Officially, on November 9, 1989, the government of East Berlin announced to its population that they were free to travel anywhere in Western Europe with a visa. As soon as the news broke, people began running out of their homes towards the gates of Berlin, swamping the guards. With many people running past the guards, they had no time to check visas. Therefore, people came out one way or another. Some chose to stay and participate in their own celebration. Many people chose to stand atop the Berlin Wall and tear it down to send a message to their government that they were no longer prisoners (“Berlin Wall