Berlin Wall fell 30 years ago, leading to Germany's reunification
The fall of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 9, 1989 followed months of turmoil in communist East Germany and was the starting point for Germany’s reunification less than a year later.
Pressure on the hard-line leadership in East Berlin mounted through the summer and autumn. East Germans fled to the West first via Hungary, which started dismantling its border fortifications, and later holed up in the West German Embassy in Prague, from where they were taken by train to West Germany.
At home, East Germans took to the streets in unprecedented demonstrations for freedom of assembly and travel, staging growing protests every Monday in Leipzig. On Nov. 4, some 500,000 people gathered in East Berlin for the country’s biggest pro-democracy protest.
On the evening of Nov. 9, East Germany opened its border amid scenes of celebration. After Politburo spokesman Guenter Schabowski said the country was lifting restrictions on travel across its border with West Germany “immediately,” East Berliners flocked to border crossings.
Border guards had received no orders to let anyone across but gave up trying to hold back the crowds. In the weeks that followed, new border crossings opened up _ including at Berlin’s landmark Brandenburg Gate _ and people chipped away at what had long seemed an impregnable barrier.
East Germany and West Germany were united on Oct. 3, 1990.
AP Corporate Archives contributed to this report.