Riccardo Ehrman

Riccardo Ehrman (4 November 1929 – 14 December 2021) was an Italian journalist whose question at a government press conference in the former East Germany is said to have precipitated the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Early life

Ehrman was born on 4 November 1929 in Florence. His parents were Ukrainian Jews from Lemberg (now Lviv) who had decided to stay in Italy during their honeymoon. and later became a correspondent for Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA), an Italian press agency.

In 1982, Ehrman briefly served as correspondent for East Germany. In 1985, ANSA asked him to return to East Berlin, due to his fluency in German. 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. 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. , 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.

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