Peter Brinkmann

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Hungary's President Janos Ader, Poland's President Andrzej Duda, Slovakia's President Zuzana Caputova and Czech Republic's President Milos Zeman place roses into a gap at the Wall memorial during a ceremony markin

How a mistake at a press conference helped topple the Berlin Wall

Many steps led to German reunification, but perhaps none more dramatic and pivotal than the night the Berlin Wall fell, Nov. 9, 1989. Peter Brinkmann, a West German newspaper journalist based in Hamburg at the time, was there. 

How a mistake at a press conference helped topple the Berlin Wall