"die Öffnung der Berliner Mauer"

In lesson 21.1, Sabine talks about wanting to watch a documentary "über die Öffnung der Berliner Mauer." Literally translated, it means the opening of the Berlin wall. Yet, the translation says it means "the fall of Berlin wall", which seems to me is a completely opposite meaning. Sarah, who does the translating in the audio, sort of glosses over this, saying that in this case "Öffnung" means "fall". Two questions....first, if what Sarah says is true, how would one really know that the documentary was about the fall of the Berlin wall and not the opening of it? Secondly, why not, for clarity purposes, say "über den Fall der Berliner Mauer.? That way, there is no confusion.

No idea.

Hi Bob, In our lessons we focus on vocabulary and statements that Germans frequently use. About the translation there are two different ways to translate the sentence. First literally and secondly how you would more likely to say it in English. I asked an English native speaker and I was told it is more natural to say in English the fall of the Berlin wall than the opening of the Berlin wall. However I understand your confusion. I will let the development team know to ad the literal translation. If there is anything else I can help you with let me know. Lieben Gruß Paul