The East German Politburo spokesman whose mistake brought down the Berlin Wall
Asked 'When does it take effect?' at the press conference, he shuffled through his papers and replied: 'As far as I know… immediately, without delay.'
The GDR's leading propagandist, he rose from editor-in-chief of Neues Deutschland to SED Politburo member and First Secretary of East Berlin. On 9 November 1989, asked at a press conference when new travel regulations would take effect, he answered 'immediately, without delay,' triggering the rush that breached the Berlin Wall that night. He later called his mistake 'the final nail in the coffin' of the regime; after reunification he was convicted for the border deaths, but his public acceptance of moral guilt earned him a reduced sentence.
Career Timeline
- 1947Began journalism career as editor at FDGB paper Tribüne
- 1952Joined the SED
- 1967–1968Studied at the CPSU party academy in Moscow
- 1978–1985Editor-in-chief of Neues Deutschland, the SED central organ
- 1981–1989SED Central Committee member and Politburo candidate, full member from 1984
- 1985–1989First Secretary of the SED East Berlin district
- 1989.11.09Triggered the Wall's fall by announcing travel rules effective immediately
- 1997–2000Sentenced to 3 years for border deaths; pardoned after serving one