At the beginning of May, a few Hungarian officers took the initiative to clip gaps in the fence marking the border with Austria. Hungary thereby took the lead in demolishing the Iron Curtain in Central Europe. In August, the Hungarian opposition organised a picnic on the Austrian border to celebrate their burgeoning freedom. The border again stayed open for several hours. Hundreds of citizens of the German Democratic Republic took this opportunity to flee to the West. Moscow looked on and did not intervene. On 10 September, the border between Hungary and Austria became officially open.

The exodus of a group of East Germans to Hungary in May 1989 set off a chain reaction. In June the first East German climbed over the fence of the West German embassy in Prague. At the beginning of October over 4500 people were bivouacking on this piece of West German territory. The East German government was prepared to help find a diplomatic solution. In October the ‘refugees’ were put on a train to West Berlin. They make a stopover in Leipzig where they have to hand in their GDR passports.

 

On 7 October 1989 reformist Soviet Leader Michail Gorbatsjov was in Berlin to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the German Democratic Republic. Outside a pro Gorbatsjov demonstration was forcefully broken up. Inside Gorbatsjov warned Party Leader Erich Honecker that Communism was about to become history. However, Honecker held on to his Communist beliefs. On 18 October his own party dismissed him. He was followed up by Egon Krenz, who promised a new approach, but who could no longer keep the social unrest under control.

At the beginning of October 1989 the protests against the East German government in the home country itself kept increasing. Following riots in Plauen and Dresden, over 70,000 people joined peaceful demonstrations in Leipzig on 9 October. While previous demonstrations were still being forcefully broken up, this time the police did not interfere. The ‘Monday morning demonstration’ got a weekly follow-up. The slogan 'Wir wollen raus!' (We want to leave!) is exchanged for 'Wir bleiben hier' (We are staying here) and 'Wir sind das Volk' (We are the people).

The East German authorities realised that the situation was getting out of hand. On 9 October official of the Socialist Unity Party, Günter Schabowski, announced that there were to be new travel regulations for East German citizens. When asked when this regulation would take effect, he answered: “Immediately.” This was broadcast live on East German television. On hearing this, large numbers of East Berlin citizens immediately went to border crossings in the Wall. The border patrols made no attempt to stop the hordes of people. After almost 30 years the Wall has fallen.