Günter Schabowski
German politician (1929-2015) · Germany · Politicians · Died at 86
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Something wrong?Günter Schabowski was a German politician who served as an official of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, the ruling party during most of the existence of East Germany. After climbing up the party ladder, he became the regime's unofficial spokesman.
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Photos 6
Schabowski in 1951
Günter Schabowski at the Alexanderplatz demonstration on 4 November 1989
The press 9 November 1989 conference which led to the fall of the Wall. Schabowski is seated on stage, second from right. Riccardo Ehrman is seated on the floor of the stage with the table behind him.
Schabowski in 2007
Günter Schabowski's gravestone, a slab of concrete from the Berlin Wall, in Waldfriedhof DahlemAwards
About this person
Günter Schabowski was a German politician who served as an official of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, the ruling party during most of the existence of East Germany. After climbing up the party ladder, he became the regime's unofficial spokesman. He gained worldwide fame in November 1989 when he improvised a slightly mistaken answer to a press conference question about the future of the Berlin Wall, that seemed to announce the Wall's immediate end and raised popular expectations much more rapidly than the government planned. Massive crowds gathered at the Wall the same night, which forced its opening after 28 years. Soon afterward, the entire inner German border was opened; not much later, East Germany ceased to exist.
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