Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Twenty-five years ago today marked the fall of the Berlin Wall. Faced with waves of protest and the flight of East German citizens through Hungary and Czechoslovakia, the East German government – somewhat accidentally -- announced the lifting of travel restrictions between East and West Berlin on 9 November 1989. Huge crowds soon gathered around the wall and forced border guards to open the gates, allowing free crossing into West Berlin. The fall of the Wall set Germany on the path to Unification on October 3, 1990. 

The Cold War International History Project (CWIHP) has released a collection of documents on the history of the Berlin Wall, from its earliest conception to its collapse in November 1989, including:

• 1 November 1989, Memorandum of Conversation Between Egon Krenz and Mikhail S. Gorbachev
• 9 November 1989, Draft of Temporary Transition Rules for Travel and Permanent Exit from East Germany and Berlin
• 9 November 1989, The Socialist Unity Party Central Committee approves the new travel regulations
• 9 November 1989, Press Conference in which Günter Schabowski mistakenly announces the new regulations are effective "immediately"
• 10 November 1989, Romanian Embassy in Berlin reports on the mass celebrations and crossings following the announcement
• 10 November 1989, Message from Mikhail Gorbachev to Helmut Kohl

For more, see the Berlin Wall collection in the CWIHP Digital Archive.