Harald Jäger (born 27 April 1943) is a former

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

border guard officer who was in charge of a passport control unit. On 9 November 1989, he disobeyed orders and opened the

Bornholmer Straße border crossing The Bornholmer Straße border crossing was one of the border crossings between East Berlin and West Berlin between 1961 and 1990. The crossing was named after the street on which it is located, Bornholmer Straße ("Bornholm Street"), which in turn ...

of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

. __NOTOC__

Early life and education

Jäger grew up in Bautzen, and was educated in the manufacture of stoves. In 1961, he volunteered with the border police (who later became troops of the Nationale Volksarmee). Three years later, he entered service with the

Stasi The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the Intelligence agency, state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990. The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maint ...

. Between 1976 and 1979, he attended the University of the Ministry of State Security in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

. His final thesis to graduate before attaining the rank of major in 1981 was titled "The education of specialist forces, security and counter-terrorism in the border customs offices of the Customs Administration of the GDR as a prerequisite for targeted and differentiated inclusion of the members of the customs administration of the GDR in the system of counter-terrorism at the border crossing points of the GDR."

Opening of the Wall

Jäger later said that for him, the Wall had partially lost its meaning after Hungary had opened its border to Austria in September 1989—making it possible to circumvent the Berlin Wall—and he expected further changes.Chronik der Mauer
Mauerdurchbruch Bornholmer Straße. On 9 November, he was eating a sandwich in the break room for border crossing guards when

Günter Schabowski Günter Schabowski (; 4 January 1929 – 1 November 2015) was an East German politician who served as an official of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (''Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands'' abbreviated ''SED''), the ruling party du ...

delivered a speech on the impending passport changes for the republic's citizens. On hearing this speech, he almost choked on his sandwich. On the same day, Major Manfred Sens had informed the guards as usual to "capture or destroy trespassers" ("Grenzverletzer festzunehmen bzw. zu vernichten). Jäger called his superior Rudi Ziegenhorn and other border crossing officers along the Wall, who told him to turn people away from the

, but allow through the "provocateurs"—but without telling them that they could never return. After realizing that keeping the gate closed could imperil the lives of people in the crowd and his own officers, he ordered the border open at 11:30 pm. The claim that he was the first to open the Wall was questioned in 2009 when Heinz Schäfer, a former Stasi colonel, claimed that he had opened his crossing at Waltersdorf in the south of the city a few hours earlier, which would explain the supposed presence of East Berliners in the area before Jäger opened his gate.

Later life

Following the fall of the Wall, he was unemployed. In 1997, he was able to save up enough to open a newspaper shop in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

with his wife. He has since written a book about his experience called ''The Man Who Opened the Berlin Wall''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jager, Harald 1943 births Stasi officers People from Bautzen Berlin Wall Living people 1989 in Berlin