35 years on from the fall of the Berlin Wall, German Australians reflect on its impact

This story was produced in collaboration with
SBS German
.
(Sounds of protesters chanting the phrase “Wir sind das Volk!”, which is German for ‘We are the people!’)
October 9, 1989.
70-thousand protesters march peacefully through the streets of Leipzig, demanding freedom and reform in East Germany – or what was officially known as the German Democratic Republic.
It was a risky move, considering protests criticising the authorities were prohibited under law – and mass rallies had not been seen in decades.
In fact, participants feared violent tactics would be used to suppress their protest, including opening fire on protesters – just like what happened in the deadly Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing just months earlier.
But remarkably, confronted with the non-violent approach of protesters, the security forces were not ordered to intervene.
While not the first protest of the so-called Peaceful Revolution, it was the largest – and it emboldened other protest movements across Eastern Europe, which would set in motion the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union.
Just four weeks later, on November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall fell.
The series of concrete walls and fences were as high as 3.6 metres in places, topped with barbed wire and guarded with watchtowers.
The structure was first built in August 1961 as a barbed wire barricade to stop people fleeing to West Germany (which was under the control of the United States, Britain, and France).
At least 171 people died trying to cross the Berlin Wall.
That evening on November 9 at 6:52 pm, Berlin’s Socialist Unity Party leader, Günter Schabowski, made an unexpected announcement.
“Private travel outside the country can now be applied for without prerequisites, conditions or family relationships. Permits will be issued on short notice.”
He clarified that the decree allowing free travel would be effective immediately – in a move that some historians say was an unintended bureaucratic error.
According to some historians, he missed out on reading the document in his portfolio that specified the government decree was to be made public as of 4am the next day. Other historians say he knew exactly what he was doing the entire time.
East Germans flocked to the border, eager to cross the boundary that had divided them for 32 years.
Some people began to chip away at the physical barrier using hammers and chisels.
That weekend, more than 2 million people crossed from East Berlin into West Berlin.
Once again, in a remarkable turn of events: no shots were fired, no lives lost.
It was one of those moments when everyone remembers where they were when it happened.
Sydney-based lawyer Olaf Kretzschmar was just 16 at the time.
He says the memory of that time is still crystal clear.
“I lived with my parents in a very small unit, as an only child, watching the news. I woke up one morning and I saw something in TV. I didn’t believe it was true. Because it felt so impossible, so unlikely that this would have happened. And then I went through my day and it was said on radio and TV again and again and again. And then you saw the pictures of the people like marching through the gates there and being at the wall. And then I started to believe it. It was a very small town: 16,000 inhabitants. Everyone knew each other. It was sort of rural area – 80 kilometres away from the big city from Berlin.”
For citizens in the German Democratic Republic, achieving the goal of the demise of the German Democratic Republic seemed out of reach.
Olaf recalls a visit to Berlin with his father.
“I remember clearly being eight or ten years old watching a series in West German TV, the Dream Ship or ‘Traumschiff’, with some sort of Caribbean sides there. And I looked at it and thought it’s something you will never do. And I didn’t feel bitter about it. It’s just like this is the way it is. Or going through Berlin with my dad. He would say look at the skyscrapers there, that’s West Berlin. It’s like: wow, we’ll never go there. Everyone has those days like, ah, the job and the clients – there’s always something going on.
“And what brings me down to earth is exactly this. It’s like: look at where you are. If someone would have told you that in 1986 or something, you would have just said: yeah, dream on. And so, be thankful for that. Whatever your problems are, these are like, it happens in everyone’s life. And you were part of something super big, like something like this, like the Viedervereinigung, reunification of Germany. I don’t know if it ever happens again, something like this. It’s a groundbreaking thing, even more so that it happened without any weapons being raised – (it happened) peacefully.”
For nearly four decades, East Germans were captives in their own country, separated from family members on the other side of the Wall.
The fall of the Berlin Wall was the first step towards German reunification.
Families were reunited and people could finally visit the places of their youth that were once unreachable behind the boundaries set by the Soviet Union – what became known as the Iron Curtain.
Sonja Maria Geiger, who grew up in West Germany, was 12 when the Wall fell.
A year later, she visited East Germany for the first time with a youth choir.
The choir director took them to his childhood home.
Seeing his reaction, she realised the magnitude of the impact of what happened.
“Before the concert, he showed us the house where he grew up as a young child. And he was a very strict old man. He was in his sixties back then. So he was not very emotional. And then he started crying in front of the door of his father’s or his parents house. And we all realised even being 13 – and being oblivious to what grown ups might think – like what an emotional moment that would have been for him. For example, I have no idea for how long he hasn’t been back to his home place. The whole choir, like the whole group fell silent and just watched him.”
Germany’s Ambassador to Australia, Beate Grzeski, says on the 35th anniversary of the historic event, there are valuable lessons to remember.
“We should remember the courageous men and women that had demonstrated months before in East Germany against a then communist regime – we must not forget that. And it took really some personal risks. And that in the end, the peaceful revolution took place. There was no bloodshed. That is one point.
“The other point for me is that nothing lasts forever. It’s good to keep up your ideals, fight against obstacles, although it might take a long time. Which is not only the case with the German reunification, but when you look at Eastern Europe – the Baltic states as well had to wait many years. And had not to give up their ideal of freedom and unity. And finally, they also were rewarded.”
Germany’s reunification happened on October 3 1990, 11 months after the fall of the wall.
Ms Grzeski says the development was not instantly embraced by all neighbouring countries, but ultimately it led to a stronger unified Europe.
“Well, I think the other countries also realized that out of two countries, one emerged, which is a country of 82 million in Europe, which is the largest population in the European Union, which was also an issue of concern for other countries. Will this country use its power in a responsible way after all the history in the 20th century? I think the years after have proven that Germany used its growing importance in a responsible way, advocated the accession of the Eastern European countries to the European Union; so that Europe as a whole could become one again.
“Before we had the Cold War – we had the western part and the eastern part of Germany standing of Europe being in conflict. Now, we had a phase of many years where there was optimism and hope that war in Europe would become a distant possibility. Francis Fukuyama said it’s the end of history. We have seen in the following years that this was too optimistic. So, important is the process of German unification – and the process of European unification – is work in progress. It’s never ended, never complete.”
And you can hear more about the repercussions and relevance of the fall of the Berlin Wall in a new podcast series,
Mauerfall: 35 Years of Freedom and Transformation
. You can find it on the SBS Audio app or wherever you get your podcasts.