Germany · 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was erected from 13 August 1961 onwards on the orders of the GDR leadership. It was intended to prevent people from continuing to move to the Federal Republic via West Berlin. The border, initially consisting of barriers and barbed wire, was expanded into a heavily secured system of walls, fences, watchtowers and patrol strips. West Berlin was thus sealed off from the eastern part of the city and the surrounding territory of the GDR. Attempts to escape were answered with imprisonment and, in some cases, lethal force.

The opening was preceded in 1989 by profound changes in Central and Eastern Europe and a growing protest movement in the GDR. Numerous GDR citizens left the country via Hungary and Czechoslovakia. At the same time, demonstrators demanded freedom of movement, free elections and political reforms. The Leipzig Monday demonstrations, held since September, developed into mass rallies. In October, head of state and party leader Erich Honecker lost his office.

On the evening of 9 November, SED Politburo member Günter Schabowski explained a new travel regulation at a press conference. Asked when it would come into force, he replied that, to his knowledge, this would happen “immediately, without delay”. However, the regulation had not yet been prepared accordingly. After radio and television had broadcast the news, thousands gathered at the Berlin border crossings. The border guards initially received no clear instructions and eventually allowed people to pass.

During the division, the Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor) could not be used as a regular crossing; instead, it lay directly within the sealed-off border area. It therefore became a symbol of the divided city. On 22 December 1989, the passage there was reopened.

The state unity of Germany came into force on 3 October 1990. Its foreign-policy conditions were regulated by the two German states together with France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States in the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (Zwei-plus-Vier-Vertrag). The anniversary therefore provided an opportunity to commemorate not only the opening of the border, but also the peaceful protest movement and the overcoming of the division of Europe.