After a set of remarkable communications blunders by East German apparatchiks, the Berlin Wall was flung open on the evening of November 9, 1989, allowing citizens free access between East and West Germany. It was the single most significant event in the end of the Cold War and the eventual collapse of Communist regimes in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. In August of that year, Hungary had opened its border to Austria, allowing waves of East Germans to circumvent the Wall by traveling through those nations into West Germany. Massive demonstrations had also given birth to the “Peaceful Revolution” for civil and human rights. This marked the start of Die Wende (The Turn), which led to the reunification of Germany in October 1990. Pictured: The Berlin Wall and Brandenburg Gate on November 10, 1989.
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