A garbled press conference answer set off one of the twentieth century's most euphoric nights. East Germans, uncertain if the announcement was real, streamed to checkpoints until overwhelmed guards simply opened the gates. Within hours, thousands were dancing atop the Wall, chipping off souvenirs with hammers, as families separated since 1961 embraced for the first time in a generation.
Günter Schabowski, a Politburo spokesman, had barely been briefed on a new travel regulation meant to ease, not end, restrictions. Asked by a reporter when it would take effect, he shuffled his papers and said, 'immediately, without delay.' He hadn't meant it that way, but the words went out on live television.
Crowds gathered at Bornholmer Strasse checkpoint within the hour, chanting to be let through. Border guards, receiving no clear orders from above, faced a choice: open fire on a swelling crowd or open the gate. At 11:30 PM, a supervisor named Harald Jäger gave up waiting for instructions and simply raised the barrier.
What followed was pure carnival. Strangers hugged, champagne corks popped, and East and West Berliners climbed atop the Wall together, hacking off chunks of concrete with hammers and chisels. The wall that had stood as the iron border of the Cold War for 28 years became rubble and souvenirs within days, and within a year, Germany was reunified.
Key people: Günter Schabowski, Egon Krenz