The Night the Wall Came Down

For 28 years, East Germans were trapped. The Wall didn't just divide Berlin. It caged 16 million people inside a country they couldn't leave. No vacations to the West. No visiting relatives on the other side. Anyone caught trying to escape could be shot.

By the fall of 1989, the pressure was boiling over. Thousands of East Germans had already fled through Hungary and Czechoslovakia, which had started opening their own borders. Massive protests filled the streets of Leipzig and East Berlin. The communist government was losing control.

To calm things down, officials drafted new travel rules. East Germans would finally be allowed to apply for permits to visit the West. It was a small crack in the Wall, designed to release pressure without giving up control. The rules were supposed to roll out gradually, with restrictions.

On the evening of November 9, 1989, a spokesman named Günter Schabowski held a press conference to announce the changes. A reporter asked when the new rules would take effect. Schabowski shuffled his papers, looked confused, and said: "Immediately, without delay."

He'd made a mistake. The rules weren't supposed to start yet. But the press conference was live on television. Within an hour, thousands of East Berliners grabbed their coats and headed for the border crossings.

At Bornholmer Straße, the crowd swelled to thousands. Border guards had no orders. Their phones rang and rang. No one in command would tell them what to do.

At 11:30 PM, guard commander Harald Jäger made a decision that changed history. He ordered the gates opened. East Germans poured through, many of them crying, some in disbelief. They were the first to cross freely in 28 years.

Over the years, people had tried to escape anyway. Some tunneled underneath. Others crashed through in cars, hid in secret compartments, or floated over in homemade hot air balloons. At least 140 people died in the attempt.

By midnight on November 9, all the crossing points had opened. Strangers hugged strangers. People climbed on top of the Wall at Brandenburg Gate and danced. West Berliners handed over bottles of champagne. Someone showed up with a sledgehammer.

Over the following days, "Wall woodpeckers" chipped away at the concrete, taking pieces home as souvenirs. Sections were sold off. Cranes hauled away the rest.

Germany officially reunified on October 3, 1990. But the real moment happened that November night, when one overwhelmed border guard decided to open the gates.

Places to visit

Brandenburg Gate

For 28 years, this landmark stood trapped in the death strip, unreachable from either side. When the Wall opened, it became the symbol of reunification. Thousands gathered here to celebrate, climbing the Wall and popping champagne on top of it. Today you can walk straight through the gate, something Berliners couldn't do for nearly three decades. Stand in the spot where crowds danced on the night everything changed.

Berlin Wall Memorial (Bernauer Strasse)

This is the place to understand how the Wall actually worked. A preserved section shows the full "death strip" setup: two walls, a sandy no-man's-land, watchtowers, and anti-vehicle barriers. The Documentation Center has photographs of escape attempts, some successful, some not. Bernauer Strasse was especially brutal. Some apartment buildings sat right on the border. In the early days, people jumped from upper windows to the West. Then the windows were bricked up.

Checkpoint Charlie

The most famous crossing point wasn't for regular Berliners. Checkpoint Charlie was reserved for foreigners, diplomats, and military personnel. In October 1961, American and Soviet tanks faced off here, just meters apart. For 16 hours, the world held its breath. Today, a replica guardhouse marks the spot. The nearby museum documents escapes: hidden car trunks, fake passports, a tiny submarine. The stories are wild.

East Side Gallery

After the Wall fell, artists from around the world painted the East Berlin side. This 1.3 kilometer stretch is now the longest open-air gallery on Earth. You'll see Dmitri Vrubel's famous painting of Soviet leader Brezhnev kissing East German leader Honecker, and Birgit Kinder's Trabant car bursting through concrete. Kids love spotting the different murals. The art turned something brutal into something beautiful, without erasing what it was.

Bornholmer Straße

Most people think Brandenburg Gate is where the Wall opened first. It wasn't. This quiet border crossing in north Berlin holds that honor. At 11:30 PM on November 9, Harald Jäger ordered his guards to let people through. No official permission. No orders from above. He just did it. Within minutes, tens of thousands crossed. A small memorial and outdoor exhibit mark the spot today. It's less crowded than other Wall sites, and the story it tells is extraordinary.

Mauerpark

This popular park sits on former death strip. The name literally means "Wall Park." On Sundays, a massive flea market takes over. Hundreds gather at the outdoor amphitheater for karaoke, where strangers sing to cheering crowds. It's joyful and weird and very Berlin. A surviving stretch of Wall runs along the edge, covered in ever-changing graffiti. Kids can run around the same ground that guards once patrolled with rifles.

Turn this story into an adventure.

Our Fall of the Wall Hidden History Hunt takes your family to all six sites, with challenges, questions, and discoveries at every stop. Kids collect digital stickers as they explore. They'll stand where the first crossing happened, decode Cold War secrets, and hunt for hidden details in the East Side Gallery murals.