Category: summarization
Instruction: Please give me a short summary of the misinformed public announcements leading to the fall of the Berlin Wall
Context: The announcement of the regulations which brought down the Wall took place at an hour-long press conference led by Günter Schabowski, the party leader in East Berlin and the top government spokesman, beginning at 18:00 CET on 9 November and broadcast live on East German television and radio. Schabowski was joined by Minister of Foreign Trade Gerhard Beil and Central Committee members Helga Labs and Manfred Banaschak.: 352 

Schabowski had not been involved in the discussions about the new regulations and had not been fully updated. Shortly before the press conference, he was handed a note from Krenz announcing the changes, but given no further instructions on how to handle the information. The text stipulated that East German citizens could apply for permission to travel abroad without having to meet the previous requirements for those trips, and also allowed for permanent emigration between all border crossings—including those between East and West Berlin.

At 18:53, near the end of the press conference, ANSA's Riccardo Ehrman asked if the draft travel law of 6 November was a mistake. Schabowski gave a confusing answer that asserted it was necessary because West Germany had exhausted its capacity to accept fleeing East Germans, then remembered the note he had been given and added that a new regulation had been drafted to allow permanent emigration at any border crossing. This caused a stir in the room; amid several questions at once, Schabowski expressed surprise that the reporters had not yet seen this regulation, and started reading from the note. After this, a reporter, either Ehrman or Bild-Zeitung reporter Peter Brinkmann, both of whom were sitting in the front row at the press conference, asked when the regulations would take effect. After a few seconds' hesitation, Schabowski replied, "As far as I know, it takes effect immediately, without delay" (German: Das tritt nach meiner Kenntnis ... ist das sofort ... unverzüglich).: 352  This was an apparent assumption based on the note's opening paragraph; as Beil attempted to interject that it was up to the Council of Ministers to decide when it took effect, Schabowski proceeded to read this clause, which stated it was in effect until a law on the matter was passed by the Volkskammer. Crucially, a journalist then asked if the regulation also applied to the crossings to West Berlin. Schabowski shrugged and read item 3 of the note, which confirmed that it did.

After this exchange, Daniel Johnson of The Daily Telegraph asked what this law meant for the Berlin Wall. Schabowski sat frozen before giving a rambling statement about the Wall being tied to the larger disarmament question. He then ended the press conference promptly at 19:00 as journalists hurried from the room.

After the press conference, Schabowski sat for an interview with NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw in which he repeated that East Germans would be able to emigrate through the border and the regulations would go into effect immediately.
Response: The announcement of the new laws which brought down the Berlin Wall took place at 6 pm on 9 November 1989,  at a live press conference led by Günter Schabowski, the party leader in East Berlin. Schabowski had not been involved in the discussions about the new regulations and consequently was not adequately informed. Shortly before the press conference, he was handed a note outlining the changes to be announced, but given no further instructions on how to handle the content. The note specified that East German citizens could apply for permission to travel abroad, and permanent emigration between all border crossings—including those between East and West Berlin – would be allowed.
At 6:53 pm, near the end of the press conference, when asked if the draft travel law of 6 November was a mistake, Schabowski gave a confusing answer that it was necessary because West Germany had exhausted its capacity to accept fleeing East Germans, then remembered the note he had been handed and went on to add that a new regulation had been drafted to allow permanent emigration at any border crossing. This caused a stir in the room, several questions came flying at once. When asked when the regulations would take effect, Schabowski replied hesitantly, "As far as I know, it takes effect immediately, without delay". And after some confused interjections between party members, when asked what this law meant for the Berlin Wall, Schabowski froze for a few moments, before blurting out something to the effect of the Wall being tied to the larger disarmament question. He then ended the press conference promptly at 7 pm, as journalists hurried out of the room.