
The 39th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 10 to 21 February 1989. The Golden Bear was awarded to American film Rain Man directed by Barry Levinson. The retrospective was dedicated to German film producer Erich Pommer and another one dedicated to European productions of 1939 titled Europe 1939.

The bombing of the French consulate in West Berlin was a terrorist bomb attack targeting the Maison de France consulate on the Kurfuerstendamm in West Berlin, West Germany on 25 August 1983. It killed one person and injured 23 others. The Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) claimed responsibility in a telephone call and also took credit for a bomb at a French base in Beirut the same day, coming a month after the group's Orly Airport attack. The group commented "We will continue our struggle until the liberation of innocent Armenians from French jails." However the attack was actually orchestrated by Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, better known as Carlos the Jackal, who had relations with the ASALA's leadership. Carlos claimed responsibility in a letter written to the German Embassy in Saudi Arabia.

The 1985 DFB-Pokal Final decided the winner of the 1984–85 DFB-Pokal, the 42nd season of Germany's premier knockout football cup competition. It was played on 26 May 1985 at the Olympiastadion in West Berlin. Bayer Uerdingen won the match 2–1 against Bayern Munich to claim their first cup title. This was Bayern's first cup final loss in their eighth final.

The 1986 DFB-Pokal Final decided the winner of the 1985–86 DFB-Pokal, the 43rd season of Germany's premier knockout football cup competition. It was played on 3 May 1986 at the Olympiastadion in West Berlin. Bayern Munich won the match 5–2 against VfB Stuttgart to claim their eighth cup title.

The 1987 DFB-Pokal Final decided the winner of the 1986–87 DFB-Pokal, the 44th season of Germany's premier knockout football cup competition. It was played on 20 June 1987 at the Olympiastadion in West Berlin. Hamburger SV won the match 3–1 against second division Stuttgarter Kickers to claim their third cup title.

The 1988 DFB-Pokal Final decided the winner of the 1987–88 DFB-Pokal, the 45th season of Germany's premier football cup. It was played on 28 May 1988 at the Olympiastadion in West Berlin.

The 1989 DFB-Pokal Final decided the winner of the 1988–89 DFB-Pokal, the 46th season of Germany's premier knockout football cup competition. It was played on 24 June 1989 at the Olympiastadion in West Berlin. Borussia Dortmund won the match 4–1 against Werder Bremen to claim their second cup title.

On 5 April 1986, three people were killed and 229 injured when La Belle discothèque was bombed in the Friedenau district of West Berlin. The entertainment venue was commonly frequented by United States soldiers, and two of the dead and 79 of the injured were Americans.

The Four Nations Tournament was an invitational association football competition between four national teams, organized by the German Football Association (DFB). The teams of West Germany, Soviet Union, Argentina and Sweden competed against one another at Olympic Stadium, West Berlin from 31 March to 2 April 1988, with Sweden the tournament winners.

"Mr. Gorbachev, Tear down this wall", also known as the Berlin Wall Speech, was a speech delivered by United States President Ronald Reagan in West Berlin on June 12, 1987. Reagan called for the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, to open the Berlin Wall, which had separated West and East Berlin since 1961. The name is derived from a key line in the middle of the speech: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"