order to relieve some of the pressure created by the crowds, the guards at the Bornholmer Strasse checkpoint let the first few people leave for West Berlin, although the head of the passport control units had their passports stamped invalid, expatriating the passport holders without their knowledge. At 11:30 p.m., however, the crowds Film 13,31 MB had grown to such dimensions that he – still without official orders – finally raised the barrier. In the hour that followed, around 20,000 people were able to cross the Bösebrücke bridge without being checked. Later that evening, the rest of the crossing points inside the city were opened. On this night, the peaceful revolution underway in the GDR and the political changes taking place in Eastern Europe had succeeded in opening the Berlin Wall.

Formalities were abandoned Film 1.36 MB at the crossing points into West Berlin in the next few days, too. The entire city was delirious with happiness; the party went on for days on Kurfürstendamm, West Berlin’s largest shopping area; and many restaurants handed out free drinks to the visitors. After more than 28 years, the Wall had lost its power to terrify.

In the days and weeks to come, more and more crossing points were created between the two halves of the city, including at Brandenburg Gate on 22 December 1989. The part of the Wall that ran through the middle of the city was torn down between June and November 1990. Souvenir hunters from all over the world had managed to obtain a piece of this symbol of the Cold War in the meantime. Nowadays the former course of the Wall can be traced along 20 kilometers running through the heart of the city, marked in some places by a red line and in others by a double row of cobblestones set into the street. The depth of the border strip and the construction of the border fortifications can best be visualized at the Wall memorial on Bernauer Strasse.