fall of the wall

Mikhail Gorbachev becomes General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU)in the spring of 1985. He wants to reform the ailing economic and social system of the USSR and to rescue it from collapse by use of his policies of glasnost and perestroika. These policies also encourage the other countries of the Eastern bloc to attempt reforms. They use the opportunity offered by Gorbachev at long last to determine most of their own domestic and foreign policies. However, the leadership of the DDR under the Chairman of the State Council, Erich Honecker, perceives no need for reform. It closes its eyes against the evident fact that the DDR stands just short of state bankruptcy.

In face of the obvious inefficiency of the "socialism in the colors of the DDR" and the refusal of the communist leaders to make any reforms the "arrangement" between the citizens and the SED-regime which has secured social security and a certain standard of living for those who have "submitted" is breaking apart. An opposition movement is formed that demands of the SED leadership democratic reforms of the state, the economy, and society as well as freedom to travel. The civil rights advocates in the DDR increasingly refuse to be intimidated by the Stasi in their political activities.

Many citizens of the DDR are no longer prepared to wait endlessly for reforms. They determine to seek the road to freedom. In January 1989 a group of DDR citizens occupies the permanent mission in East Berlin of the Federal Republic of Germany in order to force the issue of emigration to the West. The action succeeds. This encourages many to do likewise. In the summer of 1989 thousands of DDR citizens occupy West German embassies in Prague, Warsaw, and Budapest. They are able to gain permits to emigrate to West Germany. A mass flight to the West of DDR citizens follows the opening by Hungary in September 1989 of its border with Austria. The "iron curtain" that has hung for more than four decades between East and West begins to crumble.

In October 1989 the DDR celebrates the 40th anniversary of its founding. In the forefront of the celebration are mass demonstrations in many cities against the SED regime. The police resort to force against some of the protesters. However, units of the National People's Army of the DDR and Soviet troops stationed in East Germany remain in their barracks. With the slogan "we are the people" the demonstrators demand basic democratic reforms. Later, with the slogan "Germany is the united fatherland" they also demand unification of Germany.

Rally in front of the City Hall of Berlin Schöneberg after the fall the Wall ©Bundesbildstelle

The DDR leadership is powerless against the pressure of hundreds of thousands in the streets. Erich Honecker is toppled. The members of the SED Politburo resign. A new SED leadership under General Secretary Egon Krenz grants all DDR citizens the freedom to travel as an initial measure. The Berlin wall falls during the night of November 9 to 10, 1989. Thousands stream across the border crossings to West Berlin and celebrate with their compatriots the realization of one step toward Germany unity.

Willy Brandt is deeply moved: "I thank God that I lived to see this". Brandt is witness to the fruition of his East and German policies. The wall has fallen. Reunification is within grasping distance.

Inhabitants of both parts of the city on top of the Wall at the Brandenburg Gate ©Bundesbildstelle

The day after the fall of the wall Willy Brandt addresses thousands from East and West in front of the Schöneberg City Hall. "He calls out to the cheering crowd: "This is a great day on a long journey. But we are still at a way station. We have not yet reached the end of the journey. Everything now depends upon whether we - Germans here and on the other side - are up to the challenge of the historical situation. The gathering of Germans, that is the issue!"

Willy Brandt's call "now what belongs together will grow together" becomes the slogan for the beginning of the unification process.