"In the evening of 9 November, I watched Günter Schabowski on television informing us about the new travel regulations – but then went to bed. The next morning I was very surprised to hear the news about the fall of the Wall on the television and radio. I quickly rushed to work where my colleagues and I celebrated this remarkable moment with a bottle of sparkling wine. Then I went down the Straße des 17. Juni to the Brandenburg Gate. There, I could see Willy Brandt and the West Berlin mayor, Walter Momper, right up close. They were heading the same way. When we got to the Brandenburg Gate, hundreds of West Berliners had already scaled the Wall capstone. The crowd chanted, "Willy on the Wall!" – an invitation which he however declined in a very statesmanlike manner and mentioned instead the meeting that was to be held that evening outside the town hall in Schöneberg."
Jürgen Lottenburger (West Berlin)
