<P> The Fall of the Wall (November 1989) </P> <P> Another border crossing to the south may have been opened earlier . An account by Heinz Schäfer indicates that he also acted independently and ordered the opening of the gate at Waltersdorf - Rudow a couple of hours earlier . This may explain reports of East Berliners appearing in West Berlin earlier than the opening of the Bornholmer Straße border crossing . </P> <P> The fall of the Berlin Wall (German: Mauerfall) began the evening of 9 November 1989 and continued over the following days and weeks, with people nicknamed Mauerspechte (wall woodpeckers) using various tools to chip off souvenirs, demolishing lengthy parts in the process, and creating several unofficial border crossings . </P> <P> Television coverage of citizens demolishing sections of the Wall on 9 November was soon followed by the East German regime announcing ten new border crossings, including the historically significant locations of Potsdamer Platz, Glienicker Brücke, and Bernauer Straße . Crowds gathered on both sides of the historic crossings waiting for hours to cheer the bulldozers that tore down portions of the Wall to reconnect the divided roads . While the Wall officially remained guarded at a decreasing intensity, new border crossings continued for some time, including the Brandenburg Gate on 22 December 1989 . Initially the East German military attempted repairing damage done by the "Wall peckers"; gradually these attempts ceased, and guards became more lax, tolerating the increasing demolitions and "unauthorized" border crossing through the holes . </P>

Year of the fall of the berlin wall