File / berlin-wall
One Minute Before the Berlin Wall Opened
Lt. Col. Harald Jäger has been on the phone to superiors for four hours. Twenty thousand East Berliners are pressed against his checkpoint, quoting a mistranslated announcement by Günter Schabowski live on TV. His orders are incoherent. He is about to disobey them.
- Date
- 9 November 1989
- Time
- 23:29 CET
- Location
- Bornholmer Straße crossing, East Berlin
- Duration
- 4 min
Perspectives available
Harald Jäger (Border Officer)Crowd at BornholmerSchabowski's press room
People in the room
Harald Jäger
Border checkpoint commander · Bornholmer Straße
Günter Schabowski
SED spokesman · East Berlin press room
Riccardo Ehrman
ANSA correspondent (asked the question)
Sources
- Stasi archive protocols
- Jäger memoir 2008
- ARD/ZDF broadcast recordings