09.11.1989: la chute du Mur de Berlin / de val van de Berlijnse Muur / Der Fall der Berliner Mauer / The Fall of the Berlin Wall

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Wikipedia:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall#The_fall.2C_1989

On August 23, 1989, Hungary removed its physical border defences with Austria, and in September more than 13,000 East German tourists in Hungary escaped to Austria. This set up a chain of events. The Hungarians prevented many more East Germans from crossing the border and returned them to Budapest. These East Germans flooded the West German embassy and refused to return to East Germany. The East German government responded by disallowing any further travel to Hungary, but allowed those already there to return. This triggered a similar incident in neighboring Czechoslovakia. On this occasion, the East German authorities allowed them to leave, providing that they used a train which transited East Germany on the way. This was followed by mass demonstrations within East Germany itself. (See Monday demonstrations in East Germany.) The longtime leader of East Germany, Erich Honecker, resigned on October 18, 1989, and was replaced by Egon Krenz a few days later. Honecker had predicted in January of that year that the wall would stand for a "hundred more years" if the conditions which had caused its construction did not change.

Protest demonstrations broke out all over East Germany in September 1989. Initially, they were of people wanting to leave to the West, chanting "Wir wollen raus!" ("We want out!"). Then protestors began to chant "Wir bleiben hier", ("We're staying here!"). This was the start of what East Germans generally call the "Peaceful Revolution" of late 1989. By November 4, the protests had swelled significantly, with a million people gathered that day in Alexanderplatz in East Berlin (Henslin, 07).

Meanwhile the wave of refugees leaving East Germany for the West had increased and had found its way through Czechoslovakia, tolerated by the new Krenz government and in agreement with the communist Czechoslovak government. To ease the complications, the politburo led by Krenz decided on November 9, to allow refugees to exit directly through crossing points between East Germany and West Germany, including West Berlin. On the same day, the ministerial administration modified the proposal to include private travel. The new regulations were to take effect on November 17, 1989.

Günter Schabowski, a spokesperson for the politburo, had the task of announcing this; however he had not been involved in the discussions about the new regulations and had not been fully updated. Shortly before a press conference on November 9, he was handed a note that said that East Berliners would be allowed to cross the border with proper permission but given no further instructions on how to handle the information. These regulations had only been completed a few hours earlier and were to take effect the following day, so as to allow time to inform the border guards—however, nobody had informed Schabowski. He read the note out loud at the end of the conference and when asked when the regulations would come into effect, he assumed it would be the same day based on the wording of the note and replied "As far as I know effective immediately, without delay". After further questions from journalists he confirmed that the regulations included the border crossings towards West Berlin, which he had not mentioned until then.

Afterwards, a West German television channel, ARD, broadcast incomplete information from Schabowski's press conference. A moderator stated: "This ninth of November is a historic day." East Germany "has announced that, starting immediately, its borders are open to everyone."

After hearing the broadcast, East Germans began gathering at the wall, demanding that border guards immediately open its gates. The surprised and overwhelmed guards made many hectic telephone calls to their superiors, but it became clear that there was no one among the East German authorities who would dare to take personal responsibility for issuing orders to use lethal force, so there was no way for the vastly outnumbered soldiers to hold back the huge crowd of East German citizens. In face of the growing crowd, the guards finally yielded, opening the checkpoints and allowing people through with little or no identity checking. Ecstatic East Berliners were soon greeted by West Berliners on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. November 9 is thus considered the date the Wall fell. In the days and weeks that followed, people came to the wall with sledgehammers to chip off souvenirs, demolishing lengthy parts of it in the process. These people were nicknamed "Mauerspechte" (wall woodpeckers).
The East German regime announced the opening of ten new border crossings the following weekend, including some in symbolic locations (Potsdamer Platz, Glienicker Brücke, Bernauer Straße). Crowds on both sides waited there for hours, cheering at the bulldozers who took parts of the Wall away to reinstate old roads. Photos and television footage of these events is sometimes mislabelled "dismantling of the Wall", even though it was merely the construction of new crossings. New border crossings continued to be opened through the middle of 1990, including the Brandenburg Gate on December 22, 1989.

West Germans and West Berliners were allowed visa-free travel starting December 23. Until then they could only visit East Germany and East Berlin under restrictive conditions that involved application for a visa several days or weeks in advance, and obligatory exchange of at least 25 DM per day of their planned stay, all of which hindered spontaneous visits. Thus, in the weeks between November 9 and December 23, East Germans could travel more freely than Westerners.

Almost all of the remaining sections of Berlin Wall were rapidly chipped away. Technically the Wall remained guarded for some time after November 9, though at a decreasing intensity. In the first months, the East German military even tried to repair some of the damages done by the "wall peckers". Gradually these attempts ceased, and guards became more lax, tolerating the increasing demolitions and "unauthorized" border crossing through the holes. On June 13, 1990, the official dismantling of the Wall by the East German military began in Bernauer Straße. On July 1, the day East Germany adopted the West German currency, all border controls ceased, although the inter-German border had become meaningless for some time before that. The dismantling continued to be carried out by military units (after unification under the Bundeswehr) and lasted until November 1991. Only a few short sections and watchtowers were left standing as memorials.

The fall of the Wall was the first step toward German reunification, which was formally concluded on October 3, 1990.

Lees ook ons artikel / Lisez aussi notre article:

http://www.belgischeunie.be/opinie.php?subaction=showfull&id=1257683537&archive=&start_from=&ucat=9&

In België ook nog niet... Het verschil met Duitsland is dat de "Belgische" politici niet echt om de Belgische eenheid bekommerd zijn...


Bondskanselier Merkel denkt dat Duitse eenheid nog niet voltooid is

Maandag 9 November 2009 | 13 min. | powered by Belga

(Belga) "De Duitse eenheid is nog niet volledig bereikt", heeft de Duitse bondskanselier Angela Merkel maandag verklaard tijdens de herdenking van de val van de Berlijnse Muur twintig jaar geleden. Zeker op economisch vlak zou Duitsland volgens haar nog niet op een lijn zitten.

Bondskanselier Merkel denkt dat Duitse eenheid nog niet voltooid is Tussen West- en Oost-Duitsland blijven er "structurele verschillen" bestaan, aldus Merkel op de openbare omroep ARD naar aanleiding van de twintigste verjaardag van de val van de Berlijnse Muur maandag. "Als we dezelfde levensstandaard willen, zullen we ons ervoor moeten inzetten, zowel in het Westen als in het Oosten", zei de bondskanselier. Ze haalde onder meer aan dat de werkloosheidscijfers in de voormalige DDR nog steeds dubbel zo hoog zijn als die in West-Duitsland. Merkel, die zelf opgegroeide in de DDR, hamerde erop dat de Duitsers in het Westen en het Oosten moeten blijven bijdragen om de eenmaking te financieren. (DWM)

Belgica wrote:

In België ook nog niet... Het verschil met Duitsland is dat de "Belgische" politici niet echt om de Belgische eenheid bekommerd zijn...


Bondskanselier Merkel denkt dat Duitse eenheid nog niet voltooid is

Maandag 9 November 2009 | 13 min. | powered by Belga

(Belga) "De Duitse eenheid is nog niet volledig bereikt", heeft de Duitse bondskanselier Angela Merkel maandag verklaard tijdens de herdenking van de val van de Berlijnse Muur twintig jaar geleden. Zeker op economisch vlak zou Duitsland volgens haar nog niet op een lijn zitten.

Bondskanselier Merkel denkt dat Duitse eenheid nog niet voltooid is Tussen West- en Oost-Duitsland blijven er "structurele verschillen" bestaan, aldus Merkel op de openbare omroep ARD naar aanleiding van de twintigste verjaardag van de val van de Berlijnse Muur maandag. "Als we dezelfde levensstandaard willen, zullen we ons ervoor moeten inzetten, zowel in het Westen als in het Oosten", zei de bondskanselier. Ze haalde onder meer aan dat de werkloosheidscijfers in de voormalige DDR nog steeds dubbel zo hoog zijn als die in West-Duitsland. Merkel, die zelf opgegroeide in de DDR, hamerde erop dat de Duitsers in het Westen en het Oosten moeten blijven bijdragen om de eenmaking te financieren. (DWM)

De Duitsers hebben gleerd met hun verleden en hun geschiedenis om te gaan. Dat kunnen sommige Belgen nog altijd niet.