The fall of the Berlin wall on November 9th, 1989

 

The Berlin Wall was in Berlin and divided the city into East and West Berlin. Germany was split into two parts at that time: the Federal Republic of Germany (BRD) in the West and the German Democratic Republic (DDR) in the East. The wall was a symbol of the division of Germany. In the DDR, there was a dictatorship, and freedom of speech was very limited. Traveling to the West was almost impossible. The Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989. On that day, the DDR politician Gunter Schabowski announced surprising new travel rules at a press conference. The news spread quickly, and many people went to the border crossings of the Berlin Wall. The border soldiers finally opened the gates, and people from East and West Berlin celebrated together. The fall of the wall was the result of peaceful protests in the DDR, like the Monday demonstrations. The reform politics in the Soviet Union also had an important influence because they increased the pressure on the DDR government and encouraged changes.