The National Defence Council of the GDR decides to remove the menacing spiked obstacles known in the West as "Stalin Lawns" (altogether 38,000) and the "dragon’s teeth" anti-tank obstacles (total length: 19 kilometres) on the Berlin border because of their negative appearance.
9 February
1984
The Soviet party leader Yuri W. Andropov dies after only 15 months in office. Konstantin U. Chernenko becomes the new General Secretary of the CPSU.more
After the loan of billions of DM to the GDR engineered by Franz-Josef Strauss in 1983, the SED leadership suddenly allows many more people to move to West Germany. By the end of 1984, some 35,000 migrants from the GDR will arrive in West German reception centres (1983: around 8,000).more
