The man in question is Gunter Schabowski. On Nov 9, 1989, he was handed a note about new travel rules just before a live press conference. He hadn’t attended the briefing, so he didn’t realize the plan was for a slow, permit based rollout starting the next day.
When a reporter asked when the rules started, Schabowski shuffled his papers and guessed: ‘As far as I know. immediately, without delay.’
Within minutes, thousands of East Berliners rushed the checkpoints. The border guards, having received no orders and being massively outnumbered, eventually just opened the gates to avoid a riot. By the time the government realized the mistake, people were already on top of the wall with hammers. And this is how, Berlin Wall fell.
StrangerConscious637 on
So you are telling me, that one single American could end the fascist government of the orange monkey just with one misread sentence? Who wants to try first?
5h15u1 on
Accidental hero or incompetent villain?
quirkymuse on
For the record his mistake didnt end the cold war; it, quite literally, sped it up, but it was happening anyway.
RepulsiveLoquat418 on
wikipedia agrees, although it’s a little misleading. the end was coming, it was just intended to be more gradual.
yes, famously Kennedy said the wall was a jelly donut and Elvis ate it as part of his application to the FBI
Javier20t on
Chat GPT ass caption
StrikeronPC on
I used to have a piece of the wall, someone my parents knew was a local and brought me a souvenir. That was 30+ years ago and I have no idea where it is now.
pr1ap15m on
I remember being so confused when this happened my parents were celebrating like crazy, calling family and were like Cold War is over we don’t have to worry about the end of the world and ww3 anymore.
EspritLibre_404 on
I thought David Hasselhoff has taken down the Berlin wall.
/s
Conscious-Leg8404 on
West German family. I still remember how shocked I was to realize West and East Germany did not get to see each other! I was born in 1961 so probably asked the question in the early 70s
Stormshow on
Not with X, with Y.
SicknessVoid on
Eh, it was coming either way. It’s not like what he was wrong about the coming changes, he just announced them coming into effect much earlier than planned.
ReturnOfTheSaint14 on
The journalist was the Italian Riccardo Ehrman and he always said that his answer was out of genuine curiosity in order to have enough info for his agency,so it wasn’t a sting or anything like that.
He also said that when he went outside to reach the wall,people recognised him from the conference and raised him as a literal hero,lol
monsterfurby on
Offi**cial**, not offi**cer**. Schabowski was the secretary in charge of press communications, basically. And as others have pointed out, if there hadn’t been incredible pressure on the regime by the people already, neither would the announcement itself have happened, the reaction to Schabowski’s answer would not have been as immediate and powerful.
unsilent_bob on
For anyone else interested in this period of time I highly recommend the German film “Goodbye, Lenin” from 2003.
It covers the Wall coming down and the freedom East Germans were experiencing but a main plot.that is fascinating & bittersweet (and I won’t spoil it here).
the actual picture of that moment was way less epic.
NoWingedHussarsToday on
Not really, he simply gave the wrong timeline. GDR planned to ease restrictions gradually, over longer time. He misspoke that it’s full lifting right away. It didn’t end anything that wasn’t planned on being ended, he merely sped things up.
Mr_Style on
I read that some dudes got drunk at a David Hasselhoff concert, heard David repeat Reagan’s line about “tear down this wall” so they just went and started tearing it down.
That’s why DH will always be the real Nick Fury.
NonAI_User on
Absurdly reductionist. Not helpful to describe massive political and social change like this.
dziki_z_lasu on
Poland was already half a year after the free elections at that time. The centrist Mazowiecki’s government was working and the communist PZPR party was doing the last preparations (“archiving” documents and “management’ of the party s wealth) before self dissolving, that happened formally two months later, but it was already dead.
CantaloupeWarm1524 on
I was in my teenage years, living in west germany and totally remember the days leading up to this and this very moment. I am still shivering. And kudos to my east german friends, who overturned that system. You guys are the real deal!
Tim-oBedlam on
If you weren’t alive in 1989, or old enough to be aware of world events, it’s hard to convey how startling it was. In early summer, Hungary dismantled its border fence and Poland had free elections which were overwhelmingly won by Solidarity; with the fence gone, East Germans and Czechs started pouring into the west, and one by one the six Warsaw Pact nations broke free of Communism. The only one that was violent was Romania, which ended up with Ceaucescu and his wife in front of a firing squad.
I started college in the fall of 1988. It was obvious that the Cold War was thawing, but if you’d told me that in less than 18 months all 6 Warsaw Pact nations would be free of Communism, and in just over 3 years the Soviet Union would fall apart, I’d have thought you were nuts, but it happened.
konacoffie on
I cannot stand when history gets dumbed down to “one single man started/ended this major historical event.” That’s not how anything has ever worked. The GDR was already on its last legs for a plethora of reasons by 1989. This guy’s mistake may have sped its collapse up a bit but the foundation had already rotted to its core well before his announcement.
Man-onMars-2030 on
Just shows, walls don’t keep people in/out, people who blindly follow dictators do.
Since most of the time there are more ‘generic populace people’ than gatekeepers, in theory the crowds could have stormed the gates at any previous point in time ( of course running the risk if some being shot).
Bottom line, if you’re being oppressed you are complicit to some extent
Rikkitikkitabby on
The real reason is because everyone came at once. The clerical error was the trigger. When the people show up, in huge numbers, things change quickly.
Iconclast1 on
I thought our President told them to tear down the wall so they did
GrrArgh__ on
Anyone else hoping for the day something similar happens for North and South Korea? I mean, I know the circumstances would also have to involve a serious regime change… but for many families that have been torn apart for decades, it would mean the difference between never seeing them again, and being reunited at last.
ExaminationOld2494 on
ChatGPT ass photo description
Alfazefirus on
Yeah, not really. The soviet union was bound to collapse shortly anyway, both economics and politics just didn’t add up anymore, haven’t for a while (at least 10 years at that point). Gorbachev tried to salvage what he could with the Glassnost policies but he was just delaying the inevitable collapse. Which is why the East Germany government was about to gradually relax the travel restrictions, which the unbelievable incompetence of Herr Schabowski just sped up.
PlaneShenaniganz on
*Dictators HATE this one simple trick*
TheRealCBlazer on
I was there, in West Berlin. I was just a kid, but it changed my life. It made me realize how fortunate I was to be born in the free world and how so many people would give up everything to have a chance at the things I took for granted. Everything about that moment was history itself, symbolized.
Not only were Warsaw Pact officials shocked by the mistake, but NATO wasn’t prepared, either. None of that matters when the people rise and act.
I still have my chunks of the Wall that I chiseled away myself. And I cry when I see videos of that day.
33 Comments
The man in question is Gunter Schabowski. On Nov 9, 1989, he was handed a note about new travel rules just before a live press conference. He hadn’t attended the briefing, so he didn’t realize the plan was for a slow, permit based rollout starting the next day.
When a reporter asked when the rules started, Schabowski shuffled his papers and guessed: ‘As far as I know. immediately, without delay.’
Within minutes, thousands of East Berliners rushed the checkpoints. The border guards, having received no orders and being massively outnumbered, eventually just opened the gates to avoid a riot. By the time the government realized the mistake, people were already on top of the wall with hammers. And this is how, Berlin Wall fell.
So you are telling me, that one single American could end the fascist government of the orange monkey just with one misread sentence? Who wants to try first?
Accidental hero or incompetent villain?
For the record his mistake didnt end the cold war; it, quite literally, sped it up, but it was happening anyway.
wikipedia agrees, although it’s a little misleading. the end was coming, it was just intended to be more gradual.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BCnter_Schabowski
yes, famously Kennedy said the wall was a jelly donut and Elvis ate it as part of his application to the FBI
Chat GPT ass caption
I used to have a piece of the wall, someone my parents knew was a local and brought me a souvenir. That was 30+ years ago and I have no idea where it is now.
I remember being so confused when this happened my parents were celebrating like crazy, calling family and were like Cold War is over we don’t have to worry about the end of the world and ww3 anymore.
I thought David Hasselhoff has taken down the Berlin wall.
/s
West German family. I still remember how shocked I was to realize West and East Germany did not get to see each other! I was born in 1961 so probably asked the question in the early 70s
Not with X, with Y.
Eh, it was coming either way. It’s not like what he was wrong about the coming changes, he just announced them coming into effect much earlier than planned.
The journalist was the Italian Riccardo Ehrman and he always said that his answer was out of genuine curiosity in order to have enough info for his agency,so it wasn’t a sting or anything like that.
He also said that when he went outside to reach the wall,people recognised him from the conference and raised him as a literal hero,lol
Offi**cial**, not offi**cer**. Schabowski was the secretary in charge of press communications, basically. And as others have pointed out, if there hadn’t been incredible pressure on the regime by the people already, neither would the announcement itself have happened, the reaction to Schabowski’s answer would not have been as immediate and powerful.
For anyone else interested in this period of time I highly recommend the German film “Goodbye, Lenin” from 2003.
It covers the Wall coming down and the freedom East Germans were experiencing but a main plot.that is fascinating & bittersweet (and I won’t spoil it here).
I want a Mr Bean movie to be made about this.
https://preview.redd.it/bniucgivh0rg1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f428a416d01aee0605697da20d17c2433a0fe8ec
the actual picture of that moment was way less epic.
Not really, he simply gave the wrong timeline. GDR planned to ease restrictions gradually, over longer time. He misspoke that it’s full lifting right away. It didn’t end anything that wasn’t planned on being ended, he merely sped things up.
I read that some dudes got drunk at a David Hasselhoff concert, heard David repeat Reagan’s line about “tear down this wall” so they just went and started tearing it down.
That’s why DH will always be the real Nick Fury.
Absurdly reductionist. Not helpful to describe massive political and social change like this.
Poland was already half a year after the free elections at that time. The centrist Mazowiecki’s government was working and the communist PZPR party was doing the last preparations (“archiving” documents and “management’ of the party s wealth) before self dissolving, that happened formally two months later, but it was already dead.
I was in my teenage years, living in west germany and totally remember the days leading up to this and this very moment. I am still shivering. And kudos to my east german friends, who overturned that system. You guys are the real deal!
If you weren’t alive in 1989, or old enough to be aware of world events, it’s hard to convey how startling it was. In early summer, Hungary dismantled its border fence and Poland had free elections which were overwhelmingly won by Solidarity; with the fence gone, East Germans and Czechs started pouring into the west, and one by one the six Warsaw Pact nations broke free of Communism. The only one that was violent was Romania, which ended up with Ceaucescu and his wife in front of a firing squad.
I started college in the fall of 1988. It was obvious that the Cold War was thawing, but if you’d told me that in less than 18 months all 6 Warsaw Pact nations would be free of Communism, and in just over 3 years the Soviet Union would fall apart, I’d have thought you were nuts, but it happened.
I cannot stand when history gets dumbed down to “one single man started/ended this major historical event.” That’s not how anything has ever worked. The GDR was already on its last legs for a plethora of reasons by 1989. This guy’s mistake may have sped its collapse up a bit but the foundation had already rotted to its core well before his announcement.
Just shows, walls don’t keep people in/out, people who blindly follow dictators do.
Since most of the time there are more ‘generic populace people’ than gatekeepers, in theory the crowds could have stormed the gates at any previous point in time ( of course running the risk if some being shot).
Bottom line, if you’re being oppressed you are complicit to some extent
The real reason is because everyone came at once. The clerical error was the trigger. When the people show up, in huge numbers, things change quickly.
I thought our President told them to tear down the wall so they did
Anyone else hoping for the day something similar happens for North and South Korea? I mean, I know the circumstances would also have to involve a serious regime change… but for many families that have been torn apart for decades, it would mean the difference between never seeing them again, and being reunited at last.
ChatGPT ass photo description
Yeah, not really. The soviet union was bound to collapse shortly anyway, both economics and politics just didn’t add up anymore, haven’t for a while (at least 10 years at that point). Gorbachev tried to salvage what he could with the Glassnost policies but he was just delaying the inevitable collapse. Which is why the East Germany government was about to gradually relax the travel restrictions, which the unbelievable incompetence of Herr Schabowski just sped up.
*Dictators HATE this one simple trick*
I was there, in West Berlin. I was just a kid, but it changed my life. It made me realize how fortunate I was to be born in the free world and how so many people would give up everything to have a chance at the things I took for granted. Everything about that moment was history itself, symbolized.
Not only were Warsaw Pact officials shocked by the mistake, but NATO wasn’t prepared, either. None of that matters when the people rise and act.
I still have my chunks of the Wall that I chiseled away myself. And I cry when I see videos of that day.