Riccardo Ehrman
Riccardo Ehrman (often written Riccardo Ehrmann in German-language texts , born November 4, 1929 in Florence , † December 14, 2021 in Madrid ) was an Italian journalist . He gained notoriety on November 9, 1989 when he asked Günter Schabowski questions at the press conference of the Central Committee of the SED , the answer of which by Schabowski led to a rush on the Berlin Wall and its fall.
Origin and activity
Ehrman's parents, Jewish Poles from Lemberg , stayed in Florence after their honeymoon in Italy. In 1943 he was interned with his parents in the Ferramonti di Tarsia internment camp. After the war he studied law and worked as a reporter in Florence. He later worked for various newspapers and agencies, such as the AP correspondent in Rome. At the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Ehrman was working as a Berlin correspondent for the Italian news agency ANSA . After his retirement he lived in Madrid , Spain with his Spanish wife .
Press conference on November 9, 1989
At the press conference of the Central Committee of the SED, Ehrman asked the following question:
“My name is Riccardo Ehrman, I represent the Italian news agency ANSA . Mr. Schabowski, you mentioned mistakes. Don't you think that it was a big mistake to introduce this draft travel law that you presented a few days ago? "
Schabowski answered this rather general question by reading out the following wording from a slip of paper that he had pulled out:
"Private trips abroad can be applied for without the existence of any prerequisites (reasons for travel and family relationships). The permits are granted at short notice. The responsible passport and registration departments of the People's Police District Offices in the GDR are instructed to issue visas for permanent departure immediately, without the requirements for permanent departure having to be met. [...] Permanent exits can take place via all Berlin border crossing points from the GDR to the FRG or to West Berlin. "
In response to the two subsequent questions “from when?” And by Peter Brinkmann “when does this come into effect?” Schabowski replied, “As far as I know, it will take effect immediately, immediately” . After this was broadcast a few minutes later on radio and television, thousands of GDR citizens went to the border crossing points to West Berlin and the Federal Republic of Germany , which were then opened. This was a crucial event on the way to the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification . Ehrman later said that the East Berliners had carried him on their shoulders because of his question.
questions
Ehrman told the MDR regarding his question about the departure regulation: “One of these friends - I can't remember the name - he said to me: 'You have to ask about the freedom to travel. It's very important. '”Another source quotes Ehrman more specifically for the same interview on MDR:“ This person said,' I'm the man from the submarine. There is a square in Berlin, an office that is under the lake. It is known as a submarine. And this person is the boss in this office. '”The tap-proof and windowless meeting room of the GDR news agency ADN was called a submarine . That would mean that Günter Pötschke , head of ADN at the time, was the tipster. Although Pötschke was friends with Ehrman, he never confirmed Ehrman's account, and Ehrman has made a number of at least questionable and demonstrably false statements over the years. Ehrman later confirmed that, although Pötschke called in advance of the press conference, he had not been explicitly asked to ask about the new travel law.
Honors
On October 29, 2008 Ehrman was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon for his contribution to the reunification . It was reported that at the press conference on November 9, 1989, he asked the question “from when?” And , according to other sources, “when does this come into force?” . On the one hand, Ehrman did not confirm these quotes as his own in his public reaction to the honor, but expressed himself very generally: "I am proud that after so many years you can still remember that I was there at the event." He is happy to have contributed “a small part” to the reunification, and recordings of the press conference show that these inquiries actually came from the then BILD reporter Peter Brinkmann . On the other hand, Ehrman claimed in 2009 that he did not ask on his own initiative, but at the instigation of a tipster from the "submarine" - meaning the windowless office of the head of ADN , the official news agency of the GDR.
Web links
- Schabowski's key word (obituary)
Individual evidence
- ^ Consiglio Nazionale Ordine dei Giornalisti: Elenco Iscritti - Professionisti . PDF; 2.2 MB ( memento of October 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), p. 252.
- ^ Addio a Riccardo Ehrman, fece cadere il Muro di Berlino. In: ansa.it. December 14, 2021, accessed December 14, 2021 (Italian).
- ↑ Welt-Online: Three sentences end the German division
- ↑ a b Stern.de: What does ...
- ^ Press conference on November 9, 1989
- ^ Copy of the international press conference by Günter Schabowski Verbatim transcription
- ↑ Florian Huber, Marc Brasse: Schabowski's note - The night when the wall fell . Spiegel TV Media and Monaco Film for ARD. First broadcast November 2, 2009, ARD, 9pm / 0:29:15 pm (also as Spiegel TV DVD)
- ↑ Spiegel-Online: The question of the questions
- ↑ a b c Spiegel-Online: When calling the fall of the Berlin Wall
- ↑ Jochen Arntz: The man to whom Schabowski gave the decisive answer. In: Berliner Zeitung . November 9, 1999, accessed June 16, 2015 .
- ↑ a b EurActiv.de: The Myths of Riccardo Ehrman
- ↑ Ewald König: The Secret Fall of the Wall , Die Presse , October 31, 2014, accessed on November 6, 2014.
- ^ Zeit-Online: A mysterious SED call accelerated the fall of the Berlin Wall
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ehrman, Riccardo |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ehrmann, Riccardo |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian journalist |
| BIRTH DATE | November 4, 1929 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Florence |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 14, 2021 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Madrid |