‘Good evening, live from the Berlin Wall’

On the night of Nov. 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall — the stark, menacing symbol of the Cold War — came crashing down, suddenly and dramatically.

NBC News, alone among the world’s major television-news organizations, was broadcasting live from the scene. The persistence of our foreign news editor — and more than a little good fortune — combined to give NBC one of the greatest live exclusives in the history of broadcast journalism.

For years, communism’s grip on Eastern Europe had been loosening, undermined by economic decay and public protest. By the autumn of 1989, the Solidarity movement had pushed out the Communist government in Poland, and Hungary had adopted a multi-party system. Demands for freedom were spreading across the region. Most important, a new kind of Russian leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, was applying “perestroika” (economic reform) and “glasnost” (openness) to a Soviet system that was failing badly. Ominously for the governments of the Soviet satellites in Eastern Europe, there were signs that the Kremlin was no longer interested in propping them up.

In East Germany, split from the West by Russian occupation at the end of World War II, the corrupt and ineffective Communist government was under siege, giving ground slowly amid growing protests, but still hoping to hold on. The government had a well-earned reputation for ruthlessness, and no one thought it would roll over any time soon. The Berlin Wall, the 96-mile-long fortress built in 1961 to keep East Germans from fleeing to the West, still seemed quite secure.

On to Berlin
In early November, with the economic and political situation in East Germany deteriorating, the pace of public protest increased. Big crowds demanded reforms, including the right to travel without restriction. Thousands of their countrymen were sneaking out the back door, through Czechoslovakia and Hungary and on to the West.

NBC foreign news chief Jerry Lamprecht suggested to Tom Brokaw and me (at the time, I was Nightly News’ executive producer) that the moment was right to take the program to Berlin. Tom and I weren’t so sure: the story there was evolving, but didn’t seem at a turning point, and, in the United States, the off-year elections were about to be held.

But Jerry was persuasive, arguing that developments in East Germany were unfolding quickly and that Nightly News should be there with its anchor. With the support and encouragement of NBC News executives, a decision was made: Tom and a team would go immediately and I would remain in New York to produce the program.

By the next morning in West Berlin, a small army of NBC correspondents, producers, camera crews and technicians were hard at work developing stories on East Germany. Live multi-camera capability was set up; the wall would serve as the backdrop for our broadcasts. In what would prove to be an inspired move, a cherry picker was brought in to provide a sweeping high shot of the scene on the other side of the wall.

Although a huge demonstration had occurred in East Berlin only a few days earlier, on that day, Nov. 8, things were relatively quiet. Then, a political shakeup was announced: the East German Politburo was resigning. That story and a report on the debilitating effect that fleeing refugees were having on the East German economy, led our program that night. CBS and ABC led their broadcasts with pieces on the American elections.

Real life on an historic night: One of the first couples to venture into West Berlin the night the wall fell came straight toward me as I was broadcasting live from the Brandenburg Gate. They said they had heard on the radio that East Berliners were free to travel and they wanted to try their luck at seeing the West. As they walked past the border guards they were afraid — up until that day they would have been shot dead if they tried to cross the border. But they passed through safely. “That's great,” I said. “And where will you go? What do you want to see?” I thought it would make a great story to follow them around West Berlin. “Oh no,” they said. “We have to go back home now, we couldn't find a babysitter.” --Martin Fletcher, NBC correspondent

‘Free to travel’
As the next day, Nov. 9, dawned, there was no inkling of the monumental event that would take place within hours. The NBC correspondents on the scene continued working on a variety of stories. Looking for a same-day news angle, Tom and a crew journeyed into East Berlin to cover an early-evening press conference given by the government’s propaganda minister. Not much news was expected, but the hope was that perhaps the session would provide a sound bite or two for that night’s program.

The press conference began and the minister droned on about potential reforms. Then, near the end, an Italian journalist asked about the right of East Germans to travel. The startling answer: East Germans would henceforth be free to travel into West Berlin and West Germany.

The reporters present weren’t sure that they had heard right. East Germans were free to leave the country? When? “Immediately,” the official told the stunned audience.

Within moments, Tom was on the car phone to New York and then coast-to-coast on our network with an “NBC News Special Report”: an official had declared that East Germans were “free to travel.” In effect, the Berlin Wall was about to fall.

Meanwhile, many East Germans, having seen the news briefing on television, were heading for the border crossings to see if what they had just heard could possibly be true. When they got there, seemingly nothing had changed: the border remained closed. (The minister had been wrong in one respect: the change wasn’t scheduled to take place until the next day.)

Archival video   Kennedy's legacy Nov. 9, 1989: NBC's Tom Brokaw looks back on President John F. Kennedy's visit to Berlin, during which he famously declared, "Ich bin ein Berliner." NBC News

Back in New York, it was late afternoon and a scramble was under way at Nightly News, complicated by the fact that no one was really certain that the East German official’s statement would hold up. A new program rundown was created, topped with the events in Berlin, plus Washington’s reaction.

A backgrounder on the history of the wall, scheduled to air the following night, was freshened and inserted. And a staffer at the Boston bureau was dispatched to the Kennedy Library to obtain rare color footage of President John F. Kennedy’s famous “I Am a Berliner” speech from June 26, 1963. The speech, made just 22 months after the Communists erected the Berlin Wall, helped underline the United States unwavering support for West Germany and was a huge morale booster for those living under the regime.

As the clock ticked toward airtime, the NBC phone lines between New York and Berlin buzzed constantly.

MORE FROM FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL: 20 YEARS LATER

Fall of the Berlin Wall: 20 Years Later Section Front

Germany marks fall of Berlin Wall Brokaw: The night the wall came down   Video: 20 years later, wall’s fall still being felt Germany still coping with ‘wall in the mind’ NYT: Legacy of ’89 is still up for debate Clinton: Berlin Wall festivities not just a party   Video: World reflects on impact of wall’s fall Dominoes form tribute to Berlin Wall’s fall Germany celebrates Berlin Wall memories How readers got pieces of Berlin Wall Fall of the Berlin Wall: 20 Years Later Section Front   Add Fall of the Berlin Wall: 20 Years Later headlines to your news reader: