Günter Schabowski: the press conference that opened the wall

Günter Schabowski

East German politician and journalist. He was active as an executive of the Socialist Unity Party (SED), serving as editor-in-chief of the party newspaper "Neues Deutschland" and as the party's district leader for East Berlin. At a press conference on November 9, 1989, his explanation regarding new foreign travel regulations—stating "As far as I know, immediately, without delay"—served as a major catalyst leading to the opening of the Berlin Wall. Following the collapse of the East German regime, he was held accountable for the border shooting policy and received a prison sentence.

Timeline

Category
Element

Year	Günter Schabowski
1929	Birth of Günter Schabowski (Period: January 4, 1929, Location: Anklam, Germany (Anklam, then part of the Province of Pomerania in the Free State of Prussia; currently the city of Anklam in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany))
1939	World War II (Age: 9 years old, Period: 1939–1945, Location: Britain, North Africa, Mediterranean region, etc.)
1946	Start of activities as a journalist (Age: 16 years old, Period: 1946–1947, Location: Berlin)
1952	Joining the Socialist Unity Party (SED, Age: 22 years old, Period: 1952, Location: East Germany)
1978	Appointment as Editor-in-Chief of "Neues Deutschland" (Age: 48 years old, Period: 1978–1985, Location: East Berlin)
1985	Appointment as First Secretary of the SED Berlin District Committee (Age: 55 years old, Period: 1985–1989, Location: East Berlin)
1989	Peaceful Revolution in East Germany (Age: 59 years old, Period: 1989, Location: Various parts of East Germany such as Leipzig, East Berlin, etc.) Opening of the Berlin Wall (Age: 60 years old, Period: November 9, 1989, Location: East Berlin's International Press Center of the East German government, and the border checkpoint between East and West Berlin) Press conference on November 9, 1989 (Age: 60 years old, Period: November 9, 1989, Location: East Berlin, International Press Center of the Government) Leaving and expulsion from the SED (Age: 60 years old, Period: December 1989 – January 1990, Location: East Berlin, etc.)
1990	Trials concerning the shooting policy at the East German border (Age: 60 years old, Period: 1990s–2000, Location: Germany, Berlin, etc.) Reflection on the East German regime and public statements (Age: 60 years old, Period: 1990s–2015, Location: Various parts of Germany, especially Berlin)
2015	Death of Günter Schabowski (Age: 86 years old, Period: November 1, 2015)
Unknown	Marriage (Günter Schabowski, Irina Schabowski, Period: Details unknown, Location: Details unknown)

Map

Category
Element

Europe World

Related Links

Group	List
The Division of Germany	Konrad Adenauer Walter Ulbricht Otto Grotewohl Wilhelm Pieck Erich Honecker Willy Brandt Helmut Kohl
Prague Spring	Ludvík Svoboda Josef Smrkovský Ludvík Vaculík Alexander Dubček Václav Havel Milan Kundera Oldřich Černík
Fall of the Berlin Wall	Erich Honecker Helmut Kohl Mikhail Gorbachev Egon Rudi Ernst Krenz Günter Schabowski Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm
Literature and Thought	Václav Havel Milan Kundera Czesław Miłosz Wisława Szymborska Günter Grass Heinrich Böll Thomas Bernhard Ingeborg Bachmann Elfriede Jelinek
Arts & Film	Sándor Pál Andrzej Wajda Krzysztof Kieślowski Miloš Forman Jiří Menzel Werner Herzog Rainer Werner Fassbinder Wim Wenders

Other Languages

Günter Schabowski (Español) Günter Schabowski (Français) Günter Schabowski (Deutsch) 君特·沙博夫斯基 (中文) ギュンター・シャボフスキー (日本語)

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Günter Schabowski: the press conference that opened the wall