Removal of Hungary 's border fence with Austria - wikipedia Removal of Hungary 's border fence with Austria Hungary -- Austria border near Sopron, Hungary. The removal of Hungary 's border fence with Austria occurred in 1989 during the collapse of communism in Hungary, which was part of a broad wave of revolutions in various communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The dismantling of the electric fence along Hungary 's 240 kilometres ( 149 mi ) long border with Austria was the first fissure in the `` Iron Curtain '' that had divided Europe for more than 40 years, since the end of World War II, and caused a chain reaction in East Germany that ultimately resulted in the demise of the Berlin Wall. Contents 1 History 2 See also 3 References 4 External links History In April 1989, the Hungarian government ordered the electricity in the barbed - wire border fence along the Hungary -- Austria border turned off. The following month, border guards began removing sections of the barrier -- filmed by Western TV crews summoned for the occasion. On 27 June Hungary 's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gyula Horn, and his Austrian counterpart, Alois Mock, held a symbolic fence - cutting ceremony at the Sopron ( Hungary ) border crossing. The open border meant that it was easier for Hungarians to cross into Austria for goods and services ; many Hungarians availed themselves of this to purchase consumer goods which had been unavailable or scarce in their own country ; a visible sign of this in the first few weeks was that many cars could be seen in Austrian towns such as Graz with washing machines strapped to them. The most famous crossing came on 19 August, when, during a `` friendship picnic '' between Austrians and Hungarians, over 900 East Germans on holiday in Hungary rushed the border and escaped into Austria and then traveled safely to West Germany. The open border infuriated East German officials, who feared a return to a pre-Berlin Wall day, when thousands of East Germans fled daily to West Berlin. Although worried, the Soviet Union took no overt actions against Hungary, taking a hands - off approach. See also Austria -- Hungary relations Cold War Inner German Border Hungarian border barrier References Jump up ^ Meyer, Michael ( 13 September 2009 ). `` The picnic that brought down the Berlin Wall ''. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 22 May 2017. Jump up ^ `` On this day : 27 June - the Iron Curtain was breached ''. European Parliament. 26 June 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2017. Jump up ^ Woodard, Colin ( 10 September 2009 ), `` How a picnic led to the fall of the Berlin Wall '', Christian Science Monitor. External links 2 May : Hungary dismantles border, BBC 10 Sept : East Germans go West, BBC `` Les 20 ans d'un pique - nique qui a fait basculer l'histoire '' ( 20 years of a picnic that changed History ), Le Monde ( in French ). Revolutions of 1989 Internal background Era of Stagnation Communism Anti-communism Criticism of communist party rule Eastern Bloc Eastern Bloc economies Eastern Bloc politics Eastern Bloc media and propaganda Eastern Bloc emigration and defection KGB Nomenklatura Shortage economy Totalitarianism Eastern European anti-Communist insurgencies International background Active measures Cold War List of socialist states Predictions of the dissolution of the Soviet Union Reagan Doctrine Soviet Empire Terrorism and the Soviet Union Vatican Opposition Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia People Power Revolution Reforms Uskoreniye Perestroika Democratization in the Soviet Union Khozraschyot 500 Days Sinatra Doctrine Glasnost Socialism with Chinese characteristics Đổi mới Government leaders Ramiz Alia Nicolae Ceaușescu Mikhail Gorbachev Károly Grósz Erich Honecker János Kádár Miloš Jakeš Egon Krenz Wojciech Jaruzelski Slobodan Milošević Mathieu Kérékou Mengistu Haile Mariam Ne Win Denis Sassou Nguesso Heng Samrin Deng Xiaoping Todor Zhivkov Siad Barre Opposition methods Civil resistance Demonstrations Human chains Magnitizdat Polish underground press Protests Samizdat Strike action Opposition leaders Lech Wałęsa Václav Havel Alexander Dubček Ion Iliescu Liu Gang Wu'erkaixi Chai Ling Wang Dan Feng Congde Tank Man Joachim Gauck Sali Berisha Sanjaasürengiin Zorig Vladimir Bukovsky Boris Yeltsin Viacheslav Chornovil Vytautas Landsbergis Zianon Pazniak Zhelyu Zhelev Aung San Suu Kyi Meles Zenawi Isaias Afwerki Ronald Reagan George H.W. Bush Pope John Paul II Opposition movements Beijing Students ' Autonomous Federation Charter 77 New Forum Civic Forum Democratic Party of Albania Democratic Russia Initiative for Peace and Human Rights Sąjūdis Peaceful Revolution People 's Movement of Ukraine Solidarity Popular Front of Latvia Popular Front of Estonia Public Against Violence Belarusian Popular Front National League for Democracy National Salvation Front Unification Church political activities Union of Democratic Forces Events by location Central and Eastern Europe Albania Bulgaria Czechoslovakia East Germany Hungary Poland Romania Soviet Union Yugoslavia Soviet Union Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Chechnya Estonia Georgia Latvia Lithuania Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Moldova Russia Tajikstan Turkmenistan Ukraine Uzbekistan Elsewhere Afghanistan Angola Benin Burma Cambodia China Congo - Brazzaville Ethiopia Mongolia Mozambique Somalia South Yemen Individual events 1988 Polish strikes April 9 tragedy Black January Baltic Way 1987 -- 89 Tibetan unrest Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 Removal of Hungary 's border fence with Austria Polish Round Table Agreement Hungarian Round Table Talks Pan-European Picnic Monday Demonstrations Alexanderplatz demonstration Malta Summit German reunification January Events in Lithuania January Events in Latvia 1991 protests in Belgrade August Coup Dissolution of the Soviet Union Later events Colour revolution Decommunization Lustration Democratization Economic liberalization Post-Soviet conflicts Neo-Sovietism Neo-Stalinism Post-communism Yugoslav Wars Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Removal_of_Hungary%27s_border_fence_with_Austria&oldid=792366543 '' Categories : Hungarian People 's Republic Hungary -- Soviet Union relations Cold War history by country Revolutions of 1989 1989 in Hungary Hungary -- Austria border Hidden categories : All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from August 2016 CS1 French - language sources ( fr ) Talk Contents About Wikipedia 한국어 Italiano ไทย Edit links This page was last edited on 26 July 2017, at 03 : 00. 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Question: when did hungary open its borders with austria
Answer: 1989