Bornholmer Straße (2014)

On the evening of November 9, 1989, the border guards at the crossing, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Harald Schäfer, settle in for an ordinary night shift. The apparent highlight of the shift is a West-to-East “border violator”: a dog whose capture becomes an administrative matter. Over supper in the canteen—the guards have prepared for a quiet night shift—they watch Günter Schabowski’s press conference live on East German television. He announces that, under the new travel regulations, it is now (relatively) straightforward to leave the GDR, and that the regulations take effect immediately. Schäfer then calls his superior, a Stasi colonel, who insists that the old visa requirement still applies, but asks whether anyone has already gathered at the border. Over the next few hours, more and more East German citizens assemble in front of the crossing’s barrier and increasingly loudly demand that it be opened. Schäfer is grateful to define the situation as an unauthorized demonstration, which means it is no longer his responsibility but that of the People’s Police. However, they have no guidelines either and disclaim all responsibility. Abandoned by his superior—the now heavily intoxicated Stasi colonel—despite calling repeatedly to ask for an order, Harald Schäfer consults with his officers. But some are faithful to the party line while others are completely overwhelmed; none seems to know what to do, and they remain vague or fall entirely silent. The exception is a captain who wants to deploy the “Lilly,” a sniper rifle, but Schäfer puts a stop to that. During a phone call with the Stasi colonel and the general above him, the question arises as to whether Schäfer can assess the situation properly at all, or whether he is just scared. Schäfer, listening in on the call, loses his temper and holds the telephone receiver out the window. Both the intoxicated Stasi colonel and his superior, the general, are shocked to realize that the situation has completely slipped out of their control. When Schäfer pulls the receiver back in, he is himself shocked to discover that his superior and the general have hurriedly hung up. He now understands that his superiors have abandoned him completely. Schäfer must therefore act on his own: although he has no authority to do so, he calls in every available man. Because of the unusual circumstances at the border, however, only a few manage to get through. For the first time in his career as a border guard, he has shown initiative. When one of the officers tries to have submachine guns handed out, Schäfer calls him off. And when a young border guard threatens people wishing to leave with a pistol, the commander prevents bloodshed and immediately orders him to work inside the building. Only after 10 p.m. do the guards finally receive the order they have been waiting for from the Stasi colonel: under a “pressure-release” solution, they are to let the loudest protesters through, but invalidate their identity documents by stamping the passport photo, thereby secretly stripping them of their citizenship. The tactic does not work, however, because it only further incites the rest of the crowd, while some of those stripped of their citizenship also want to return to the GDR. So Harald Schäfer makes the difficult decision on his own to open the barrier and let everyone through. It is already past 11 p.m. As people stream past the guards, cheering, Peter Arndt tells Schäfer that the GDR is now finished. Finally, the owner of the dog that had been picked up as a “border violator” before the events arrives. After his shift, Schäfer goes home as usual, where his wife greets him. After getting himself some breakfast, he tells her that he opened the border that night—but his wife merely replies that it is no joking matter.