No. 1The Berlin Wall1 of 5 issues

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The news as it was reported

The Berlin WallTuesday, November 7, 1989Issue the First

East German Cabinet resigns as protests spread

East Germany’s entire Cabinet resigns but stays on as caretaker, after hundreds of thousands marched on Monday night and thousands more kept leaving through Czechoslovakia.

Government spokesman Wolfgang Meyer tells the press in East Berlin on Tuesday that the Council of Ministers has resigned.
Government spokesman Wolfgang Meyer tells the press in East Berlin on Tuesday that the Council of Ministers has resigned.Photograph by Robert Roeske, Nov. 7, 1989 · CC BY-SA 3.0 de

EAST BERLIN, Tuesday.—The entire East German Cabinet under Premier Willi Stoph resigned today, the official news agency ADN said, as demonstrations for reform spread across the country.

Government spokesman Wolfgang Meyer announced the resignations at a hastily called news conference. In a declaration he read, the Cabinet said it had informed parliament and would stay on in a caretaker capacity until a new Cabinet is named.

The declaration appealed to East Germans thinking of fleeing to the West. “Our socialist fatherland needs all and everyone,” it said.

Our socialist fatherland needs all and everyoneEast German Cabinet declaration, read by spokesman Wolfgang Meyer

The resignations came in apparent response to demands by opposition groups and reform-minded Communists that Egon Krenz be allowed to form his own government, United Press International reported. The Politburo was meeting under Krenz when the announcement was made.

The move followed a night of mass marches. ADN called Monday’s demonstration in Leipzig the biggest ever held there, and UPI reported that several hundred thousand took part, demanding “travel without restrictions,” free elections and an end to Communist domination.

In Dresden on Monday night, the city’s Communist mayor, Wolfgang Berghofer, told a reform rally of 70,000 people that the government should resign immediately. Hans Modrow, 61, Dresden’s party leader, was at the rally.

Modrow is expected to be named to the Politburo. UPI reported speculation that he could replace Stoph as premier, but no new Cabinet has been named.

The party’s Central Committee is due to open a three-day meeting Wednesday. Five senior Politburo members who have said they are quitting are expected to submit their resignations formally there.

Meanwhile East Germans kept leaving for the West through Czechoslovakia. West German border police estimated this morning that 9,000 to 10,000 had arrived in the previous 24 hours, and about 35,000 since Saturday, the day after East Germany temporarily relaxed its travel restrictions.

Authorities. United Press International · United Press International; all Nov. 7, 1989.

Hundreds of thousands march in Leipzig in driving rain

Demonstrators march through Leipzig on Monday night. The official news agency ADN called it the biggest demonstration ever held in the city.
Demonstrators march through Leipzig on Monday night. The official news agency ADN called it the biggest demonstration ever held in the city.Photograph by Friedrich Gahlbeck, Nov. 6, 1989 · CC BY-SA 3.0 de

LEIPZIG, Tuesday.—Hundreds of thousands of East Germans surged on to the streets of Leipzig in driving rain on Monday night, calling for free elections and unlimited freedom of travel.

The official news agency ADN called it the biggest demonstration ever held in the city, and United Press International reported that several hundred thousand took part.

More than 135,000 more rallied in other cities, including Schwerin, Halle, Cottbus, Dresden and Karl-Marx-Stadt.

Members of New Forum, the largest pro-reform group, addressed the crowd in Leipzig. ADN said it was the first officially approved demonstration in the city, The Harvard Crimson reported, and banners demanding “Free elections” and “Travel law without restrictions” waved above the marchers.

Some of the Leipzig marchers declared that “the Berlin Wall must go,” The Guardian reported. Lutheran Church sources said some shouted the same demand, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The marches came on the day the government published a draft travel law, which many East Germans greeted with doubt.

Authorities. United Press International · The Guardian · Chicago Tribune · The Harvard Crimson; all Nov. 7, 1989.

East Germans keep streaming west through Czechoslovakia

SCHIRNDING, West Germany, Tuesday.—East Germans poured into Bavaria from Czechoslovakia by car early today at a rate of about 500 an hour, West German officials said, causing a traffic jam miles long.

At the Schirnding crossing in northeastern Bavaria, the line of vehicles was 400 yards long on Monday, The Associated Press reported.

West German border police estimated this morning that 9,000 to 10,000 East Germans had arrived in the previous 24 hours, and about 35,000 since Saturday. UPI put the number since Hungary began letting East Germans cross at the end of August at about 90,000.

There is no doubt we face a big problemRudolf Seiters

Bonn has organised two more special trains from Prague, bringing the number since Saturday to 11, the Tribune said.

“There is no doubt we face a big problem,” said Rudolf Seiters, a senior aide to Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

West Germans predict that many of the newcomers will go home if reforms come, AP reported. “My neighbors say, ‘Why are they coming here?’” said Franz Meixner, a music teacher from Wuerzburg who left East Berlin in 1948.

Authorities. United Press International · Chicago Tribune · Daily Tar Heel (Associated Press report); all Nov. 7, 1989.

In Brief

Bonn plans $4.3 billion housing drive as arrivals mount

BONN, Tuesday.—The West German government has announced a $4.3 billion emergency programme to build 100,000 homes a year for four years for low-income groups, as East Germans keep arriving by the thousands each day.

United Press International, Nov. 7, 1989.

Deputy culture minister calls on whole Politburo to go

BONN, Tuesday.—East Germany’s Deputy Minister for Culture, Hans-Joachim Hoffmann, has called for the entire Politburo to resign, The Guardian reports. The Communist Party’s Central Committee opens a three-day meeting on Wednesday, and Egon Krenz has said five hard-line Politburo members will step down, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The Guardian · Chicago Tribune; all Nov. 7, 1989.

Mitchell says the Wall should be torn down

CHICAGO, Tuesday.—Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, Democrat of Maine, says the Berlin Wall has failed. “It was designed to keep people in. It has failed. It should be torn down,” he said, the Chicago Tribune reports. The paper also reports that Social Democrat Egon Bahr expects the Wall to be pulled down next year.

Chicago Tribune, Nov. 7, 1989.

Tribune editorial salutes East Germans who stay

CHICAGO, Tuesday.—In an editorial, the Chicago Tribune salutes East Germans who stay at home to press for change, citing their slogan “ND,” for “noch da,” or “still there.” The paper credits opposition groups such as New Forum with organising the protest marches and quotes one activist pledging to “fight for a human future in our own country.”

Chicago Tribune, Nov. 7, 1989.

Border guards stop searching cars headed west

BERLIN, Tuesday.—East German guards at highway checkpoints leading west have relaxed their controls, West German border police said today.

Guards no longer look behind rear seats or examine trunks, the police said. Trucks that used to be held up for three hours are being cleared in about 15 minutes.

A guard at one checkpoint put it plainly to a Western motorist. “Why should we look for refugees?” the guard said, according to the motorist. “Anyone who wants to can get out through Czechoslovakia.” The words are known only second-hand, through the motorist.

Why should we look for refugees?East German border guard, as quoted by a Western motorist

The easing comes as thousands of East Germans a day reach West Germany by way of Czechoslovakia.

Authorities. United Press International, Nov. 7, 1989.

Draft travel law draws doubts in East and West

BONN, Tuesday.—East Germany’s draft travel law, published Monday, would let citizens go abroad for 30 days a year, but many East Germans doubt it goes far enough.

Most East Germans have only 18 days’ holiday a year. They may buy only 15 West German marks ($8.33) from their government for foreign travel, the Chicago Tribune reported.

“It’s not enough just to have a passport,” one woman said. “I want to be able to hop over to West Berlin after work to go to the cinema or the theatre.”

It's not enough just to have a passportAn East German woman

Others are pleased. A young man who plans to spend Christmas in Sweden said: “I’m determined to see the world before I die.”

Critics point out that the draft keeps old provisions giving the authorities the right to refuse passports for vague reasons, and does not say how such travel would be paid for, The Harvard Crimson reported. “Travel is not the primary problem in East Germany,” said Sebastian Pflugbeil, a founder of New Forum.

In Prague on Monday, Walter Momper, the governing mayor of West Berlin, said the new leadership under Egon Krenz had wasted a chance to regain public trust. He called the 30-day limit a false signal and said free travel was being tied to bureaucratic procedures.

“With the publication today of the new travel regulations, the leadership has lost the opportunity of gaining the confidence of the people,” Momper said.

Authorities. The Guardian · The Guardian · Chicago Tribune · The Harvard Crimson; all Nov. 7, 1989.

Elsewhere Today

News of the wider world, by wire and correspondent

  • AMMAN, Jordan.—Jordanians prepare to vote on Wednesday in their first parliamentary election in 22 years, called by King Hussein after violent demonstrations in April over austerity measures.

    Chicago Tribune, Nov. 7, 1989.

  • WASHINGTON.—Former President Jimmy Carter, speaking at a symposium called “Waging Peace,” urges President Bush to take the lead in Eastern Europe. “We have not yet got our act together,” Carter said. Richard Nixon, back from talks in China, was a guest at an unannounced White House dinner on Sunday night.

    Chicago Tribune, Nov. 7, 1989.

  • WASHINGTON.—Congressional negotiators agree a $305 billion defense bill for fiscal 1990, and the Strategic Defense Initiative is trimmed for the first time, to $3.8 billion, $200 million less than last year, the Chicago Tribune says in an editorial.

    Chicago Tribune, Nov. 7, 1989.

Everything in this issue was published on or before November 7, 1989.

Wayback Wire · No. 1 · Tuesday, November 7, 1989