Press Center of the GDR

On November 9, 1989, journalists gathered in the International Press Centre of the GDR. One of the many topics of the press conference: the new freedom to travel for people from the GDR. What happened here led to thousands pouring across the border into the West later that night.

In November 1989, Günter Schabowski was Secretary for Information. In this capacity, he mistakenly announced to the press that the new travel regulations would apply immediately.

"Private travel to foreign countries can be applied for without any prerequisites – reasons for travel and family relations. Permits are issued at short notice. The responsible passport and registration departments of the People’s Police – the People’s Police district offices – in the GDR are instructed to issue visas for permanent departure without delay, without the need for any prerequisites for permanent departure that are still in effect."

Peter Brinkmann, journalist of the West German tabloid newspaper Bild, was present at the historic press conference. He was interested in the new travel regulations. But Günter Schabowski confused those present with his elaborations. Then Brinkmann asked the decisive follow-up questions. 

"If you’re in this business long enough, it means you have to shout something significant. Microphones are in the front, that’s why I was sitting there. And then I shouted ‘From now on!’ and I did so in a cutting voice. You could hear it clearly. And then he reacted. And then he looked at his paper and there was also the word: ‘Immediately.’ That's what it said under point 2a on this piece of paper. It said: ‘Permanent departures can take place immediately.’ That meant that anyone who wanted to leave the GDR could do so immediately. They could go to the border. Which the border guards did, they stamped the identity cards invalid, because they thought, exit was included. And in 2b it said private travel first. That’s what he read out. But he didn’t get far, because there was the word ‘must be approved’ again. But the approval referred to the application for the passport. That is, he got everything mixed up. And because I asked twice more: ‘Does this also apply to West Berlin?’ Twice I asked, he then also read out ‘Applies to West Berlin.’ That was the second decisive thing: Effective immediately and West Berlin."

Günter Schabowski explained later in 2005 why the border guards did not know anything about the new freedom to travel.

"And then at the end I came to this point in the question and answer game with the journalists and said, ‘I can tell you, today the Council of Ministers made a decision that is such and such’ and read it out. And then there were a few more questions: for what? For West Berlin as well? And so on. And that was it. Only when I read it out, those at the border didn’t know about it yet, because the Council of Ministers was supposed to decide it at 7 p.m. by circulation. So with no objections it happened at 7 p.m., everybody sent their thing back to headquarters, so to speak. And then the command, the information machinery should be passed on to the border crossing points and so on. That’s how it came about: I communicated it and they knew nothing about it. That created a truly dramatic situation. There could have been shootings and the like. What prevented it from escalating was the fact that this regime had already been so disrupted in its appearance that the soldiers there at the border said, ‘What? Now people are arriving there, they’re all standing here saying we should let them pass.’ And they called out to them: ‘Today on television! Schabowski made this announcement.’ And then they said, ‘Well, then, there's probably something to it. This is all going crazy, before we get into hot territory here, raise the barrier.’ That’s how it happened."