We are standing here at the Bösebrücke—known before the fall of the Wall as the former
Bornholmer Straße border crossing.
Today, traffic rushes past, and trains speed beneath us.
Yet this place has made world history.
The bridge was built in 1916.
Back then, it was called the Hindenburgbrücke.
In 1948, it was renamed the Bösebrücke, after Wilhelm Böse, a resistance fighter
against the Nazis.
Before the construction of the Wall in August 1961, this was a perfectly normal crossing.
It connected the East—Prenzlauer Berg—with the West—Wedding.
Every day, people crossed the bridge here—on their way to work, to go shopping, or to visit relatives.
The border was visible, but passable.
On the night of August 13, 1961, everything changed.
GDR border police sealed off the bridge.
Barbed wire, barricades, watchtowers.
An open crossing was transformed into a fortified border post.
Bornholmer Straße became a symbol of division.
Almost three decades later, on November 9, 1989, the turning point arrived.
That evening, SED spokesperson Günter Schabowski read from a slip of paper.
His words: “To the best of my knowledge, this takes effect… immediately, without delay.”
Thus began the most beautiful “accident” in history.
Thousands set out on their way.
20,000 people flocked to the Bornholmer Straße border crossing.
Starting at 9:30 PM, RIAS broadcast live—reporting on the crowds and the open boom barriers.
Lieutenant Colonel Harald Jäger, the commanding officer on duty, initially allowed a few
people to pass through.
Their identity cards were stamped as invalid—making a return theoretically impossible.
But the crowds continued to swell, and his superior could no longer be reached. The situation became untenable.
At 11:30 p.m., Jäger gave the order: Raise the barrier!
People streamed into West Berlin.
They ran, wept, and laughed.
Trabis honked; on the Ku’damm, people celebrated as if it were New Year’s Eve.
Many returned that night—even those whose IDs had been stamped as invalid.
West Berliners, too, seized the opportunity for a spontaneous visit to the East.
From that moment on, there was no turning back.
In the days that followed, more and more border crossings opened.
Today, the Platz des 9. November 1989 (November 9, 1989 Square), located just north of the bridge, serves as a reminder of that night of nights.
Commemorative plaques tell the story.
And as you stand here, perhaps you can imagine
what it was like when the world changed at this very spot.
Image 1: Original work
Image 2: Original work
Image 3: By Roehrensee – Original work, CC BY-SA 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38229199
Image 4: By Bundesarchiv, Image 183-1989-1118-018 / Roeske, Robert / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC
BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5424867
Former Bornholmer Straße Border Crossing
Aus dem Audiowalk Berlin Like You’ve Never Heard It Before – True Stories & Secrets
254:05 min Audio
8
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Andere Stationen in dieser Audiotour:
A Brief Excursion into Berlin's History (7:59 min) • St. Nicholas' Church / St. Nicholas' Quarter (2:49 min) • Newspaper District (4:28 min) • Checkpoint Charlie (1:55 min) • Former Gestapo Headquarters (2:57 min) • Former Tempelhof Airport (3:46 min) • 7 Wannsee Conference (4:45 min) • Walther Rathenau Memorial (2:34 min) • Olympic Stadium / 1936 Olympic Games (5:36 min) • Commune 1 (2:27 min) • Benno Ohnesorg / Student Movement (2:16 min) • Rolf Eden (1:54 min) • Café Kranzler (2:08 min) • Kurfürstendamm (3:03 min) • Zoo Palace (3:47 min) • Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (2:22 min) • Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg (3:28 min) • Schöneberg Town Hall (2:33 min) • Former Sportpalast / Sportpalast Speech (5:12 min) • Bendlerblock/Stauffenberg assassination attempt (4:47 min) • Kroll Opera House / Enabling Act (3:09 min) • Reichstag Building (4:14 min) • Reichstag Fire (4:28 min) • Brandenburg Gate (2:52 min) • People's Court (3:08 min) • Potsdamer Place (2:58 min) • Former "Führerbunker" (5:06 min) • "Tresor" (Safe) (1:43 min) • Popular Uprising in the GDR (2:11 min) • Reich Chancellery / Hitler's Seizure of Power (5:11 min) • "Die weiße Maus" (The White Mouse) (2:57 min) • Friedrichstraße Station / "Tränenpalast" (Palace of Tears) (3:46 min) • Humboldt University (1:56 min) • Berlin Palace (5:04 min) • Red City Hall (2:30 min) • Alexanderplatz (2:30 min) • Otto Weidt's Workshop for the Blind / Anne Frank Center (2:05 min) • Hackesche Höfe (5:21 min) • Rosenthaler Platz (2:58 min) • St. Sophia's Church (3:03 min) • Sophie-Gips Courtyards (2:08 min) • Koppenplatz (3:16 min) • Clärchen's Dance Hall (3:54 min) • New Synagogue (2:19 min) • Berliner Ensemble (3:55 min) • Friedrichstadt-Palast (4:02 min) • Dorotheenstadt Cemetery (2:25 min) • Bloody May (2:18 min) • Humboldthain Flak Tower (5:17 min) • Chris Gueffroy and the Victims of the Wall (1:28 min) • Tunnel 57 / Egon Schultz (2:40 min) • AMIGA (1:37 min) • Bernauer Street (4:07 min) • Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn Sports Park (3:43 min) • Mauerpark (4:07 min) • Arkonaplatz (3:03 min) • Zion Church (3:44 min) • Prenzlauer Berg Fire Station (3:18 min) • Hirschhof (2:41 min) • Freya Klier (2:28 min) • Prater (2:28 min) • Oderberger Straße Municipal Baths (3:36 min) • Oderberger Street 2 (1:58 min) • Currywurst (2:16 min) • Konnopke's Snack Bar (2:43 min) • Gethsemane Church (2:09 min) • Museum in the Kulturbrauerei (1:06 min) • Kulturbrauerei (3:24 min) • Frannz-Club (2:31 min) • Husemann Street (1:58 min) • Jews' Passage (3:32 min) • Prenzlauer Berg Water Tower (2:37 min) • Rosa Luxemburg Square (4:34 min) • Mont Klamott (1:43 min) • Samaritan Church (2:23 min) • Former Stasi Headquarters / Stasi Museum (2:48 min) • Berlin-Karlshorst Museum / Unconditional Surrender (2:54 min) • East Side Gallery (2:59 min) • House Squatting in the 1980s (2:34 min)
