The Man Who Opened the Berlin Wall

PASSAU, Germany, Nov. 9, 2009 — -- When dozens of East Berliners showed up at the Bornholmer Strasse border crossing on a cold and gray November evening in 1989 demanding to be let into West Berlin, Lt. Col. Harald Jaeger asked for guidance from his superiors.

By the time the crowd grew into the hundreds and became more demanding, it became clear to Jaeger that he would get no guidance from his superiors.

The excited East Germans converged on the border crossing that Jaeger commanded because hours earlier Politburo member Gunter Schabowski announced to the international media gathered at the government's press center in East Berlin that "the ruling Communist Party had declared East Germans were free to travel immediately."

That dramatic decision took everybody by surprise. It wasn't long before the first dozen or so East Berliners were gathering at the border crossing Bornholmer Strasse shouting at the armed guards to let them out.

Jaeger, who had been serving with the East German border guards for almost 30 years, was the highest-ranking officer in command of Bornholmer Strasse checkpoint that evening 20 years ago.

The man who would soon give the order to open the Berlin Wall was, at first, shocked by the Politburo's decision, all the more because no one had alerted him to any change of policy.

Jaeger immediately called his superior to ask for instructions.

His superior was as stunned as he was and had no orders for him, Jaeger said.

"In fact, he asked me if I was aware of the Politburo's decision? He obviously had no prior knowledge that the travel ban was to be lifted either and needed to call his superior to inquire what to do," Jaeger said.

Jaeger's superior called him back about a half hour later while more and more people gathered outside the border checkpoint.

The two men, both experienced in how to deal with "provocateurs" -- as East German dissidents were called -- came to the conclusion that the people should be allowed to cross into the western part of Berlin on the condition they would not be allowed to return to their homes in the east.

"We thought if we relieved the pressure a bit by suggesting that, that would help to ease the situation, but little did we know," Jaeger said. "People only started shouting louder and louder, and there were more and more people gathering. Within an hour or so after the first people arrived at the checkpoint, there were about 100 or so and the situation was becoming really nasty."