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November 9th, 1989 - The night the wall fell http://1961-1989.de - / 1961bis1989 Fall of the Wall, November 9th, 1989 - 00:30 - HD720 The night the wall fell in 30 minutes - #wallfall #fotw25 #de25 #25years _______________________________________________________________ 25 years of the fall of the wall - November 9th, 2014 25 years of the fall of the wall - it has been a quarter of a century since the Berlin Wall fell. Moments of the night convey the irrepressible feeling of joy and optimism with which Berliners in the East and West turn night into day - the wall is gone! The new travel regulations The member of the SED Politburo, Günter Schabowski, reads out new travel regulations towards the end of a press conference on November 9th, 1989. What is confusing is that his announcement only speaks of “permanent departure”, in other words of “leaving the republic”. The text also contains a passage about visits to western countries, which should now be possible for everyone. Immediately, without delay Furthermore, at this press conference on 9 November 1989, in response to a journalist’s question about when the GDR’s new travel law would come into force, Schabowski claimed that the regulation would apply “with immediate effect” and “without delay”. “As far as I know, it will come into force immediately, without delay.” The wall is permeable and superfluous The realisation only slowly dawns on the assembled media representatives what these statements actually mean: the wall is gone! Hundreds of thousands of television viewers in East Berlin could not believe their ears. So off they went, got dressed again and headed to the S-Bahn station, which was already as full as it was during rush hour – incredulous excitement and curiosity everywhere. The air vibrates... The night of November 9, 1989 10:45 p.m. Checkpoint Charlie: Border guards form a cordon. The officer on duty notes: "The situation... is getting worse." On the West Berlin side, around 3,000 people are standing in front of the unarmed soldiers, in the East, several hundred. The command does not respond to the calls from the post commander. He has the gates closed. The West Berliners shout: "Let us in!" The East Berliners: "Let us out!"