ABSTRACT
It is revealing that the East German democratic revolution of 1989 is now commonly referred to in German as “die Wende” (the turning point). Ironically, the phrase was coined by Egon Krenz – the short-term successor to the hard-line ruler Erich Honecker – in his inaugural speech in October 1989.1 This phrase had been used earlier in West Germany by then newly elected Chancellor Helmut Kohl to describe the changes his government promised to bring about. Krenz’s choice of the word thus reflected his limited reformist aims as the new leader of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Until the fall of the Wall on November 9, the East German popular uprising was still widely referred to as the “peaceful revolution” or, somewhat ironically, as the “November revolution.”2 Yet in the aftermath of the opening of the borders, and with the resulting rush towards unification, Krenz’s tepid term dominated the popular discourse even as his government was overwhelmed by the revolutionary course of events.3
