Berlin Wall: The Border Opening of November 1989
On the evening of November 9, 1989, East Germans gathered at border checkpoints after hearing that travel restrictions had changed. Guards telephoned their superiors while crowds demanded passage into West Berlin. By late evening, crossings were opening, and people from both sides celebrated together. The Berlin Wall ceased to function as a political barrier that day, and during the night crowds began taking it apart. Photographs of people gathered at the wall on November 10 captured the celebrations after the opening. German reunification followed by October 1990, a later political milestone.
The barrier had begun as an attempt to halt emigration. Between 1949 and 1961, about 2.5 million East Germans left for West Germany, including growing numbers of skilled workers, professionals, and intellectuals. Their departure threatened the economic viability of the East German state. A resolution passed by the Council of Ministers on August 12, 1961, led to the first barrier that night. Barbed wire and cinder blocks closed the route into West Berlin. Concrete walls later replaced the initial materials, with watchtowers, gun emplacements, and signal fencing reinforcing the boundary. The city was divided physically as well as politically.
By the 1980s, the Berlin Wall was a system of walls, electrified fences, and other fortifications running through Berlin and around West Berlin. In its final form, two main walls enclosed a belt of sand or gravel known as the "death strip." The outer wall stood 11.5 to 13 feet high, while the inner wall reached 6.5 to 10 feet. Guards watched from towers and could shoot people attempting escape. Even someone who initially avoided detection could leave footprints in the strip that enabled pursuit. About 5,000 East Germans crossed safely; many others were captured, and at least 140 people were killed or died in connection with the border regime.
Closing the boundary also divided families and separated East Berliners from jobs in the West. West Berlin became an isolated enclave, and its mayor, Willy Brandt, led demonstrations against the barrier. East Germany presented the Berlin Wall as protection against fascism and aggression from the West, while also alleging interference by Western agents. The hardship of separated households accompanied a wider diplomatic confrontation. President John F. Kennedy appointed retired General Lucius D. Clay as a special adviser and sent him with Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson to West Berlin in August 1961. Their visit signaled American support for the city's Western sectors.
By autumn 1989, protests and departures were putting mounting pressure on East German leaders. Demonstrations spread in September, first emphasizing the desire to leave and then increasingly demanding change at home. On October 18, longtime leader Erich Honecker resigned and Egon Krenz replaced him. Half a million people gathered at Alexanderplatz in East Berlin on November 4 to demand political change. Refugees were also reaching the West through Hungary and Czechoslovakia. On November 9, leaders decided to let people exit directly through crossings to West Germany and West Berlin. The proposal expanded to include private and round-trip travel.
The announcement that opened the Berlin Wall came through Gunter Schabowski, the party spokesman in East Berlin. He had not participated in the discussions and received a note about the regulations shortly before a press conference. The changes were intended to begin the next day, allowing time to inform border guards, but that delay was not communicated to him. When journalists asked when they would take effect, Schabowski said they would do so immediately, without delay. He confirmed that the changes included crossings into West Berlin. West German television carried the announcement into East German homes that evening.
People then arrived at the eight checkpoints between East and West Berlin. Guards initially received instructions to single out more aggressive people and stamp passports in a way that barred their return to East Germany. Thousands still pressed to cross. No authority took responsibility for ordering lethal force against the crowds. At 11:30 p.m., Harald Jager, commander at Bornholmer Strasse, yielded and allowed passage with little or no identity checking. West Berliners greeted arrivals with flowers and champagne. People climbed onto the Berlin Wall, with East German youngsters joining those from the western side as celebrations spread through the night.
Demolition continued afterward through the work of residents and East German border crews. Some sections survived as places of remembrance. At the Topography of Terror, a stretch stands near the site of the former Gestapo headquarters. Another surviving section along the Spree near the Oberbaumbrucke became the East Side Gallery. At Bernauer Strasse, a partly reconstructed section became a memorial in 1998. Isolated fragments, lamps, and watchtowers remain elsewhere in Berlin, while museums around the world display individual pieces and whole segments removed from the former border.
- Berlin Wall — www.britannica.com
- The Berlin Wall Falls and USSR Dissolves — history.state.gov
- Berlin Wall - Wikipedia — en.wikipedia.org