Harald Jäger (born 27 April 1943) is a former

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

Stasi The Ministry for State Security (, ; abbreviated MfS), commonly known as the (, an abbreviation of ), was the Intelligence agency, state security service and secret police of East Germany from 1950 to 1990. It was one of the most repressive pol ...

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

of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

, under pressure from a large crowd of protesters and without orders to do so. __NOTOC__

Early life and education

Jäger grew up in

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin (), until 1868 ''Budissin'' in German, is a town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the Bautzen (district), district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree (river), Spree river, is the eighth most ...

, 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

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

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, 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 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 eliminate 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 23:30. 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 of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

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