# The Berlin Wall did not fall in 1989 **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 10, 2014, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berlin-wall-did-not-fall-in-1989/704219 "2014-11-10T06:11:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![protoboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@protoboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/protoboard)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berlin-wall-did-not-fall-in-1989/704219/1 "2014-11-10T06:11:02Z")
I think people get this confused. While the border crossings were opened in November 1989, aside from some symbolic chipping the wall itself was still technically operational until June 1990 when its demolition officially started. Checkpoint Charlie was still operational until November 1990 and there were actually large sections of the wall standing as late as 1992. I’m not saying the events that happened 25 years ago to this day weren’t significant of course, but the fact is there was still _an intact Berlin Wall for about seven months to a year after that_. What 9 November 1989 marked was the beginning of _free travel_ through the Berlin Wall for East Germans, not the actual destruction of the wall which began the following year. There was a possibility well into 1990 that the wall could have been closed again, had the reunification not have gone as smoothly as it did due to East Germany being so desperate for aid. Of course to many people the “Berlin Wall” was more of a metaphysical structure than it was the wall itself so this might seem a moot point. I just think it’s interesting that one could actually go and see the Wall well after it “fell”. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berlin-wall-did-not-fall-in-1989/704219/2 "2014-11-10T06:32:17Z")
There’s a pedant in every group! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berlin-wall-did-not-fall-in-1989/704219/3 "2014-11-10T06:36:15Z")
It was the opening of the border that was the important event. The actual physical demolition of the border fortifications was just an epilogue. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berlin-wall-did-not-fall-in-1989/704219/4 "2014-11-10T07:09:04Z")
The formal demolition wasn’t completed until a few months later, but people started physically demolishing the wall pretty much immediately; everything from [guys with sledgehammers bashing away at it](http://www.express.co.uk/news/history/530033/Germany-changed-collapse-Berlin-Wall-25-years) to [entire sections being taken down by the East German border guards themselves](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/its-20-years-since-reunification-but-is-germany-still-divided-1716993.html?action=gallery&ino=3). ---
**Author:** ![protoboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@protoboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/protoboard)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berlin-wall-did-not-fall-in-1989/704219/5 "2014-11-10T07:32:09Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > **The formal demolition wasn’t completed until a few months later** Try a few **years**. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berlin-wall-did-not-fall-in-1989/704219/6 "2014-11-10T08:11:15Z")
Oh for fuck’s sake. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berlin-wall-did-not-fall-in-1989/704219/7 "2014-11-10T12:21:15Z")
Selective hyperliteralism. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berlin-wall-did-not-fall-in-1989/704219/8 "2014-11-10T12:26:54Z")
I don’t think anybody was actually confused about this. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berlin-wall-did-not-fall-in-1989/704219/9 "2014-11-10T12:42:35Z")
Even if the wall was still physically standing today, the moment free access was allowed through it, it fell. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berlin-wall-did-not-fall-in-1989/704219/10 "2014-11-10T12:52:08Z")
> [@protoboard](#): > > Try a few **years**. Aren’t there a few pieces still left here and there, as memorials? ETA: regardless, the wall fell in 1989. The rest was cleanup. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berlin-wall-did-not-fall-in-1989/704219/11 "2014-11-10T13:53:30Z")
Huge sections were already gone when I was there in July 1990. I rented a hammer and chisel from a guy and spent about 10-15 minutes collecting pieces of the wall. I still have them. ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berlin-wall-did-not-fall-in-1989/704219/12 "2014-11-10T13:57:14Z")
> [@Desert\_Nomad](#): > > I rented a hammer and chisel from a guy and spent about 10-15 minutes collecting pieces of the wall. And That is why Capitalism won!😉 1. The wall is declared open. 2. People are hacking at the wall. 3. Profit! ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berlin-wall-did-not-fall-in-1989/704219/13 "2014-11-10T14:03:02Z")
The United States did not actually become an independent nation on July 4, 1776; the war had started long before and would not be decided for long after, and the country was not organized in its permanent fashion until years afterwards. But you have to pick a starting point. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berlin-wall-did-not-fall-in-1989/704219/14 "2014-11-10T14:13:15Z")
> [@Desert\_Nomad](#): > > Huge sections were already gone when I was there in July 1990. I rented a hammer and chisel from a guy and spent about 10-15 minutes collecting pieces of the wall. I still have them. I was in (the former) East Germany 3 days after unification, and although I was not in Berlin, we stopped by the side of the road at the crossing from West to East in order to gather some remnants of the barrier there. I still have those, too. The whole visit was quite surreal-- one that I will never forget. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berlin-wall-did-not-fall-in-1989/704219/15 "2014-11-10T16:28:00Z")
You’re probably one of those people who refused to celebrate the end of the 20th century at the end of 1999, hmm? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berlin-wall-did-not-fall-in-1989/704219/16 "2014-11-10T18:32:40Z")
As already mentioned, everybody and his dog was bringing home pieces of the wall home long before the official demolition started. The first images of the fall of the Berlin wall were of it actually falling, [demolished by the crowd.](https://www.google.fr/search?q=demolition+berlin+wall&espv=2&biw=1600&bih=732&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=pgRhVIWVKMarPPGNgKgD&ved=0CEYQsAQ) Not going there at the time is one of my (many) regrets. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berlin-wall-did-not-fall-in-1989/704219/17 "2014-11-10T18:57:24Z")
Who was in charge of the demolition and removal of the Iron Curtain? ---
**Author:** ![protoboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@protoboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/protoboard)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berlin-wall-did-not-fall-in-1989/704219/18 "2014-11-10T19:13:14Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > As already mentioned, everybody and his dog was bringing home pieces of the wall home long before the official demolition started. > > The first images of the fall of the Berlin wall were of it actually falling, [demolished by the crowd.](https://www.google.fr/search?q=demolition+berlin+wall&espv=2&biw=1600&bih=732&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=pgRhVIWVKMarPPGNgKgD&ved=0CEYQsAQ) > Not going there at the time is one of my (many) regrets. There were actually two walls - an “inner” wall and an “outer” wall. I believe the outer wall was the one people chipped away at and the inner one came out later? > [@Desert\_Nomad](#): > > Huge sections were already gone when I was there in July 1990. I rented a hammer and chisel from a guy and spent about 10-15 minutes collecting pieces of the wall. I still have them. That wouldn’t surprise me since the demolition officially began the month prior to that. ---
**Author:** ![protoboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@protoboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/protoboard)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berlin-wall-did-not-fall-in-1989/704219/19 "2014-11-10T19:14:51Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > You’re probably one of those people who refused to celebrate the end of the 20th century at the end of 1999, hmm? :dubious: Technically it did end in 2001 yes 😃 But I celebrated both. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berlin-wall-did-not-fall-in-1989/704219/20 "2014-11-10T19:19:46Z")
Technically the Berlin Wall didn’t fall at all. Falling implies it was raised to a height and dropped downwards due to the force of gravity. This did not happen. The wall was demolished in place. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-berlin-wall-did-not-fall-in-1989/704219.md?page=2)