In 1985 Branoner returned to working for the council at Neukölln, but now as "Bezirksstadtrat für Bau und Wohnungswesen", the senior official responsible for Housing and Construction in the borough. He was still in the job when street protestors broke through the Berlin Wall in November 1989. During the next few month social and political changes took place which were followed, formally in October 1990. by German reunification. Berlin's inner boroughs were affected by major population shifts during the reunification process, which gave Branoner's role an unexpected importance and a heightened public profile. In 1991 he was recruited by the Berlin senator to work as in the city's . This was an appointed rather than an elective post, but Branoner's political sympathies (which were aligned with those of ) were no secret. He was an enthusiastic backer of Chancellor Kohl, whose "shirt-sleeve openness" (""hemdsärmlige Offenheit") he greatly admired.