1989 - The end of the Cold War: the coming down of the Berlin wall (00:09:10)
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On June 27, 1989, Hungary removed its border restrictions with Austria, and in September more than 13,000 East Germans escaped through Hungary . Mass demonstrations against the government in East Germany began in the fall of 1989. The leader of East Germany , Erich Honecker, resigned on October 18, 1989. He was replaced by a short-lived successor, Egon Krenz, a few days later. The travel restrictions for East Germans were lifted somewhat by the new government on November 9, 1989. After a misunderstanding, Günter Schabowski announced in a press conference, televised live on East German state TV, that all restrictions had been abandoned. Upon this news spreading, tens of thousands of people immediately went to the Wall, where they quickly became a major crowd control problem for the surprised and overwhelmed border guards. Many hectic telephone calls and much to and fro with the guards superiors ensued while still more people kept converging on the major crossing points. It eventually became clear that there was little way to hold back these huge numbers of East German citizens as the vastly outnumbered border guards had only been equipped for another day of regular duty. The masses could also not be convinced to turn back or calm down — they had heard of Mr. Schabowskis statement and they wanted it to be acted upon. Probably the only way to hold the crowds back would have been use of lethal force, but this would have meant massacring the countrys own citizens in huge numbers — which at that point the guards and authorities were simply not willing to do. In face of the escalating crowd safety situation the guards eventually just yielded, opening the access points and allowing people through with (at most) minimal identity verification checks. The ecstatic East Berliners were soon greeted by jubilant West Berliners on the other side in an all-out party atmosphere. November 9 is thus considered the date the Wall fell.

Keywords:

communism Otto von Habsburg Germany Brandenburg Gate Picnic from Sopron GDR citizens wall is open end of the Cold War Erich Joachim Apitz Egon Krenz Günter Schabowski Rainer Eppelmann demonstration Berlin GDR Communism video footage Hans-Dietrich Genscher Berlin wall Prague Federal German Embassy end of the GDR coming down of the Berlin wall Honecker Honecker video footage Gorbachev 1989

Schabowski, Günter

(Central Committee at the end of the cold war) , speaking German:
-  "It was a blunder. I assume the people who composed the text wanted to write a closed deadline. Which would have been 4am. So at 4 in the morning, when everybody was still asleep, the radio was supposed to have announced that there was no obstacle for any travel abroad. "

Schabowski, Günter

(Central Committee at the end of the cold war) , speaking German:
-  "People travelling privately abroad can make an application without any explanation, like having family relationships or such, as it used to be before. Permission will be granted promptly. "

Schabowski, Günter

(Central Committee at the end of the cold war) , speaking German:
-  "By the end of the Central Committee meeting, Krenz gave me a paper and said: we discussed the case over and over again, and it is a regulation instead of a law, which takes effect immediately. I suggest to announce it tonight. I am sure, it will „blow up like a bomb“."

Krenz, Egon

(President of the state commission of Eastern-Germany ) , speaking German:
-  "At that time, I thought that we must be able to make some connection to reforms in the Soviet Union - obviously with German specifications – and that we could reform East Germany in this manner.."

Apitz, Joachim

(inhabitant of Leipzig) , speaking German:
-  "We were absolutely terrified. People were so close to each other, that everyone stepped on other people‘s feet, since this close distance gave us a feeling of security. With this scary feeling we started to shout: We don’t want violence, we are the people, Gorbi! Gorbi! Join us! "

Genscher, Hans Dietrich

(then Minister of Foreign Affairs) , speaking German:
-  "I am here to announce that as of today, you are now free to go abroad."

Genscher, Hans Dietrich

(then Minister of Foreign Affairs) , speaking German:
-  "Essentially the situation was much worse than we imagined. The people were squeezed together. Many of them were looking at me questioning, others already might have lost their hope, since they had expected good news long before. And when the news arrived, oh well…, the situation explains itself, why people reacted that intensely…"

Eppelmann, Rainer

(Civil rights activist at the end of the cold war) , speaking German:
-  "If I said that this night, for me, was like God helped us, then I can say: it was a miracle!"