Page 30 - All About History - Issue 19-14

Eye Witness

FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL

Timeline of a
nation uniting

CST
O Prior to the Wall’s physical
19 August
collapse, the political
1989
landscape regarding it is
already falling apart. The
opening of Hungary’s borders
with Austria can be seen as
the initial catalyst.
O Peaceful protest
4 September
Following a similar influx of
refugees into a now-open
Czechoslovakia, a series of
peaceful protests are organised
across East Berlin.

O East German leader Erick
18 October
Honecker is forced to resign
by his own party following his
refusal to change the city’s
immigration policies.
O We are the people
4 November
With Erick Honecker and his
‘shoot to kill’ edict removed,
the Peaceful Revolution of 1989
reaches its height. The chant,
“We are the people!” echoes
through the streets of East
German cities.
Regardless of age, class or background, chipping away at the With the sun still high in the sky, citizens from both East
28year-oldWallwasasymbolicactionthatunitedanation and West Berlin clamber on top of the Wall
O Crowds begin to gather all
9.30am
along the Berlin Wall as ‘PeacefulRevolution’,asitcametobeknown,reached demandingtoletthroughintoWestBerlin.To
9 November
rumours of a policy change
run amok. its height on 4 November 1989, an event that attracted Colombian-born Ramos, it was utter chaos, but it was
Ramos and many others to Berlin. Arriving on the chaos charged by hope rather than anger. “It was
afternoon of 9 November, Ramos could sense an air of November and it was extremely cold that night, but
O The GDR holds a press
1.00pm tension, but also one of burgeoning hope. “The build- in the excitement everyone was milling around in
conference where it
announces all GDR citizens up wasn’t just in Germany; it was the whole year of anticipation. Restaurants and bars, which by law were
are permitted to cross over to revolutions across Eastern Europe. The Soviet Bloc was meant to close, were all open well into the early hours.
West Berlin. disintegrating, one nation after another”, comments Laws became meaningless that night,” he recalls. “People
Ramos. “As we made our way into West Germany we came from all over Europe: we spoke in many languages.
could all sense that the whole continent was about to There were British, French, Spaniards, Italians, Greeks
O The first few East Berliners
5.05pm
make their way into the West change forever.” and many Scandinavians, plus, of course, the Germans.
as guards quickly lose control That evening the inevitable finally became a reality. That night, Berlin was Europe. Remember; at the time,
of the situation.
In the weeks since Honecker’s forced resignation, his there were no cell phones, no video, no Twitter, no
successors had attempted to rejuvenate the party’s Facebook, no selfies, so remarkably, there aren’t that
O Media announcement reputation by holding a series of press conferences that many photos of that night. Today, of course, there would
8.00pm
Huge crowds gather at the Berlin promised radical changes to national policies. Shortly be billions of photos.”
Wall, hacking it to pieces as
the media televises the scenes before that day’s official press conference, GDR’s official As Ramos and his friends approached the Wall itself,
around the world. and unofficial spokesman Günter Schabowski was the air seemed alight with a mixture of confusion,
handed a small note that confirmed all East Berliners frustration and apprehension. “As the news of the law
were now allowed to cross the border into the West with changing spread it became a massive sense of relief,
O Despite multiple breaches in
22 December the proper identification. However, without any other of ‘it’s over’, of excitement. After decades of baseless
the Wall, the Brandenburg
Gate is officially opened for explanation to help him digest this news, Schabowski promises from politicians and pointless dreams of
all Berliners to pass through. was thrust in front of a ravenous media. One garbled and uniting of families, it suddenly became possible in a
mostly improvised statement later and it was official: the delirious joy”, he says. “Someone wrote it was the world’s
once impenetrable gates of East Germany were opening. largest street party, and it was. 5 million people in one
O With the Wall itself almost
3 October
completely demolished, The problem was, this news wasn’t communicated down city. East Germans flooded across the borders and went
1990
East and West Germany are to the guards and officials manning the many guard visiting throughout all of Germany. The cities declared
united in a formal ceremony.
The US, British and French posts along the wall. With frustration building among free bus and streetcar tickets for them, free museums
governments relinquish the crowds of East Berliners, the situation was a powder and zoos, free everything for the visiting East Germans.
stewardship of West Berlin keg waiting to explode. It was an incredible time.”
into the hands of a new
united and democratic As the news started to flood across East Berlin, The Wall was suddenly no longer the impenetrable
German government. hundreds of people began to gather at each checkpoint barrier to another world. East Berliners were flooding
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