On the evening of November 9, 1989, Lieutenant Colonel Harald Schäfer (Charly Hübner) watches the press conference with Günter Schabowski on television. “From now on, private trips abroad can be applied for without any prerequisites…” A short time later, the first East Berliners are standing in front of the border crossing and want to cross over to West Berlin. Now the dramatic hours begin and Harald has to make decisions again and again. He waits for instructions from his superiors, but they fail to materialize. The situation escalates as more and more people gather in front of the border crossing and demand to leave. Onlookers from the West are now also standing on the other side, with a camera crew capturing every moment. Harald Schäfer is under enormous pressure when he finally decides to open the border and stop all checks. He becomes the hero of the story, a colleague makes the political consequences of his order unmistakably clear to him: “That’s it for the GDR.”

Heide and Rainer Schwochow wrote the screenplay based on motifs from “The Man Who Opened the Wall” by Gerhard Haase-Hindenberg, which traces the events of November 9, 1989 from the perspective of Lieutenant Colonel Harald Jäger. The cast includes Charly Hübner, Milan Peschel, Ulrich Matthes, Rainer Bock, Max Hopp, Frederick Lau, Ludwig Trepte, Robert Gallinowski, Jasna Fritzi Bauer, Ursula Werner and others. The cinematographer is Frank Lamm, who has already worked with Christian Schwochow several times (“Novemberkind”, “Der Turm”, “Westen”).

“Bornholmer Strasse” is a UFA FICTION production in co-production with MDR and ARD Degeto as well as RBB for Das Erste, funded by Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg. Producers are Benjamin Benedict and Nico Hofmann, executive producer Sebastian Werninger, producer Matthias Adler. The editorial lead is Jana Brandt (MDR). Stephanie Dörner (MDR), Christine Strobl (ARD Degeto) and Cooky Ziesche (RBB) are also responsible for editing.

Jana Brandt, Head of Television Film, Series and Children’s Programs at MDR:

“MDR has often proven that it can successfully realize historical material, most recently with the event two-parter ‘Der Turm’, which won several awards. Bornholmer Straße’ is now another major project for which MDR is editorially responsible. This time, however, the GDR’s past is being dealt with fictionally from a completely different perspective. The 25th anniversary of the opening of the Wall next year provides the occasion to look at the subject from the perspective of the border soldiers.”

Benjamin Benedict and Nico Hofmann, producers UFA FICTION:

“November 9, 1989 is a unique event in German history. BORNHOLMER STRASSE tells of this historic date in a new way – by reversing the perspective. The focus is on the people whose job it was to control the border and who ultimately effectively “opened the wall”. With Christian Schwochow as director and his team, a new generation is taking on the historical narrative. This marks the continuation of an extremely fruitful collaboration with ARD under the direction of Jana Brandt, one year after the successful broadcast of DER TURM.

With the wonderful screenplay by Heide and Rainer Schwochow, which is defined by a differentiated and precise narrative close to the characters and an outstanding cast, a creative team has come together here that stands for exactly the modern and complex examination of historical subjects that we hope for from this project.”