Protest against Egon Krenz being installed as chairman of the State Council outside the State Council building in East Berlin, 24 October 1989.
Source: picture-alliance/dpa/Wolfgang Kumm

The wall falls

“We’re going to open the floodgates now. We’re opening everything.” These were the words of a border officer on Bornholmer Straße when the first crossing was opened shortly before 11.30 p.m. on 9 November 1989. The border guards stopped all checks and the barrier was pushed aside.
Source: Andreas Schoelzel
Ausweisdokument mit Stempel vom 9.11.1989, Grenzübergang Bornholmer Straße
Source: Siegbert Schefke
Checkpoint Charlie, the Allied border crossing, was a symbol of the divided city. During the evening of 9 November 1989, more and more West Berliners gathered there. “We want in,” they called. “We want out”, people chanted on the other side. Together, they forced the border guards to open the crossing.
Source: AP-Photo/Lutz Schmidt
Berliners from the East and West joyously reunited on Kurfürstendamm in West Berlin in the night of 9 November 1989, after 28 years in a divided city.
Source: Rolf Zöllner
The whole world in sympathy: the international media reported live on the fall of the Wall, dreamt of for so long but no longer thought possible.
Source: Hans-Peter Stiebing
Am 10. November 1989 wird von der Oderberger Straße in Ost-Berlin zur Bernauer Straße in West-Berlin die Mauer durchbrochen.
West German politicians outside Schöneberg Town Hall, 10 November 1989. They expressed their joy at the fall of the wall before some 30,000 people, but also issued a warning against impulsive actions. Hans-Dietrich Genscher (foreign minister, l.), Helmut Kohl (federal chancellor, m.) and Willy Brandt (honorary chairman of the SPD, r.).
Source: picture-alliance/dpa
The Brandenburg Gate had a magnetic attraction for the Berliners. West Berliners climbed onto the Wall by the gate on 9 November 1989. East Berliners joined them for a few hours until the East side was blocked off again. West Berliners carried on dancing on top of the Wall. It was not until 11 November that the GDR border troops regained control of the situation.
Source: AP-Photo/Thomas Kienzle
Der damals 28-jährige Mathias Vieth aus Rostock verfasst einen Tag nach dem Fall der Mauer einen Brief an seine Schwester in Berlin.
Source: Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft/Mathias Vieth

Video

Öffnung der Grenze am Grenzübergang Bornholmer Straße am 9. November 1989 (Spiegel TV)

Video

SED-Kundgebung am 10. November 1989 im Lustgarten

Exhibition

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