About 13,000 East Germans fled via Hungary in September 1989. Hungary opened its border with Austria to East German citizens, allowing them to continue westward toward the Federal Republic of Germany.
The escape movement followed Hungary’s decision to dismantle sections of its border fence with Austria. On 19 August, several hundred East Germans crossed during the Pan-European Picnic, but the much larger breakthrough came when Hungary opened the border permanently on the night of 10–11 September.
The figure is often confused with other totals from the same crisis. Around 661 people crossed at the Pan-European Picnic itself, while later estimates count more than 13,000 East Germans escaping through Hungary during September. By the end of the month, the wider exodus through Hungary and other routes had grown substantially.
This mass flight exposed the weakness of East Germany’s border controls and intensified public protests inside the country. It was one of the key developments leading to the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989.