Days Since World History

How many days since
Fall of the Berlin Wall?

Q: How many days since Fall of the Berlin Wall?

Use the live elapsed counter on this page to see exactly how many days since Fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989.

Q: How many weeks since Fall of the Berlin Wall?

The live counter on this page shows the exact weeks elapsed since Fall of the Berlin Wall.

Q: What day of the week was Fall of the Berlin Wall?

Fall of the Berlin Wall was on a Thursday, 9 November 1989.

Fall of the Berlin Wall was on 9 November 1989 — a Thursday

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13,308days ago

1,901weeks ago

36.4years ago

1989year it happened

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What happened on the night the Wall fell?

The events of 9 November 1989 unfolded with extraordinary speed. At 6:53pm, East German Politburo spokesman Günter Schabowski held a press conference and announced new regulations allowing East Germans to travel to the West. When Italian journalist Riccardo Ehrman asked when the regulations would take effect, Schabowski — who had not attended the relevant meeting and had not read the briefing note properly — shuffled his papers and said "Immediately, without delay." The announcement was broadcast live across Germany. By 9pm, thousands of East Berliners had gathered at checkpoints. The Bornholmer Strasse checkpoint commander, Harald Jäger, overwhelmed and unable to reach his superiors for orders, opened the gate at 11:30pm. The Wall had fallen.

The human cost of the Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall stood for 10,315 days — from 13 August 1961 to 9 November 1989. During that time, at least 140 people were killed attempting to cross it, though estimates of the true number range higher as records were suppressed by East German authorities. The youngest victim was an infant; the oldest was 81. Methods of attempted escape included tunnels (at least 70 were dug, 19 of which were successfully used), modified cars with hidden compartments, homemade hot air balloons, and simply running for the Wall while guards hesitated. Peter Fechter, an 18-year-old bricklayer, was shot and bled to death in full view of West Berliners and international media in August 1962 — his death became a defining image of Cold War inhumanity.

About Fall of the Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall, which divided East and West Berlin for 28 years, fell on the night of 9 November 1989 in circumstances that combined bureaucratic confusion, political miscommunication and popular momentum into one of history's most dramatic moments. The Wall had been built on 13 August 1961 by the East German government to stop the flood of East Germans fleeing to the West — approximately 3.5 million people had left between 1949 and 1961, a devastating brain drain that threatened the East German state.

By the autumn of 1989, the political situation had become unstable. Mass protests in Leipzig and other cities were drawing hundreds of thousands of people. Then, on the evening of 9 November, East German spokesman Günter Schabowski announced that East Germans would be permitted to cross the border immediately. The announcement was a mistake — he had not attended the relevant meeting. When broadcast live across Germany, crowds gathered at checkpoints demanding to cross. Border guards, overwhelmed and receiving no clear orders, eventually stood aside.

Euphoric crowds streamed through in both directions. Berliners climbed onto the Wall and began demolishing it with hammers — an action that gave rise to the iconic term Mauerspecht (wall woodpecker). The scenes were watched live by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. By midnight, the Wall that had defined the Cold War division of Europe — and had cost at least 140 people their lives attempting to cross — had effectively ceased to exist.

The fall of the Berlin Wall triggered a cascade of events that ended the Cold War. Within weeks, communist governments across Eastern Europe fell. Germany was formally reunified on 3 October 1990. The Soviet Union dissolved on 25 December 1991. The Wall had stood for 10,315 days. It took less than one night to bring it down.

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