rearing to read. not everyone who wants books has to go insane. g.w. literature list. my street. and. i've always wanted to show you around my home town a small city in the state of hessen in the heart of germany.

there are more than 1000 have to merge houses here. and if you're lucky you'll hear the bells ringing at the marketplace. when i was born and figure was located on the fringe of the german federal republic germany's and our border right only a few kilometers from here it separated has and shielding it and germany and all of europe for that matter and to east and west but in 1909 the wall came down in berlin and the border between east germany and the federal republic was opened for the past 30 years now and begin has been at the heart of germany. today i want to take you on a little tour along the border between hassett and thuringian well miss that places that still bear witness to the cold war division of germany and that's make tim's animals. find out what has changed since reunification turning

a once heavily fortified death strip and so unattractive tourist destination. will visit a small town torn apart in the cold war. well check out castle one of the symbols of german reunification. and globetrotters seen painters sends his regards from durban and south africa. i'm heading south all the way along the border between hess and until i reach the. through cities and towns meadows and feels quite unimaginable that this region was once marred by the cold war and cut into by the iron curtain i want to find out what things were like back in the day and head over to point alpha a former u.s.

observation post at the inner german border. takes me around the premises 1st he shows me the different stages of the east german border fencing. starting in 1952 the old boundary stones were replaced with barbed wire. but those trying to flee could easily cut it when no border guards were in sight so the east german leadership made escaping more and more dangerous. were in the middle of a minefield that dates back to the 1960 s. when they began building the berlin wall on aug 13th 1961 the inner german border was secured through military means and 1.3 to 1400000 land mines were planted. the death strip whoever managed to pass it unscathed was often brought to a halt at the last border fence. really. it would have been very difficult to climb

the fence practically impossible to pull yourself up by your fingertips like that. up until 1904 there were also s.m. seventies here anti-personnel mines which would detonate if anyone tried to climb up. they were called automatic firing devices and would have fired shrapnel that anyone trying to escape. this was the border patrol road in the former east. only 50 meters across the border a u.s. army watch tower it was part of observation post alpha 40 u.s. soldiers were stationed here they all belong to the reno and black horse regiment a demanding task at the frontline of a conflict that had the whole world holding its breath is that costly meant to fight the black horse regiment was a very strong unit of its own combat helicopters armored infantry and artillery the

flock in the assumption was that if war broke out the soviets would advance and this would be one of the 1st sights of a 3rd world war i hope it's understood in particular and go to. every accidental movement could have had devastating consequences tanks were only allowed to drive up to this red line a rule established by the americans and meant to avoid provocation that could have caused the soviet leadership to snap. nowadays point alpha tells the tale of germany seemingly distant but there you've recent history groups of schoolchildren come to learn but also veterans who served here and many people from around the world interested in germany's peaceful reunification by the way this watch tower was only built in 1984 back then nobody thought that 5 years later the cold war and the iron curtain would be history until not too long ago the region we're in right now the wound was full of military infrastructure on both sides of the border today the low mountain range as a protected by a sphere. reserved and still somewhat of an insider tip for travelers for hiking

biking or just taking a little time at. the un is a low mountain range in the middle of germany often called the land of open spaces it ranges from the state of turning in to hasn and bavaria. there are some larger cities on the outskirts for example mine again in the east which for a long time was the capital of the duchy of sox a mine again. for the broken city of boulder in the west. and right in the middle is the vasa cookbook the highest peak of the one at 950

meters. this is the heart of gliding in germany because of the thermals. the 1st attempts at gliding took place before the 1st world war but the 1st competitions were organized in 1920. s. sailplane is designed to write the air currents without an engine so that it can just glide through space. back when germany was still divided sailplanes from hessen in the west sometimes found themselves gliding towards and even over the border just 15 kilometers from the boss a cookbook. some pilots were even arrested and only released weeks later after paying a hefty fine in torch marks. the planes were confiscated. today

these gliders and paragliders have the same ideal thermal lift conditions but there is no border that they have to mind. so they can glide freely in their own lands of the open spaces. little remains of the iron curtain only the border patrol road still meanders through germany i can start to walk on it on the shores of the baltic sea and would end up in hope and bavaria the 4800 kilometers of exclusion zone have turned into a greenbelt a protected area for flora and fauna. my ts kiss as one of the many environmental activists in east and west that demand the german greenbelt not be used for construction or agricultural purposes he wants it

to be fully returned to nature resumed its were close to the book on the taft which is now flowing again in its own bed. before the wall came down this stream was part of a no go zone on the eastern side of the patrol road set up to prevent escapes. to where you know. after the wall fell the riverbed was recalled invaded by environmentalists and hassen that you know we were focusing on india. that now there are wetlands for plants and animals for and this is a very valuable immigration influences that and we don't want to if you don't have a. surprisingly political and military hostility we're fertile ground for endangered species. and regularly takes visitors around the green belt to introduce them to the biodiversity of the region. i went

on a really fun walk with some biology students from all snap look. we went to the also which is known for its orchids the country. instead of the usual half hour the walk took 2 and a half because the biology students kept stopping at every blade of grass. when they met for. their lives so it's not just the locals in the greenbelt has turned into an attractive tourist destination what made this clear the greenbelt will never be a tourist trap thank god. it's done but it's very important that those who are interested should be able to come here. and kind of went as well this will always be a small select group there won't be any mass tourism. but we're noticing more and more people coming from a far more fun closer than in front of you know. my

next stop is for one of the oldest towns in tooling and. its existence was 1st documented in the year 814. almost as old this bridge that crosses the bed of river on the other side lies phillips only a stone's throw away but unreachable when germany was divided and he's at long last born and raised and fought tells me how this bridge when from connecting people to separating them. during a cold war was located in the exclusion zone what was daily life like. with a few when we drove in and drove out we had to show a special stamp on our id. no one else was allowed in on friends couldn't visit us. we were allowed to request a visitor's permit from the police are very close relatives 6 we wouldn't know for

6 weeks whether we'd get permission or not because we've done a good miracle because. in that battle then this place looked very different and you tell us about this bridge and the role it played. the. bridge was a very important artery cause of 4 kids from the holy roman empire it was on the view regular from like 6 to frankfurt or. we liked it very much. and we were able to cross it until 1952 and a man now you know who. lived in the house on the border to mine the town and then that ended here here he was there were more and more fences. first a wire mesh fence. then a watch tower was built on the bridge. and then everything was closed off there was nothing around this because it was

a no man's land really i mean months. i don't want to people are trying to flee across the veterans of that knowledge. very often my brother escaped in 1962 he was a student and try back and he and his friends played jazz and that got them into trouble with this band so or they swam across in august 1960 to. try and safety did they succeed as they made it out of them and no member of 989 the border opened what was that like your family was reunited so was germany euphoria must have been immense i suppose and. it's the best thing to have happened to us at the end of the 20th century. it's a feeling that you don't experience very often come on in the us.

you can relive this moment in father will history museum. and amateur filmmaker captured the scene as the west started to tear down the border wall the famous berlin wall came down on nov 9th 989 only 3 days after the border between fatah and philip's tall followed. oh. god. since then the old bridge has returned to its original function connecting and philip stop. trying to take a little tour of the lives to the small town is home to a true gem a castle dating back to the 17th century and surrounded by a lush park. setting

out to explore the world wasn't really an option for the citizens of communist east germany people in fox couldn't name visit their neighbors here in philip's top nowadays things are much easier to get our globe trotters states painted all he needs is a ticket a backpack and a sense of adventure this time we caught up with him and durban south africa 2nd biggest city. and we start things off in the sunny city of devon i'm here with my local guides tell me who god is around for today some sun i could go i'm going to illegal welcome to the city of devon close when we're not done we're going to take up with what is going to put. south africa's warmest city is located on the east coast and has a population of about 3 and a half 1000000 in the metropolitan area durban is famous to being the busiest port

in the country it's also seen as one of the major centers of 2 reason because of the city's warm subtropical climate and extensive teaches. it. right richard and mostly the stadium which was built for the world cup in 2010 we're here to do the big rush the world's tallest when i go. through what if. our deceived and it was scary. let's expect it's to be back. on ground. in the next morning we hit the road and drug about 3 hours north

east. so we just drop into the wind and look what we see just right after we have some sea brought here. i guess is. our base inside the park was the hilltop can't which overlooks the reserve. first came dr nothing and right. there it was a rhino yes that's right this one. the little date in follows the path is the oldest proclaimed nature said in africa it consists of 960 square kilometers of hilly topography and is known for its rich wildlife and conservation efforts. each of the big 5 game animals can be found in just a short amount of time also we were able to see 4 after the big 5 on our 1st game

drive. and we are back up to cover the resort in the pool which is the perfect way to finish this trip through the region of plus to not suffer. but. back in germany i'm on my way to the protest mining area stretching out on both sides of the backdrop and hassen as well as tooling up between 194-5989 it was divided after reunification east and west german potage industries merged the privatization led to the closure of unsafe or inefficient mines and the loss of many jobs in the former east the mine in macas was turned into a visitor's attraction. wallish guba takes me on a tour of the huge underground labyrinth. even the ride is quite an adventure.

140 square kilometers of winding tunnels the nazis believed this to be the perfect hiding spot in april of 1905 u.s. soldiers couldn't believe their eyes when they came upon this room thousands of boxes and bags filled with cash diamonds and gold paintings by rembrandt's goriot do that and many others in anticipating the downfall of the 3rd reich the nazis hid a lot of their gold and currency reserves and macca us. from boston men so what dimensions are we talking about here that hold i don't mind to make you one right marcus well some good karma. if you count everything going but it comes to 3000000000 writes mark you were in a bank notes alone. there was so much money stored here that there was

a shortage of cash in berlin or. one of the most spectacular finds never t.v. this is of course a replica the original is back in berlin it's pergamon museum if all of this is an adventure is enough for you you can also explore the labyrinth by mountain bike but there are only a limited amount of spots and dates so you should sign up ahead of time in any case there's plenty to see down here. like this grotto full of sparkling salt crystals. because it was on board it's something special or unique in the world as far as we know the salt crystals of this size with a metre long edge aren't found anywhere else except at america. and then the right lights it's twice as beautiful.

time now for our weekly in the mail our viewer jeff messmate sent us a video of his trip to the island of later on the philippines there he went scuba diving and that's an amazing footage of the pacific colorful underwater world.

book castle in eyes and a symbol of german reunification. it too was located only

a couple of kilometers from the inner german border germany is arguably a country of many castles so why did the bots book play such a crucial role in german history i meeting with baum how to find out that. for many years he's been showing visitors through the vote book into the birthplace of the modern german language 500 years ago monte lucia translated the bible into german in this very room until then there have been countless dialects has bible created a unified german language power in the language that german speak today emerged in this room with martin luther when good to start here hundreds of years later he said we became of people a nation because of martin luther. that's how we found a common language you would find that in minds and.

another milestone in german history took place in the book's banquet hall and $817.00 students and fraternities hailing from small states and principalities got together and this room. here and they demanded the founding of a unified german nation with democratic civil rights. under law and to vote but 1st the year in a fraternity germany's 1st fraternity invited people to the hot book festival. and the fraternity colors were black red and gold with black in the middle red and then a modest gold on the rim of the flag and in the middle and old french. with the flag became the symbol of german democracy black red and gold blue over the book for the 1st time. today the buck book is once again a castle for all germans well they still remembers the 1st months after the border was opened west germans were finally able to cross into the east without needing

a visa or passport and for many the thought book was the 1st place to visit. just that one year more than 700000 people came. and they waited in line for hours they were amazed because the fact book wasn't such a good state and that money had been invested over decades. all prejudices flew out the window they solve the gold cross on the tower and they knew they were home here to hold. even the hardest of frontiers are essentially artificial concepts and because they're artificial they can be challenged by the people and eventually taken down it's been 30 years since the fall of the iron curtain and the reopening of the inner german border 3 decades. that have blurred the lines between east and west and still we mustn't forget about the past which is why it's so important to have places that

remind us of how difficult and different things used to be around these parts thanks for joining me that's it for this week i'll see you next time somewhere in germany.

learning. wait a 2nd we want the whole picture perfect some sort of make idea shift deliver us. from another reality to cryptocurrency for your topics for live and. evan changing digital world let's start with digitalisation. shift. on t.w. there was. an impossible journey. nido once to return to gaza.

the german palestinian will be leaving a successful life in berlin just think all i can think about to see my family again but no one can guarantee that he'll be able to see them in the biz in the hunt was going to happen now or will be at the border post i would hope we get into the muslim learning in dirty minutes d.w. . our torah is to. say this is the 100 german streets on d w. it's all happening to children coming to your link to the news from africa and the world jordan linked to

exceptional stories and discussions can you and will come to their views after going program tonight from funny to me from one uses easy to out website the deputed come smash africa join us on facebook at g.w. africa. where the real power resides. when i come from there lots of people in fact more than a 1000000000 to do too much not just democracy living that's one reason why i'm passionate about people and aspirations and they can sense. the truth and a vision report is right here in the name after the for the fun one and i remember thinking at the time if the barley in bulk and for what anything can happen if people come together and unite for a cause. but i do the news i often confront. because situations more conflict between distance and i see despite my job to confront what he does on policies and

development to put the spotlight and issues that matter most congo to security question marks united nations. cannot transfer energy but so much more needs to be john and i think people have to be accountable solutions money is a mcclatchy not an albuquerque journal. the u.s. vice president mike pence is warning of a crisis on america's southern border with mexico pence's been visiting to overcrowded migrant detention centers in texas nationwide raids to deport a parent illegal immigrants are scheduled for sunday.