"History is being made here"
The night the Wall came down
For almost 30 years, the Berlin Wall divided Germany into East and West—until that one night: November 9, 1989. And that’s exactly where our journey takes us in this episode of Berlin Unboxed.
We speak with two eyewitnesses who experienced the fall of the Wall firsthand. Journalist and author Ewald König takes us back to the press conference where SED official Günther Schabowski, with his now-famous words “immediately, without delay,” opened the borders of the GDR.
And Burkhard Kieker, CEO of visitBerlin, recalls that foggy November evening, standing at the Oberbaum Bridge as he welcomed the first people from East Germany.
We talk about freedom, powerful moments, the background of the Wall’s collapse—and ask ourselves:
How peaceful was the Peaceful Revolution really?
Description
This video is part of the episode "The Night the Wall Fell | Interviewing Contemporary Witnesses" from the podcast Berlin Unboxed, which is run by visitBerlin. This video podcast is about the events of 9 November 1989 - the night the Berlin Wall fell and Germany grew together again after almost 30 years of division. We talk to two contemporary witnesses who experienced this historic moment at first hand: Ewald König, journalist and author, takes us to the legendary press conference at which SED functionary Günther Schabowski opened the GDR's borders with the words "immediately, without delay". Burkhard Kieker, Managing Director of visitBerlin, shares his memories of the moving moment when he welcomed the first people from the GDR at the Oberbaumbrücke. Film footage of the interviews in Ewald König's office in Berlin's Haus der Bundespressekonferenz alternates with historical footage from rbb in 1989. The VisitBerlin logo is in the bottom left corner of the still image showing people on the Wall on the night of 9 November 1989. The subtitles of the video can be switched on and off in the YouTube player under settings. For a transcription, the video should be watched directly on YouTube.
(The video is in German language)