Where officials usually went about their duties, there was a state of emergency in August of 1989. All over the Permanent Representation of the Federal Republic in East Berlin people camped shoulder to shoulder on mattresses. The approximately 130 East Germans desperately wanted to leave the GDR and hoped that the West German diplomats would help them in this endeavour. In order to prevent further crowds, the Permanent Representation closed its doors on August 8, 1989. Bonn’s representatives now faced very practical tasks. Eberhard Grashoff, then press secretary of the Permanent Representation, recalls: "We bought all kinds of things, from toys to milk powder, psychologists came by, officials gave English lessons or held speeches on legal questions in everyday life in the West. We improvised everything and we sat inside a fortress".
The Permanent Representation of the Federal Republic of Germany in the GDR had existed since 1974. One of its tasks was to simplify travel between East and West. The officials working here also listened to those who wanted to leave the GDR forever. They had to officially apply for their departure, but the administrative process usually took years. The applicants were harassed and often received a rejection. There was little the diplomats could do for them. At least, however, they inquired in the GDR whether their applications for departure were really being processed.
For some who wanted to leave, this was simply not enough. For the first time in 1975 – and then again and again – the Permanent Representation’s visitors refused to leave the building in the Hannoversche Straße. They demanded to be able to leave for the West immediately. East and West negotiated about what to do with them. They agreed that a lawyer, who served as a confidant of the GDR government, assured the people in the Representation a soon departure. However, they were first to return to their homes and apply for an orderly departure from there. From then on, officials working at the Representation convinced the people to go this route. The GDR stayed true to its pledge.
The number of people that wanted to leave the GDR increased dramatically in 1989. The GDR approved 100,000 applications for departure alone. Many more searched for other ways to exit the walled-in state. One point of escape was the Permanent Representation. The Representations of both German states proceeded as usual. From the beginning of September, those seeking shelter here departed the GDR after the rehearsed procedure. But this was just the beginning. Thousands arrived at the West German embassies in Prague, Warsaw and Budapest in late summer. The GDR leadership decided to let the people leave for the West. By doing so, it hoped to stabilise the political situation. Instead, however, the flight of the masses showed how little trust many East Germans had in the GDR leadership. This exodus significantly contributed to the crumbling of the SED’s reign.
