all the latest news and information available on our website about the cost dot com or you can follow us on twitter at w news on called assman let's watch. some of the church of the famous naturalist and explorer. to sing the bridge alexander from the world's 250th birthday we remember going on a voyage of discovery. expedition voyage on t.w.a. .

i mean kite crashed on sky height unity justice and above all freedom freedom the state is duty bound to protect. hi heidi. conditional down and frightening can only unfold you know when people lift by at uva when they appreciate it you know as you want to protect it. they can use if i hadn't learned to live and see other people as you knocked ing. gaffers he came from this mission been eaten. to do all kinds of. the push and pull between state authority and civil rights has crucially shaped

german history since 1049. the german parliament the bundestag has a commitment to the german people the laws passed here are vital to maintaining our freedom for we the people are the state. democratic is to pollution limbs from the farm ocracy is the political manifestation of freedom the aim of including my personal freedoms it must constantly be real learned still. that also makes it vulnerable to indifference and boredom to mccarthy democracy dies when not enough democrats are actively involved in that infuses understand that. modern german democracy is vibrant here indecl dorf teenagers have come

together at a poetry slam to debate democracy. what's important to them what bothers them what does freedom mean to them. to mean freedom means getting involved in voicing your criticism. you must must soon going in came up under the time you incident to question it but that's clear you misunderstood my ham on loud. and then listen then dozens of mine and. i hit volatilized lies but i. feed. the sink summary of what matters most in contemporary germany thanks for most of those speaking today it's their 1st time on stage but they enjoy it here anyone can state their views and then must defend them finally a fun way to talk politics is for me all night he'll sit here because i can live

here in germany and freedom. does. call my no one style of a teenaged. germany 1st enjoy democracy and constitutionally guaranteed rights for all citizens in the era after the 1st world war the weimar republic saw the country undergo a brief blossoming of economic and cultural activity. but then the global great depression brought about mass unemployment in the early 1930 s. the foundations of democracy were shook to their core. society became divided. and radicalized nazis fought against communists while the democrats in the political center proved too weak to intervene they had too little backing from society. the nazis on the other hand did find support when hitler seized power nobody stood in

his way as dictator he robbed 1st germany then europe of its freedom with devastating consequences. after germany was defeated the victorious allied powers divided the country into 4 occupation zones the french american and british arms to the west and soviet russia in the east. in 1994 occupied zones became 2 german states based on 2 different notions of democracy and freedom. of. the federal republic in the west was founded on the basis of the basic law the constitution designed to protect civil liberties and to prevent a return of despotism and oppression. the opening articles of the constitution guarantee the inalienable rights of every

individual. does because it's to a significant degree the basic law was a response to the weimar republic it provided far greater protection of fundamental rights it ensured far more checks and balances and equilibrium between the executive legislative and judicial branches of government and above all it safeguarded democracy he did. even before the new federal republic emerged the western powers have valued freedom of the press highly after all to form a free political will the people required free information. article 5 of the basic law guarantees freedom of expression as well as freedom of the press all citizen. as have the right to disseminate their opinions as well as the right to inform themselves without hindrance the paragraph and with there shall be no censorship.

but a free press can be bothersome to those in power. in 1962 the federal government became embroiled in a high profile showdown with a major news magazine. on october 26th police forces raided the offices of desh spiegel. tales are not witnessed this assault on the freedom of press 1st hand back then he was just beginning his career and had recently been made an editor at deep site weekly. today the journalist still has his office in the same building at the time many other papers share the same rooms. as a villa up and one on poverty in america a couple of weeks earlier we had already noticed our phones were being tapped or and if you could hear a crackle in the line. one editor complained to whoever it was listening in and they had the cheek to answer back. so we knew something was going on the move was to the person going to. the authorities charged the spiegel with treason 2 weeks

prior the magazine had published a controversial exposé uncovering inadequacies within the west german armed forces and using allegedly classified material defense minister of cons of guilt of strauss used this as an excuse to clamp down on critical news coverage the speedo offices were sealed off the magazine's publisher stein and several journalists arrested. in said ste does these a big deal we were horrified to see the government driven by the defense minister violate freedom of the press so grossly was his view is of course we thought and if the government manages to get away with this then we are next to them as anybody else who publishes critical coverage of the government of the it would be. you via island t.v.'s on all of us in the building shut down the morgan costume and. both from a social democratic corner back to him decided we all rallied behind speak with you

said every afternoon for the following days and weeks the tide editorial team vacated their desks for their spiegel colleagues other news outlets in the building also pitched in. their sleeve and switched to the should be gone needed that to survive. and later said that missing 23 or 4 issues would have meant financial ruin of the lady cubism and the same solidarity extended beyond the press itself across west germany people organized street protests the spiegel affair as it came to be known evolve from an attack on one man the publisher ouch time to a full blown state crisis for content add in hours government and above all his defense minister growing pressure of eventually led to the resignation of franciosa strauss years later the federal court kwok to charges against the magazine and its editors. own the president for i had come as kind of the most without

a free press there can be no democracy wendy my freedom of the press and freedom of expression in general including freedom of assembly are the cornerstones of democracy owns the democrat t.v. ordered van. gogh journeymen and if citizens are no longer permitted to know the facts of origin night alternative interpretations of the facts ma'am it can that undermines the foundations of democracy fundamental democrat t. so good to. the spiegel affair show how west germany's basic law was able to keep state authority in check. and in east germany. east germany called itself the german democratic republic or g.d.r. . in this case however democracy referred not to the freedom of the individual but the realisation of communist philosophy. personal freedoms were subordinate to the collective good. for france and did it i give you up to even

fight school the east german constitutional also allowed for substantial freedoms they provided for freedom of expression freedom of the press and freedom of assembly the 4th of but this was all compromised by a constitution that asserted the supremacy of the s.p.d. communist party and that took precedence over freedom of expression for example and justified the persecution of people with dissenting views of vice no mind and effect of. those limitations were exposed on june 17th 1953 when an estimated 1000000 people took to the streets of east berlin and other cities in the 1st ever mass protests against the regime. the demonstrators call for more freedom and better living conditions. at 1st the government was unsure of how to respond. to understeer than to new 117th 1953 was triggered by an increase in production quotas which in practice meant more

work for the same wages rise above and yet on the new. one doesn't it. that started a place and then plot slips and suddenly the issue was no longer just about production quotas and labor standards but free elections a significant political demand in that sense you could say that june 17th 1953 was the 1st political and democratic uprising in the entire eastern bloc fully true and democratic should have been in constant post. those hopes for change would be short lived when soviet tanks moved in to crush the demonstrations killing scores of protesters a further 1400 people were sentenced in the aftermath of. the s.c. behead to term and that another uprising challenging state authority would never again be allowed to arise. from any seeking greater freedom that meant there was only one option left leave $953.00 saw

the peak of east german migration to the west by $961.00 a total of 2700000 people had fled the country well over a 10th of the population. the exodus was put to an abrupt end with the construction of the wall in 1961 with that the final weak point in the inner german border had been fortified east germany resembled an open air prison an entire population walled in attempting to flee now meant risking your life and i want to prefer cool they built a wall and imprison their own people for she said she they called an anti fascist protection barrier and claimed the threat emanated from the west while their guns were trained on people wanting to move from east to west from was investigating but as of this it was a blatant lie. but one that for a certain time actually helps stabilize east germany in a tradition to give us a tired junkie did. annoyed started museo touch. and that physical confinement was

felt in all areas of everyday life for pay to call its father was a communist and had voluntarily decided to move from west to east germany but that made state authorities there suspicious and the family was placed under surveillance mother wanted to leave east germany the family had frequent political discussions at home which happens a little holes for lost in a moment that whenever i went out i was told if you mention what we talk about at home his leaving the country criticizing the government will all be arrested we could get in trouble we could all end up in jail it's my mind so i grew up with 2 opinions certain things could be discussed in private but as soon as i was outside they were taboo i had to put on my propaganda face and repeat what they preached at school over time that became increasingly difficult. in 1974 the family applied to be relocated back to west germany peter was branded a traitor and forced to leave school before he could complete a degree his sister's dance club offered an alternative perspective and there he

went on to win medals at national championships. but he remained an outsider. he decided to escape his plan was to cross through czechoslovakia and hungary then swim across the danube river to enter west germany from austria but on the train to prague he was arrested for not having a return ticket. he soon found himself in a prisoner transport van where he spent almost 4 hours in complete darkness. his cell one of 6 in the van was barely 50 by 50 centimeters. he had no idea where they were taking him. is all you know maybe i don't think i've ever been so sick. shared my entire life and i haven't been that afraid since then either solution although i've never felt so utterly powerless and unable to determine my own fate and. his freedoms already

so restricted in his life in east germany were now completely robbed at the stasi jail in dresden interrogators tried to break him with endless interrogations arbitrary harassment and total isolation even when he was allowed out to the courtyard. which could mean you forced him to many a walk in him i was always down there. but he says i could never imagine what it was like from up here. now looking down it's almost as if the guards were standing up here. separated from the scum below. flips the. page a call it was sentenced to 10 months in jail for attempting to escape the republic and sent to a prison in corpus but then his fate took a happier turn the so-called halflings fikile for prisoners ransom saw west germany

buying the freedom of east german prisoners in exchange for cash or goods. by $989.00 over $33000.00 political prisoners were bought free by west germany paid a corpse freedom cost at least $40000.00 to mars in some east germany aren't an additional 3400000000 dollars your marks by selling prisoners. it was essential informal inner german human trafficking in which the western concession to freedom helped prop up the eastern government. to the disease germany participated in this welcome human trafficking enterprise because it needed money it was sheer economic desperation who'd defs an assertion of the top priority was to earn money giving in to pressures of humanity was only secondary now to key. kind of like taking the lid off to let out some air. to earth not want of course

a lesson. in west germany people's desire for greater freedom was expressed differently the younger generations openly challenge authority. they didn't want to be told how to fit in and question everything from haircuts to dress codes to etiquette an attitude on sex. table quiz dog was actively involved in the movement to her generation actions were motivated by political issues and inspired by recent german history. and this time even stood to it was a general attitude to life we wanted to disassociate ourselves from the nazi regime . so around the world we had the grace and the opportunity to be a young post-war generation so we were so full of help. the new youth wanted to be heard in a new way they took to the streets to protest against the war in vietnam and

against authoritarian regimes supported by the west. society's eagerness to consume was dismissed as consumed terrible for the terror of commercialism. then came june 2nd 1967 a turning point for freedom in west germany. during the official visit of the shah of iran and his wife in west berlin students gathered to protest against his dictatorial regime police attempts to stifle the demonstration were violent i sat evening one student benno on his dog was shot dead by a police officer under dubious circumstances. pay for christophe was there at the time a theology student she knew on his dog from university. after the fatal shot she recognized him as he lay on the ground. long in the 1st i was too scared to

look at his face so. i was afraid i would recognize him. we were shocked to see so much police brutality. and to see such a sensitive and well meaning student gunned down. a lot of us were beaten up that day and had our 1st encounter with tear gas that night changed my life fine. the death of ben owners or set off further protests and further clashes with the police. west germany witnessed a fresh wave of radicalization and faced a new test for its democratic values as the younger generation called for completely new freedoms. granted to use it used to do i believe it wasn't until the generation of the 1968 in the germany actually incorporated the values of the west this time it. is but

dwarfed this conflict was necessary. to ensure broad support not for the formal anchoring of democracy in the basic law exam act of tense. times were also changing in the west german bundestag in 1989 social democrat village brandt became chancellor for the 1st time in the young country's history the conservative christian democrats were no longer in power and beyond who had fled germany and the nazis in his youth brought with him a new concept of freedom and democracy. you democrats are known. but of also i didn't think you could point them. also i only got one string on the gigs i think to finish the. fear. yes democrats seem. to dare more democracy a goal that would reverberate for decades to come beyond wanted everyone to be

granted responsibility and to feel responsible soon grassroots initiatives began to emerge such as the environmental movement. of maya lives in hamburg as a young man he became politically active being able to vote every 4 years was simply not enough to him freedom it taking action to bring about change. because all i knew back then was the student movement to me it was an abstract ideological concept then suddenly things became very concrete they revolved around the here and now our environment and we want to change here and now. he wants to. be told the river elbe on the docks here just stank every few 100 meters you could see a pipe discharging sludge into the river sometimes it was yellow sometimes purple and sometimes you could see it steaming it was unbelievable. today the waters of hamburg stocks are much cleaner thanks in part to get by my and his fellow campaigners. in 1980 he was

one of the co-founders of the german branch of greenpeace the young activists carried out a spectacular protest on the high seas tying their rafts to a freighter dumping chemical waste into the north sea. the issue of dumping diluted acid was legal at the time despite the toxic damage it did to fish and humans alike . there was an aggressive response they threatened legal action and huge claims for damages and what happened they called us eco terrorists and job destroyers. we had to put ourselves in the public eye with a stance that was radical in those days so of course we had to expect backlash. washing. their campaigns were geared towards publicity on t.v. they could persuade themselves as brave young people taking on the all powerful corporations david versus goliath. this helped promote their cause among their

captive audience. how hard similar was an electrical engineer at the time like get . he spent a lot of time by hamburg the docks he too is a founding member of greenpeace germany recalling those early days they remembered that the support they received was at times unexpected. if you had to put it there are a lot of times when the police essentially helped us surely often got into trouble with them but there were other situations when you run zia they were very careful as of and i don't mean that in a negative sense is it so often yeah i remember the police would give us all not the middle finger but a thumbs up. they were telling us to keep it up. and. similar and their fellow activists put their political liberties to good use. in the process they launched a movement that would surprise everyone with its success. the eco warriors embark

on a series of sensational protest operations. that took on the whaling industry in generated huge publicity while at times also risking their lives. they scaled an occupy the dome of a nuclear power plant near the city of klayman and they demonstrated against the planned sinking of the brant spar oil platform they never shied away from a fight with the industry this could get. you there's always been groups that push society forward their need to be that's the way it's always been and the way it always will be. they're called troublemakers of course. but it's they who make the dough the firm and some society and helps it evolve. the most important thing to me has always been the parties must be fair when they disagree. and if they can do that then their disputes can be productive. in the 1980 s. there was

a wide range of actors fighting for environmental protection peace and equal opportunities. in the culture of protest spread across west germany and enjoyed growing sympathy among the public regardless of any setbacks or police oppression. and some activists wanted to make the development part of the establishment in 1980 a new grassroots movement emerged initially the greens were more a potpourri of various groups and philosophies than an established political party if anything they were an anti parties party. then you're the ones i know i know that's ok. you know. it's a nuisance. you know and you get one day. soon i. was.

on. the. degree when times if you go in the greens founded their party because extra parliamentary opposition alone was not enough to change society they could protest support but that wasn't going to change things they were drawing the consequences from not feeling represented by the existing parties so they took matters into their own hands and this was that also meant they were willing to enter into government with all the problems that involves blamed adjustment. the 1983 west german elections saw the greens in our parliament for the 1st time thanks primarily to younger voters. a new type of politics was blossoming in west germany with new freedoms even in the boom to stock. in east germany critical voices had a harder time open protest was largely impossible as was the notion of free elections and grassroots politics. the one party communist state was quick

to subdue any free expression in public. the ministry for state security. that set up a surveillance system that pervaded all areas of life. the freedom to privacy was rendered void by officers and agents in uniform and a huge undercover network of informers and yet many still managed to carve out new spaces of freedom for themselves. my clinton wouldn't be nisha and you could find your own niche that's who called. the church became a safe place to feel at home. in soon as it was very people weren't looking to overthrow the powers that be they focused on building a life that was worth living thus he leaves we have seen. how the bag in saxony on hot home to christophe high. growing up as the son of

a pastor an atheist east germany he was an outsider from the beginning. he decided to become a writer despite the prevailing restriction on artistic freedoms. hine defied the state censors creating sober and realistic depictions of life and over time his plays and prose earned him a respected status critical writers like him faced a dilemma all publications 1st had to be approved by the strict state censors hine and others wanted to be published but were reluctant to make compromises in their works yet hein managed to pull off the delicate balancing act. jeffrey toobin i wouldn't let the fear of censorship interfere with my work at home i was alone and i could write without any censorship of the censors would only come in after i'd submitted a manuscript so i tried not to waste any thoughts on what they would say about that and i'd say it worked out pretty well it's made up you know i must know in 1903

christoph hines work reached west germany and proved popular there too despite dealing primarily with life in the east 'd. he had a sure hand for selecting his manuscripts and had certain works published in west germany as well. christoph was among a group of east german writers and artists who success across the border of afforded them a certain degree of protection in november 987 he was invited to make a speech at the state sponsored writers congress there he saw a critical opportunity to publicly criticize state censorship. censoring publishing houses and books publishers and writers as antiquated useless paradoxical inhumane contrary to the people on lawful and criminal. and the name became a statement and unprecedented in east germany but was he afraid. no i wasn't afraid if this was the late 1980 s. . in the late forty's or fifty's you could have gone to jail for that kind of thing

good. but by the end of the eighty's things had changed and. well you know by this time the regime was already weakened this gradually allowed for a greater scope of artistic freedom. space for freedom of expression that could also be found in churches. because in baltimore and in churches were a place where people were free to gather because they were not subject to state domination that's what that was why people went to church back. i saw several 1000 people gathering in the whole kenosha especially during the october protests in 1989 says tarzan to these people had no interest in religion but they went to church anyway because they felt these people could be trusted good and useful to them it was a place where they could finally come together and get politically involved. counseling hakan how it was among those who took advantage of this new freedom the church provided in 1988 she moved to leipsic to study theology and became active in

a local dissident group. but they had to work in secret the right to assembly might have been officially guaranteed in the east german constitution but the stasi had its eyes and ears everywhere. looking group for justice was a self organizing that was not open to the public. by a provides the crew had already realized that otherwise the stasi might always have a way of finding out what we were doing and try to stop this. so if we wanted to challenge this authoritarian regime we'd have to find a new approach to guns on the committee. in the summer of 1987 like say she hosted the national gymnastics and sports festival the official message was that of happy young people honoring the east german fatherland under the benevolent watch of the state. it was essential propaganda sorely divorced from reality.

like many other cities in the country life was in a rundown state. in early september 989 cuts then hutton howard and her group organized a daring public campaign. is like an suv the timing was no coincidence it was the 1st piece to the summer break and also the 1st monday of the international to make trade fast in other words it was the only monday when western camera crews were officially allowed into the city stopped and also by. the church of st nicholas hosted weekly peace prayers from their opposition groups took to the streets of downtown leipsic and this time they had prepared banners made out of bed sheets. is coming in now as are the liners i can't say for sure just how long atlanta was out maybe 3040 seconds at best but it was long enough for a lot of people to see it then it was fine and in 25 hands this important.

shortly after the team hockey how was arrested but the banner had fulfilled its purpose west german cameras had recorded everything including the chanting crowd the footage went around the world unwittingly agents had triggered an avalanche. i said i respond it was a stroke of luck not because the world could see it but because i am people dancing that same evening on west german t.v. mob and they said to themselves while revolution has becomes in your line things soon be going. touching hot and how it was released from custody and months later at the demonstration the following monday she joined 130000 people marching for

freedom and democracy by early november their numbers had swelled to half a 1000000 it was now the biggest civil rights movement in the history of. east germany and it had become a peaceful revolution that proved unstoppable. by november 9th 1989 the berlin wall was no more. think of that. democratic years commish for and to me democracy is not freedom from something i find that freedom to do something life goes by the freedom to participate and have a sane shape in society. and that's nice today as much as it did in 1960. 1990 east and west germany were reunified from then on the basic law drafted in west germany apply to all german citizens. but although the east had simply adopted the basic law the people from what was now

former east germany had fought the battle for freedom themselves in the course of their struggle they risked everything and they prevailed. since then germans rights to freedom have faced a number of challenges most ominously terrorism in december 26th a christmas market in berlin was the target of a deadly attack freedom and security a stance of really enjoy equal protection but absolute security can never be completely guaranteed that's the price of freedom is he not to he. has the juneteenth to ensure internal security. it was. please tell one that includes solving crimes and preventing terrorist attacks and organized crime wherever possible and minimizing home to individuals. and what we need to find out why it's frightening this precarious balance between

freedom and security means that baseball is a considerable danger of the skies tipping towards security 5. 100 nyc. more security also means more surveillance as germany's federal commissioner for data protection paper shock closely observed this development for years he believes the wave of technological advancements poses serious threats to civil liberties have even ones that side of. the ending we're moving towards a comprehensive surveillance of every aspect of our daily lives. and that should concern us all in so it's all good fun lessons all the meticulous recording of people's everyday lives can also lead to the creeping loss of privacy and freedom not necessarily by state coercion but quite voluntarily the effect on the prevents me of a group i've shown that i really using technology compromises our privacy and buy you the books and for each time we log on we leave behind so-called metadata that

meditator reveals where i am when i use what technology and even who i'm communicating with. and that same technology can be used to political and governments interested in personal data are offered plenty of ways to collect it and surveillance is also already present in the public realm. the potential for abuse is obvious. but how these dangers might be contained is still unclear. if no way is found to limit data gathering then eventually the result will be total surveillance. this gives so at 1st be something like sleepwalking into a surveillance state is indeed possible and we're already halfway there. you know for now these digital jails by completely up and running. we need to preserve freedom oh and that also means preventing that surveillance nightmare from becoming a reality that otherwise it will render democracy obsolete. the

freedom that people spent decades fighting for now faces a new threat. citizens becoming completely transparent. intimately this means that we cannot allow people's privacy in the most intimate aspects of their lives to be subject to investigation. there has to be a core of privacy and personality that define you as an individual and that is nobody's business but your own not even a state. digitalisation is the key technological phenomenon of our time at the same time it's also a major challenge to individual freedom digital media provide scope for unregulated and anonymous comments online those pose a serious threat to freedom where is the line between freedom of expression and criminal incitement and harassment the question remains highly contested. berlin

based repubblica is one of the biggest conferences in the world on the subject of digitalisation each year participants enjoy heated debates on its impact on democracy journalist patrick state a man himself an avid user of social media has been examining this development for many years. young gunslinger for a long time we believe the digitalisation identified as freedom what we're seeing now is that surveillance technology the predominant private companies are in danger in freedom and fog. and another buzzword is also encroaching. in our freedom fake news stadium on c s 2 major parties primarily responsible for the deliberate dissemination of dissent from ation. keeps some political activists have mastered the art of using social media to produce exaggerated emotionally charged news that is beneficial to them politically and there are companies that use that for financial profit him they have learned that the key to social media platforms is to

employ exaggeration and fictitious emotional headlines which people then share that's how they make their money on. electronic data has become of vital resource in the 21st century and a multi-billion dollar business for international corporations. the best we can not leave the public at the mercy of a handful of corporations they don't care about democracy they're only interested in turning over a profit that's not how the public realm works the public realm should not be a place where people make around us profits off of political opinions it. will thoughtful individuals like patrick stake a man managed to wield greater influence on future developments or will it be the global corporations ultimately it's up to us the very survival of our freedom depends on us. just one also has fish to learn come what we can learn from history

of is that freedom can never be taken for granted. disappear very suddenly systems can break down even today those revolutions and authoritarian regimes can emerge seemingly out of nowhere and as such freedom is something that we must constantly fight for protect those of us with our constitutions and laws don't completely guarantee it also it's something that has to be cemented as a manifestation of democracy most. since the end of the 2nd world war the german people have struggled for their freedom. they fought the legacy of the nazi era. withstood foreign and domestic threats and stood fast for the values of democracy. following reunification in 1990 the nation as a whole has finally come to enjoy its freedom for longer than any other time in its history.

because. pyrotechnics since the fall of play in the berlin derby. and for the best talent. devastating loss for byron and nico kobayashi is our. first outclasses news in a 5 to one became a. double. to

france dear antonio dear cecile here the sins of his and as i'm sitting on a terrace in twilight it's peaceful my 3 grandchildren sleep on trouble as asked outside when i was indeed france's age germany was split in 2 and remain divided for decades and it was my ivana my when your mother was born in 1969 the world was already 8 years old and you know my grandchildren who were born after the wall fell born in a green unified germany a wonderful time a time of great joy. 3 general. one family on a journey through recent german history. that. starts november 6th w.

. this is. a spotlight on the journey begins a week of celebrations to mark the 4th of the war 3 decades ago events taking place across the capital and we speak to people whose lives were changed by the events of 30 including to women find. police. violence flares again and shittiest housings of people in the street.