from google play or from the app store that will give you access to all the latest news from around the world as well as push notifications for any breaking news you can also use the d.w. app to send us your photos and videos. you're watching d.w. now watch. here's after the fall of the berlin wall. t.w. . wrote it. to keep mastodons. and he read it to the world. ever 9989. the story behind one of the most remarkable days in recent german history. schabowski is known as the night the wall came down.

nico is in germany to learn german. emerged in the uk why not learn with him online on the mobile and free to sas 5 c w e learning course because free. speech doing good there's almost no good at 6 pm on the 9th of november 1989. opened a press conference about the meeting of the communist party central committee you know some hundreds of journalists had come hoping to hear news about east germany's latest decision on letting its citizens travel kind towards not a would about the travel regulations are only part. of my language it was all waffle so it went on for half an hour it was dreadfully boring and all the other journalists. the same thing. you. should ask john security is

a yes vote it to an italian journalist a card or was invited to ask a question should not be can i can put on some. trick can do if someone was standing to the left he derive slowly he couldn't get a seat and he will. ask mr schabowski you spoke of mistakes don't you think the draft travel bill you presented a few days ago was a big mistake for bush that for free to get out of these and all it was was that moment i remembered i had wanted to talk about the issue of the travel regulations for you and these are. this is what a. decision has been made today as the recommendation of the political euro has been accepted that the passage of the it's permanent departure be taken from that draft and come into effect. which. i reached into this pile

and was looking for the note i was supposed to read out a colleague came to help me out so well he's familiar with told the journalists they should have been given a statement then he read it. as a device that isn't up in oslo personal trips to other countries may be applied for without giving any family all other reason. it's was here. in the park is going to be made as one of the border crossings between east and west germany. at this point i called out when. just as far as i know immediately. but i was shocked immediately i leapt up and left my supper i really wanted to know what this rubbish. it was all

about you know a. lot worse in the fog i think of the interest. as it's true permanent departures can take place with all of the border crossings into west germany west berlin. the man in charge of the border crossing at palm harbor must pass or have made an action film called to his superior what hatchet bosky been talking about the noise and a lot of the real he said to me you're calling me because of that rubbish i said yes that's exactly why i'm calling he said you know the orders east german citizens are only allowed to leave under the current conditions meaning they need a passport and a proper visa otherwise they have to be turned back. $500.00 which are strictly. the east german leadership had nothing about any of this because the politburo the ministers and all the top party officials most of it the central committee meeting none of them had seen schabowski press conference. at the same time in warsaw

helmut kohl was also in the dark about the events in east berlin the west german chancellor was the guest at a banquet. the room was a box and ensure the folded up the paper put it back as walking and left the stage i want out ran upstairs with my camera crew there were a small room with a straw screen it was completely calm and courted then our eyes used to have a piece of paper here so i do i suppose i read it again but it took it out put on his glasses read it again and i said that means citizens from each can go out of the war any way that they want to and they are not further forced to leave. by a. transit. through another country it is possible for them to go through the war some point but it is possible for them to go through the border. of

. iran downstairs in the course of american newspaper correspondents were a friend of mine and i looked at them and i said it's true the wall is down. a few minutes later the news programs on both east and west german television reportage what had happened. according to police bureau membership of east german citizens wanting to leave their country no longer have to take the d. to of via czechoslovakia standing permanent departures can occur by all of the border crossings between east germany and west germany and west berlin. invest. shortly after schabowski press conference a west german camera crew was filming in a pub in east berlin where people were drinking a toast to the new regulations. do you think looking at yourself all.

the way i don't know what to say i used to cry every day and now we're all happy. it's great what's just happened nobody here was expecting but. they celebrated the unexpected news with beer bubbly and rock'n'roll. the soviet envoy only heard about the new regulation from the television. came as a shock. come to on people hawkish people for years we hadn't known anything about it on board we were watching television. it was disappointing. and we were if you like or a bit angry sure there's books to. me to use the tension was rising all the time for no. thing the danger that someone would lose their nerve

was quite high you can open the shooting. at the border crossing point upon harm national assets. of to me that i didn't have to wait long for people to arrive after i'd been there for our own 20 minutes the 1st came and asked if they were allowed out. the officer asked if they had a passport in a reserve part of the night as a plane and resume no they said but he said we were allowed to leave no. and it was now that the explosive nature of these notes became clear while its author was sitting in the theater. for these i had theater tickets for that evening to see ironic of folks buy goods or the incredible thing about this play which was sold out like so many was that the people couldn't laugh any more

because it was such a parody of the actual situation that it was absolutely serious discussion but plants. east berlin as the shut bat and his wife rita were just finishing choir practice afterwards they walked down to the plants how about district. this wall. was quiet in the streets there was no excitement most people were watching television western television. was a football match was on and that was a good reason to switch on the t.v. the answer was. a west german television station was broadcasting a match between stuttgart and buy in munich. by now the

meeting in the central committee had come to an end. going to shop bosky was also finishing work in his office it had been a long day the man who had announced the new travel regulation left the central committee building to go home to vangelis the gated community where the politburo members lived. and. hundreds and it's often been because when i arrived in vans litz so i saw that the windows were all dark which meant that the majority of the political row members slept through these eventful hours. increasing numbers of people were making their way to the border crossing at dawn her mushed us and they were convinced they were now allowed to travel. but border security hadn't received any new instructions the officer tried to tell the crowd he couldn't let them through. but the people could no longer be turned back so

easily. the most i'll zoom into like the mummy out there more and more people were arriving they came on foot in cars and by tram they weren't aggressive at this point but they were very firm in their demands not to please. the ip it. was. made another worried phone call to his superior come out seguin han asking for instructions about how to move over through my superior told me on the phone that he'd call the ministry he'd get hold of either the minister or his deputy he said i could listen to the conversation. as it were to me out of use of type he wanted to show me that at this point there would be no hope or no rescue from above or kind of a good little. no one in the ministry wanted to believe what he was telling

them. to look at the question came back was i capable of making realistic evaluations or was i acting out of fear at that point i'd had enough if there are thousands of people out here he said listen to them yourself. when i got the receiver back i could hear the man and hung up i didn't know what to think and i couldn't understand that they didn't believe me as this big guy i'm. in the western half of berlin the news from east germany was spreading as well. towards 9 o'clock we became curious britain i went to the border crossing on invalid and straw so that was the closest one could be reached relatively easy from flocking to the. bus at that point 140 kilometer long border around west berlin was still closed every when.

people were now arriving at the border crossing up on her mushed in ever increasing numbers. made up his mind he triggered the. i wouldn't usually have been authorized to call the alarm because i wasn't senior enough but i considered it necessary to go on with the entire evening we had to be prepared that people would come and storm the border. longest i was called back by colonel seguin home he told me this is what's going to happen all of the people provocatively showing up at the border loudly demanding to

leave may leave all of them will fight for the policy over us with all the talk of all as high as a bunch far before i was to stamp the photograph in their passport which would allow them to leave but it would prevent them from coming back again nunzio always fly this to retighten. i live i wasn't allowed to explain this to the people they were only to be told about this when they tried to reenter. then they would be told they were not allowed back in and i was in the community because that's one way trip was known as the safety valve solution. and he had no idea about any of that their flat was just 2 blocks away from von higher mushed us and i got my money my husband like to watch every football game and i was annoyed when he wanted to switch the television off so i said no i want to watch the news but i thought that was decisive.

good evening we should all be weary of using too many supportive because they quickly lose their force but today superlatives are appropriate today the 9th of november is a historic day east germany has announced that its borders would be opened immediately to anyone but. we thought we weren't hearing right because we looked at each other and we live close to the bornholmer strasse a border crossing so we went to check it out was a little busy and we wanted to see this sensation we got dressed and headed back. to the situation of the border crossings in berlin is currently quite confusing unclear here is invalid and strasser nothing has happened all evening on the west side people are still waiting for the 1st people from east berlin to come over the

short visit to yours and in portsmouth. then the safety valve solution was applied at bonheur mushed casa this does he wanted to use the trick to relieve pressure on the border and also to get rid of possible dissidents. that fish fell into the trap . it's already noticed it isn't great to us all the people standing there we went all the way to the front to the heart of the window open and someone said what do you want those events i asked whether he knew that the border was open now i was faced with that we said we wanted to cross. the line or asked from passports in a really brusque way but instead of her presence in our lives we. got our stamps we took our passports and off we went you know but the laws. what they didn't know was that the stamp meant they were ex-pats change it. as

i was so excited my legs were shaking i was scared because i didn't know what would happen and he was the. thought that all this is that it was this really a good thing we did in order and he walked across very slowly and did it as when i was have with me. but i didn't severely it's quite a way from the border to the bridge we were completely on our own we couldn't see anyone there was nobody around are. usually these border crossings were very brightly lit but here it was dark. there was a sentry box a defense with dogs behind it anyone who tried to escape here could expect to be arrested or shot peter blatche ish felt very apprehensive. the news of schabowski note was also spreading in west berlin the 1st people from

that side of the wall began arriving at the brandenburg gate u.s. news anchor tom brokaw was preparing for his broadcast we've been kind of keeping track of german television about what was going on and a lot of students had come from the west got up on the top of the wall and there always thought you know they were back again and there was a story. just a horrible white house so i got up hard wired and it was chaos i could hear myself . in warsaw west german chancellor helmut corps was trying to get a picture of the situation in berlin. at that time in poland you couldn't just find a telephone in a guest house to make a call we had a floor mounted instrument with a crank lever that you had to turn the lever to create the line to the situation room in the chancellery. so. as to do all that was needed so we could be connected to the people the chancellor wanted to

talk to concerts possible to. shortly after 11 we shut and heat up our fish while halfway across the still empty bridge at the bone heart must last a crossing. my mind when i held on to my husband and we walked across together then he let me go and waved his hat out of joy. cup easily avoided if we were so happy imagine i said we're not even retired and we did cross over. well how the barbed wired for the twirls around it she gets dizzy easily so i didn't do that for long enough so i threw up my hand up that we didn't know what we were going to do next it's what i would. become the who got control and they came across all alone and there was nobody else around leave i asked how they got here. they told me they had gone up to the little

building and got stamps in their passports they said they were allowed to leave east germany because i couldn't believe it but that's what they told me so there's gibson that he thought that's all for us to head off he asked if we wanted to stay . i said stay where the wall is open and we live right there. that's why i told him we live there and he said he live there that was our home. or dog and then he invited us. there come to. paycheck and he took a couple on his own private tour of west berlin by night. i

hope you do it 1st but you know as we were driving through west by led by nothing was going on everything was normal city was calm there was advertising and everything was brighter but there weren't many people around why we wasn't like the west berliners were already dancing in the streets if this was a town so. that the bone hard must last a border crossing hardly a dozen men left about 500 people go through to the west they included those whose demands to leave are the loudest and somewhat just standing nearby. but the vast majority of the people waiting most still not allowed to leave. were being made a mockery of i could have stayed at home got some sleep instead would have come of i mean told about this it's ridiculous to televise i didn't see the idea suddenly a piece of paper showed up at the border schabowski snow which was making the rounds. as it would communicate off itself an idea and give our

eyes the official note says personal trips out of east germany can be applied for without giving any reason just say this about talk that. the situation was escalating. he wanted them through not and it was a myth about how they came so close to our colleagues or they could have grabbed the guns they were carrying which would have been dreadful. and. the foundation. thoughtfully through. you know you could only put a lot of them stupid someone could be advanced my colleagues to step into the office and tell me want to should do they told me i should know i was the boss' office. i asked if i should let the people out or have them shot here god is nothing compared to spirit.

in the soviet embassy official fear the west. version a 3. way some run for important her when such developments occur you know that if it happens just once if just a single shot is fired or the border police get health it with stones just once you heard. the situation can get out of control very quickly it should be easy to throw your own guns schmoo at that point west believe medical students benedictine and my and his flatmate better weeks the in the us a border crossing. and come when we arrived we saw many people standing within the border facilities which hadn't been possible before the mood was quite jolly some people had brought food and corks were flying into the air. and fuel moved here

with the in believe in stronger border crossing with little souls be swept along with the action and many people from west berlin or pushing their way across the border beyond the wall far into east berlin territory east german border police are sitting in their watch toes watching the goings on sometimes even with smiles on their faces so indeed mom and that was the 1st time i fully realized something was happening as had previously been unimaginable. bands it's not quite possible to see from here how close the people are getting to the checkpoint. systems are consuming the crowd work their way further towards the border facilities until we were right at the barrier immediately behind it was a group of peoples police and side phone forms politicized and. those waiting at bornholmer strasse i was beginning to run out of patience. he wanted to get out immediately.

on the other side of the french the 1st east german citizens were returning from that trip to west berlin but technically i think the next. you go on from the north i got a call from the 1st guard house by the bridge he said a young couple wanted to re enter but the woman had the passport stamped on a photograph i said so what he replied they have their children at home. sale and. just got up to a meal i could not charge of. the cups and i live love i said it no longer mattered whether the people had the stamp on their photograph or not they are a pivotal voice and lovely for them and if they could all come back in again to do you live our lives for god at that moment i really didn't care what

a party i was really angry at is when they think it would. involve. the 28 years they said being part of the border dividing east from west. of the slum with everything put together created the motive for my actions i thought i've had enough i started making decisions on my own i gave instructions to have the barrier opened an area 6 to allow all east german citizens to leave without being checked but they could all leave for all i could.

the. earth. cannot go to be on the up and then went to the former west german border office ward and that's where i started after all in that hut in 1964 go to i just wanted to cry off about. it mr no that's by had to be on my own i can't describe it any

more but it was the worst and best thing to which i ever experienced both at the same time for the shock years of the shock this went to france way i'd have thought of and it was by this sort of life i but i was out of luck with the of not i someone else had the captain and beat me to it uncle and he was trying to live out in the effect of whom i couldn't really join him. i had to talk to him and calm him don't listen in the even though he was 2 years older than. i was the overjoyed people poured over the border shouting we'll be back get hot lotta who had written a note schabowski had read had left the theater i was just returning home. looks like. i don't. want to lose our son more welcomed us with the

words dad you should make a call the phone's been ringing off the hook it was you minister and then he said by the way the borders open and and so the. mystery kinds of all i could think was something must have gone terribly wrong with i didn't call the minister he wouldn't be able to help me over the phone i drove to the ministry i didn't know at the time how all this had come about we had only worked out the paper that morning and making it public was not supposed to happen before 4 in the morning next day it would have been around 6 in the morning before the 1st news programs broadcast the information so i knew something had gone very very wrong as we often have sex hormones could be slapped on expressing optimism was helpless crimes gunfights could offset. by midnight the border was open at other checkpoints as well as in the leadership must have been it exceeded my i used the border guards confusion to find a way through. his tongue just another car went through

and as the barrier went up a handful of people just and ran into east berlin the moment that moment i had no concerns or fears that something could happen even though i knew that reaching border regulations could be extremely dangerous so plans for listening but these 10 . 20 people had mentors across the city in 24 to get on to involve. so benedict even my and his friends crossed into the east from the west. bank in la i think i. mentioned earlier the city was completely devoid of people nobody was on the streets we started shouting in calling for people to come out we even rang doorbells we were deflated when nobody opened but we saw people at the windows and we got the impression they were uncertain and were scared to open it so we decided

to go and see what was happening at the brandenburg gate. stop us here at. the brandenburg gate and iconic landmark in the divided city and symbol of the cold war here the east german state didn't want to give in to popular pressure so easily several 100 border guards were in position. to brandenburg gate could be seen from the soviet embassy. of the 1st. we were looking out of the windows. usually empty den linden avenue was filled with people on their way to the brandenburg gate they knew just as much as we did that there was no border crossing at the brandenburg gate but i'm going to pull. none the less people from west berlin were flocking to the brandenburg gate

ignoring police warnings. of the brander again we're all waiting. for people to literally come through a wall they have not been through for the last 4 shouting ever strictly come are. going to east german guards came and told everybody. off the wall here. on the east berlin side the border guards barricaded the gate against the fast growing crowd of people there. for the one board as a recall there was a steel fence in front of the brandenburg gate. to the border police officers were behind it of course they tried to intimidate us but as soon as we got to the barrier the 1st person jumped across the people's police officers grabbed him and

tried to hold onto him but there were only 2 of them and we all climbed over one by one. and i mention a little. bit but you would have to i jumped over the steel fence and ripped my right hand and then i ran towards the brandenburg gate they called out stop the stretch between the place where the hotel are don't know stands where the barrier was and the brandenburg gate was quite long. uncommon but then a larger number of people's police came marching out under the brandenburg gate and they lined up there we didn't know how they would react and how dangerous they'd be with someone it's not. your if it's your that made me think what are we doing here really there's nothing to it i mean if you're. out in hardly it's good to shop off ski got an alarming phone call from delhi. there's a part of the. i said what

a mess why has communication been so bad in the last few days as i hadn't understood yet this it was a fundamentally muddled situation when i heard the news i was horrified because i knew that it could lead to confrontation which had to be prevented without fail. then i drove into 1000000000 that i mean. very shortly after midnight he reached the highway kind of the border crossing. over the ocean as i was getting out of my car a civilian came towards me and he was from the start he told me they're letting them through now no incidents as. there was nothing more schabowski could do. he trails back hoe. in west berlin peter greenaway took his east german guests to a pub called house of 100 beings. there's

a version of him us then we were in a pub in burma's door where they had more than a 100 kinds of beer that was incredible for us and it tasted better than our beer. some people had what we were talking about what's happening they said did we hear right. i said yeah we're from over there the wall is open you look at our id we've just come across that made an impression the 1st thing they said was oh what a shame we've got nothing here for you they wanted to give us something would. ease and they said in the news that all those people who had stamp in their passports wouldn't be allowed back in the east germany. proper out fish had a fainting fit and we had to rush back to the border. it was so worried about her family and that she wouldn't be able to see them again you know. get

a familiar with the. loud house office him east german interior ministry the phone was ringing off the hook fish i was sitting there completely alone the staff on duty in the ministry had no idea and every call that came in about this matter was put through to me which caused a huge queue that if i had to jump from one green button to the next to try and answer questions for sort of talking to bob as one very different people were calling i think the american embassy called very early on asking what was going on in this country as the party district and community. leaders called asking what was going on in this country because they knew the borders had opened in berlin. up your magazine to somebody and you kind of kick on private citizens to hold enterprises to account member animal. consumption as are. the

for. the most in the form of midnight we had to assume the measures have been decided we couldn't take anything back anymore because the borders were open life had caught up with us and i quote. only at the brandenburg gate was a border guard still trying to stem the tide of events it was a last showdown between the state and the people. and then their lives 2 days before there was this woman these of border police officers with impassive faces when driving across she was elderly she was crying i just want to go to my children she cried let me go just once i'm going to come back again asked me to hide my games camos a look that's yeah he did that and i swear on my children's lives and they're with the army too that they do their duty just like you both of them have for 3 years. and one of them wants to study to become

a teacher in this republic our republic is all of that so hard to understand if at. first i thought this won't last they won't manage this can't go on an emotional for me. finally they left a woman trip. and. everyone in the west was also waiting for the crucial moment. yeah 1 point one young man from a piece popped up. and he was the 1st one of the. crowd went. wild . so we go on the air the last thought i had before us and good evening was don't screw this up. you're a wire 'd from a roll and was on the march to start night and this was half way what you say we

hired me as a solo gratian of a new policy and also there by the east german government that now for the 1st time since the wall was a regular night in $61.00 people will be able to move through freely. it is right under 1st then i touched the columns and i had to admit i just don't crying i was so emotional i cried like a baby even now it makes me emotional to think about it i was touching these columns would only be able to see from a platform in the west but it was an incredible feeling but. that night picked up in command and sped it exceeded my month the only ones who had

the policy of their lives. starts from a mistake turned into a big party the people were coming in that bathrobes and pajamas they walked through the brandenburg gate with tears in their eyes it was very emotional. for the 1st time in decades to bridge that ball on her mushed aso was open again. tens of thousands of people flooded into west berlin that's nice. returns they had blatche fish return to the bridge but no one asked them for their passports things realized to. wall had come down for good. arguments only when he kept we've never had divide like that in our lives we were used to accuse but we were the only ones going into east berlin we were in the middle where the hearts were and on one side were cast on the other people some with buggies it felt

like the whole of east germany was moving because everyone was gathered borders would close again they were carrying so much. on topic me with my then i met with my deputy who kept telling me i had to do something because i was the boss no he said harold it's finished. i didn't know right away what he meant i said what is and he said with an east germany that it's finished your opinion both were. established 4 o'clock in the morning and that was the moment when the news i'm bob go on good to schabowski note was supposed to have ended. it was only now that the people were meant to find out about their new freedom to travel that at least had begun hardliners planned.

but yet it was loud who had to deliver an explanation on east german television because the party bosses were silent. in the. thousands of thousands of citizens who are waiting for this decision they took the opportunity and went to the border crossing points without using the published channels in order to prevent dramatic situations at the crossings of the border troops and passport offices have acted under across italy and are permitted citizens to cross the border immediately for. the motorist. eternally shuttle actually got how many early hours of the morning a little while later they went to work as usual.

east berlin the day after the fateful announcement the country was no longer the same. when i came home i said to my wife i opened the border she told me not to talk such rubbish and walked off well not because they're looking.

years after the fall of the berlin wall on t.w. . he wanted to smash the berlin wall long before it finally found. old she also issued a new old state you know linda but he's actually better known as the legend of german rock music. let's find out more about his amazing list of. 30 minutes to. stay up to date don't miss our highlights building program online w dot com highlights.

this is d w news live from berlin a once divided city that celebrating the 30th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall the frontlines of the cold war. scenes from 30 years ago that still give many germans goosebumps germany has been marking these historic events with ceremonies here in berlin and elsewhere around the country chancer until america honor the memory of those killed trying to flee communism offering the.