The opening of the Berlin Wall
The decision to allow travelling from East Germany to West Germany came as a sudden change in policy, hastily decided on 09 November, 1989, by a few people in the inner circle of the GDR government. When Günter Schabowski, member of the government, made the announcement in a press conference, the border police was not informed: not about the policy change and not about the statements at the press conference. Schabowski, and most people who heard him speak, believed that for such an important policy, border police must have received administrative instructions. Soon after his announcement, masses of people congregated at the border crossings, creating heavy pressure on the border police. For hours, the border police was unable to receive reliable instructions from their superiors. More and more people pushed forward, challenging the police to open the border. One of the happiest days in German history could have taken a tragic course if violence had erupted. The day was saved by the courage of a few individuals at the border crossings, especially Harald Jäger, officer at the border crossing Bornholmer Straße, who accepted the burden of responsibility and was the first to open the gate.
Author: GW
Sources:
Schabowski, Günter: Der Mauerfall – ein klassisches Missverständnis? In: Didczuneit, Veit, Eichler, Anja and Kugler, Lieselotte (eds.); Missverständnisse - Stolpersteine der Kommunikation; Edition Braus, 2008.
Haase-Hindenberg, Gerhard: Der Mann, der die Mauer öffnete; Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, 2007.