Public Information Library - Centre Pompidou
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1989: the Wall falls
When the Wall fell during the night of 9 November 1989, the whole world watched its fall live.
But, from the uprising in Budapest in 1956 until the decision to open the Wall on 9 November 1989, not forgetting the Prague Spring (1968) and the Gdansk Agreements (1980), this symbolic moment is above all the culmination of the slow disintegration of the East European bloc.
Brandenburg Gate, December 1989 (photo: SSGT F. Lee Corkran)
The fall of the Berlin Wall was also the result of a strong opposition in the GDR. The East Germans had actively developed it from 1976, when many intellectuals did not hesitate to make their views known, until 1989 when the mass protests intensified.
Focus on :
Interactive site: "Wir waren so frei"
Collections of photos and videos from private archives created on the joint initiative of the Deutsche Kinemathek and the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung.
These documents provide a subjective insight into this historic period. They are organised by subject and place. Anyone can enrich the site by contributing their own materials.
In English and German.
The opening and fall of the Wall
The collection of the City of Berlin
The website of the City of Berlin has collected numerous materials in English, French and German, concerning the history of the Wall and, in particular, its fall. The location of the Wall, figures, photos and videos to understand more fully the importance of 9 November 1989.