Hans Modrow greeted Helmut Kohl when Kohl walked through the Brandenburg Gate on 22 December 1989.
Modrow was the Minister-President of East Germany, formally the German Democratic Republic (GDR), while Kohl was Chancellor of West Germany. Their appearance together marked the first official opening of the Brandenburg Gate since the Berlin Wall had divided the site and symbolized the political thaw between East and West.
The Berlin Wall had opened on 9 November 1989, but the Brandenburg Gate itself remained inaccessible for several weeks. East German engineers created a passage, and Kohl and Modrow jointly opened the crossing before a crowd of more than 100,000 people. Modrow described the gate as a symbol of peace, while the event became an important public image of the rapidly advancing reunification process.
A common mix-up is to associate the ceremony with other East German leaders, especially Günter Schabowski or Egon Krenz, who were prominent during the Wall’s opening. Neither greeted Kohl at this Brandenburg Gate ceremony; that role belonged to Hans Modrow.