Harald opened the Gate

25 years ago today, Colonel Harald Jäger opened the Bornholmer Strasse checkpoint of the Berlin Wall.

The Berlin Wall ceased to exist by accident. Günter Schabowski, the spokesman for the collapsing German regime, announced a liberalization of the travel regime – people would no longer have to give a reason to leave – in a press conference at 6:53pm on November 9, 1989. When asked when the regulations would come into force, he uttered “Immediately!”