Riccardo Ehrman (4 November 1929 – 14 December 2021) was an Italian journalist whose question at a government press conference in the former

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

is said to have precipitated the

fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (, ) on 9 November in German history, 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, marked the beginning of the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain, as East Berlin transit restrictions we ...

Early life

Ehrman was born on 4 November 1929 in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. His parents were

Ukrainian Jews The history of the Jews in Ukraine dates back over a thousand years; Jews, Jewish communities have existed in the modern territory of Ukraine from the time of the Kievan Rus' (late 9th to mid-13th century). Important Jewish religious and cultura ...

from Lemberg (now

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) who had decided to stay in Italy during their honeymoon. Aged 13, he was moved to Ferramonti di Tarsia internment camp. In September 1943, he was liberated by the British Army. Ehrman studied law while being a reporter in Florence. He started as a correspondent for

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

in Rome, and later became a correspondent for

Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata The Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA; literally "National Associated Press Agency") is the leading news agency in Italy and one of the top ranking in the world. ANSA is a not-for-profit cooperative, whose members and owners are 36 leadin ...

(ANSA), an Italian press agency.

Career

While working for ANSA in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, Canada, Ehrmann was first sent to Berlin in 1976, but was confined for two months in Rome waiting for his visa to be accepted. That year he met a Spanish woman, whom he would marry in 1981. He was subsequently transferred to India. In 1982, Ehrman briefly served as correspondent for

. In 1985, ANSA asked him to return to

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

, due to his fluency in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

. On 9 November 1989, he was summoned to a press conference at which the East German government was to announce that it would facilitate the mobility of citizens from East to West Germany. At the end of the press conference, he asked Günter Schabowski, East German press secretary, when new travel restrictions were set to be lifted. After a few seconds, Schabowski replied "As far as I know … effective immediately, without delay." ("Das tritt nach meiner Kenntnis ... ist das sofort ... unverzüglich."). This was a mistake, because the note Schabowski read said that these measures would be lifted as of the following day. This led to a flood of East and West Germans converging on the wall and overwhelming border guards, eventually being let through. After the press conference with his question ended, Ehrman called the ANSA agency headquarters in Rome running shouting "The Berlin Wall has fallen!" When Ehrman returned home, he received a phone call from the Italian Ambassador to East Germany enquiring what he did at the press conference. , a West German colleague, claims credit as well, because he jumped in before Schabowski answered the question. In 1991, Ehrman was assigned to Spain, where he remained after his retirement. In 2008, he was awarded the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

Death

Ehrman died in Madrid on 14 December 2021, a month after his 92nd birthday.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ehrman, Riccardo 1929 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Italian male writers 20th-century Italian writers Berlin Wall Italian emigrants to Spain Italian male journalists Italian people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Journalists from Florence Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany