A special edition of The German Times marking thirty years of the fall of the Wall

CLIMBING WALL

asked The Times An American diplomat, a Russian scholar, a TV reporter and two generations of East : people with unique viewpoints to recount their experience of the fateful night the came down

GETTING TOUGH GETTING TO THE BIG LEAGUES GETTING IN GETTING TO THE HOT SPOTS Andreas Kopietz on the city’s Michael Jahn on Hertha and Union Nicola Kuhn on the James Simon Sabine Bärenklau on the best ramped-up efforts to fight gang and their first year together in the Gallery, the fancy new entrance hall places to dance, dine, enjoy violence on the streets of Neukölln for music or just have a good time page 3 page 5 page 10 page 12

Exit, left is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the against communist rule – yet the debate rages on about who exactly is responsible for making it happen

The Wall was ultimately torn SED functionaries had expressed some fled. Either way, they contrib- demonstrations most likely would tions, the revolution would likely BY ILKO-SASCHA KOWALCZUK down by East Germans, but also admiration for their Chinese uted considerably to the destabili- never have occurred. have taken a demonstrably differ- by citizens of Poland, Czechoslova- counterparts for their handling zation of the system. In response to No one is claiming that the civil ent path. It was this footage that n the fall and winter of 1989– kia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia and of the opposition movement in the waves of people attempting to rights movement alone led to the turned the mass demonstrations 90, the entire world watched Estonia. The Poles were the first to that country, where hundreds leave the country, the active oppo- revolution. However, for a revolu- into an irreversible event that Iin anticipation as events start chipping away at the Wall in of civil rights activists had been sition called out in a defiant tone: tion to unfold in the first place, a could no longer be denied. And unfolded in Germany. It seemed 1980 by means of their anti-com- massacred and thousands others “We are staying!” And, indeed, pool of like-minded people has to above all, it served to motivate that every day brought something munist Solidarity movement. arrested in Beijing and elsewhere most people did stay, that is, they form. The founding of the New thousands of other people. that would have been considered When East Germans finally in early June 1989. In East Ger- stayed in their homes and waited Forum created the space for such Perhaps the revolution in the impossible only a day earlier. tore down that Wall on the night many, by contrast, the SED lead- – as is the case in every revolution, a reservoir of individuals. The GDR might have taken place even The highpoint was the evening of Nov. 9, leaders in and ership capitulated in the face of because otherwise there would be idea of moving from the churches without the oppositionists. Who of Nov. 9, 1989, when the Berlin hesitated to support the the unexpectedly large masses no one left to revolt. The ones who and onto the streets was an offer knows? But one certainty is that Wall – that decades-long symbol prospect of German reunification. of people on the streets. stayed at home would turn out they made to society – an offer so it played a decisive role. We also of communist rule over half of Poland and the US took a differ- After all, revolutions never suc- to be the benefactors; they were broadly worded that it was able know that did not Europe – came tumbling down. ent stance. President George H. ceed in strong regimes. given democracy, freedom and the to reach even critically minded simply disappear, not in Romania Today, individual pieces of the W. Bush immediately assured Roughly five decades ago, rule of law without having lifted a members of the SED. Within not in Bulgaria and especially not Wall can be found everywhere in the Germans that the US would Albert Hirschman (1915–2012), finger. Historically speaking, this, only a few days and weeks, tens in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslo- the world. They remind people of stand at their side as a reliable a German-born economist and too, is quite normal. of thousands of people had joined vakia and the Baltic states, where the boundary that once divided partner and do everything pos- the . organized oppositions were criti- Berlin, Germany, Europe and the sible to make sure they regained There were massive police cal to it being overthrown. world, a border that functioned their state and unity attacks and many arrests at the There are two erstwhile exam- as a symbol of bondage and dic- as quickly as possible. Bush was demonstrations. The people ples that prove that it’s not always tatorship. The word – short- Germany’s most important friend The people chanted chanted “No violence!” in defi- so easy to bring down a dictator- hand for Ministerium für Sta- in this moment, and his steadfast ance of the powers of state and ship. In Cuba, which is just as run- atssicherheit, or the East German policy toward the country quickly “No violence!” called on those of their fellow down as the GDR was, absolute secret police – has entered many forced the remaining former citizens who were still hiding out rule shows no palpable signs of languages across the globe as a allies, including the , at home: “Fellow citizens, stop being dismantled. North synonym for police oppression, to abandon their blockade stance watching TV and come out and is an even more drastic example and it continues to this day to toward German reunification. social scientist who taught in the The New Forum, founded on join us!” Most people who didn’t – the state remains so strong that symbolize communist dictator- Although these foreign policy US, described the charged rela- Sept. 9–10, 1989, along with other refrained, which was understand- a breakdown seems inconceiv- ship and its apparatus of oppres- developments were indisputably tionship between involvement new citizens’ movements, offered able considering the intimidating able. However, as history teaches sion and surveillance. important factors in the realiza- and migration using the terms a space for public communication police presence. us – even in , and just The Wall was the most visible tion of German unity, a passion- “voice” and “exit.” And it was pre- for the first time. Within only a Word of the events quickly like in the GDR – should the state expression of an all-encompass- ate argument is currently being cisely because these two forces of few weeks – by the beginning of spread around the globe. But how show signs of wavering, a revolu- ing police state that imprisoned waged among the country’s his- “speaking up” and “leaving” came October – thousands of people did the word get out in the first tion will remain out of reach but an entire population behind a torians and historical witnesses as together in the GDR that the East had started taking advantage of place? The opposition- for the infectious courage of those concrete and barbed-wire fence. to who exactly in the GDR was German dictatorship fell. In fact, this opportunity, yet all at great ists Aram Radomski and Siegbert few individuals who motivate the Several sections of this Iron Cur- most responsible for the success research has long since shown that personal risk. The GDR was Schefke are to thank for that. larger population to rise up. tain were preserved and set up of the revolution against the dic- there was more than simply one changing from below. They shook off the Stasi guards in the , as well; for tatorship overseen by the Socialist trigger for the East German revo- People weren’t taking to the following them, drove to Leipzig example, in the park belonging to Unity Party (SED). lution. The system was ailing; the streets by accident. Those who and filmed the mass demonstra- Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk is an author and historian at the Stasi the presidential library of Ronald Oct. 9, 1989, one month before economy was running on empty; succeeded at bringing the Leipzig tions at great personal peril. They Records Agency. This month, Reagan in Simi Valley, California. the Wall would fall, is the sym- the political elites were inca- Monday demonstrations out of then smuggled the footage to he published Die Übernahme. It was Reagan who spoke those bolic day of the East German pacitated; the loyalty of followers the churches and into broader via a Western corre- Wie Ostdeutschland Teil der Bundesrepublik wurde (The famous words on June 12, 1987, revolution. On that day, more had cracked; and Gorbachev in society were oppositionists who spondent with whom they were takeover. How at the Gate in West than 70,000 people took to the Moscow was no longer willing to had organized themselves illegally friends. The footage then began became part of the Federal Berlin: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down streets in Leipzig to demonstrate sustain the status quo. years prior to 1989 in Leipzig. its iconic march around the globe. Republic). Kowalczuk is also this wall!” Reagan inspired millions against the communists. The state But the SED regime did not Without their idea of taking to Without this footage shot by these on the national commission to the 30th anniversaries of of people held captive behind the did not intervene, and the massa- fall all by itself. A collapse of this the streets after Monday prayers, two men and without the initiative the Peaceful Revolution and Wall and assured them that the cre that many feared did not take nature requires the active partici- which they began doing in early of the Leipzig-based opposition- German reunification. free world had not forgotten them. place. Just days prior, high-ranking pation of individuals. Some left, September, the famous Monday ists at the Monday demonstra-