Bornholmer Straße border crossing

The actual border between East and West Berlin ran along railway lines which were crossed by the Bösebrücke.

Immediately after news of East Germany's somewhat mistaken announcement on the removal of border controls by Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) official Günter Schabowski was broadcast at 8:00pm on 9 November 1989,[1] thousands of East Germans began gathering at the Bornholmer Straße border crossing, demanding that border guards immediately open its gates to let them through to West Berlin.

[1] The surprised and overwhelmed guards made many hectic telephone calls to their superiors about the problem but it became clear that no one among the East German authorities would take personal responsibility for issuing orders to use lethal force.

As a result, the vastly outnumbered soldiers had no way to hold back the huge crowd of East German citizens.

[3] In the hour that followed, around 20,000 people were able to cross the Bösebrücke bridge without being checked, and were welcomed by French soldiers and gendarmes.