Status Updates From Checkpoint Charlie: The Col...

Checkpoint Charlie function was sent into well-deserved retirement at a ceremony on 22 June 1990. Just by the course of that event, one can see how much Berlin had changed, as the East and West German foreign ministers were on the same side as the four Allies of World War II. The speeches of the generals paid tribute to the many sacrifices that had been made for a simple purpose, the desire for freedom and happiness.

The carnival atmosphere continued around the concrete border, although people were encouraged not to dance on the wall anymore, but to use the open holes that had become nephromal crossings. Many politicians visited Berlin to see firsthand what the situation was like. One of them was minister Archie Hamilton, who brought pieces of the Berlin Wall to Margaret Thatcher. But France was not overjoyed.

The celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall was celebrated in a festive mood, but nothing guaranteed it. The calm reaction of General Robert Corbett calmed down the explosive situation that had begun to develop around the Soviet monument in the Tiergarten. He managed to calm the Soviet soldiers there so that they would not make any sudden movements. The Wall began to be gradually removed along with the GDR.

After the historic conference that accidentally allowed the Berlin Wall to be crossed, people spontaneously began to gather around it. Testimonies from Allied soldiers, ordinary citizens, and East German police officers describe the general confusion that gripped Berlin on November 9th. No one was sure how things would turn out, but one thing was certain: the SED had not planned for the Wall to be opened in this way.

The daily life of the last British Sector Commander in Berlin, Robert Corbett, was the reward for a brilliant career and consisted of routine meetings with his two Western Allies and the occasional check-in on events on the Soviet side of the Wall, along with ceremonial balls. This monotony began to be broken by the growing protests in the GDR, but nothing pointed to the events of Günter Schabowski's conference.