starts november 14th. this is d.w. news live from berlin marking a milestone in history germany commemorate the 30th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall a special ceremony is held at one of the few sites where the wall is still intact chancellor angela merkel honors the memory of those killed trying to flee communism with a special message about freedom today also on the program. i'm

married to evanston it's good to have you with us germany is marking the 30th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall events are taking place across the capital german chancellor angela merkel and other european leaders took part in a ceremony at the site of where the wall once stood the german leader told europeans not to take their freedom for granted. ceremonies in the heart of berlin commemorate the 30th anniversary of what's called the peaceful revolution. today this section of the wall is a memorial site but 3 decades ago it separated east and west germany and this symbolic location is where the official memorial celebrations are taking place.

the iron curtain is now history that's what these young people say they are from the so-called visit grad countries in poland the czech republic slovakia and hungary their message 30 years after the fall of the wall europe stands united and in his speech german president flung fighter steinmeyer emphasized the role of east european countries before the fall of the wall the openly demonstrated for more freedom. didn't move out or didn't fire its been born without the courage and desire for freedom that motivated the poles hunger ariens czechs and slovaks the peaceful revolutions in eastern europe and german reunification would not have been possible. guns on. this

place and this day remind us of a great historical achievement. and may remind us that today we europeans are united in joy you know. so and so i'm going to find the chapel of reconciliation was built on the former death strip where the east german government demolished a church 4 years before the wall fell this chapel hosts regular ceremonies in honor of those who died during germany's years of division. is that in that i would like to honor those who were killed near the wall because they sought freedom. i honor the 75000 people who were imprisoned because they attempted to flee east germany the 9th of november is a day of destiny a day of horrible and also joyful moments in history that reminds us that hate racism and anti-semitism must be fought. and.

then a moment of solemn thoughts for the victims of a divided germany. d.w. has been covering today's demonstration events in the german capital and our political correspondent thomas sparrow is standing by at the berlin wall memorial thomas it's kind of a gray and rainy day in berlin you've been watching the commemoration of events taking place what have you seen today. we're standing here mary i'm not in one of the main memorials for the burning waldo memorial at the back and i watched the center of the german capital and this is one of the see the most important memorials i've just said on this is such the place where the big political commemoration took place earlier this morning with the participation not only of german chancellor angela merkel and german president punk rocker steinmeier but

also of the leaders of those 4 eastern european countries that we saw in our report i'm not such the leaders and not only the leaders but also young people he referred to the political and the personal implications not only of. such of those 28 years that germany was divided but as well that 9th on november 989 the date of the burden for the wall fell and what came afterwards so our socks what we discovered today what we realized today right here at the piano was tossed morial was in a way a commemoration in various levels of commemoration in a personal level but also commemoration in a political level and something else that i believe was particularly important is the fact that lessons can be drawn from the 9th of november and that was something that was also stressor day in particular by the young people attending what they can learn from that very important day and what that means not only for them but also for the future of germany and thomas also the chancellor herself talked

a lot about the lessons that can be learned from november 9th she gave a speech during the memorial what was her central message. the chancellor is obviously in a very special position to talk about the berlin wall she was born in hamburg but then grew up in the eastern part of the country in eastern germany i'm just shocked she experienced firsthand what it was like to live in a divided country and that's something that is very important not only for her but also for germany as well to. german chancellor who grew up in the eastern part of the country i mean bob speech i'm going to call not only mentioned the personal implications of living in a divided city what the but it was actually meant for many people by the way this memorial here is particularly important also in that regard because the wall ran just across the street dividing families and friends but the german chancellor also stressed what that meant politically but she could also the role that those 4

eastern european countries played in stressing once again and by the way again not something that other people also stress that the burden wall the fall of the berlin wall was not only a result of those demonstrations or what happened here in berlin it was also an international situation an international development on a such an international development that warrants should be celebrated today and what i'm talking about celebrating the organizers of the events here mentioned that it was time for a celebration but it was also a time for reflection and discussion on that is something that has also happened today very clearly the better now is crossing morial. thomas spare reporting for us from the berlin wall memorial thank you very much. and as we've been hearing today's commemoration of events have also been honoring the memory of those who died trying to flee across the world and wall to escape communism and oppression w l 1st is standing by at the spot where the last person was shot dead trying to

flee over the wall to west berlin so your heart tell us a bit about where you are right now. well when i was in the south east of berlin at the moment as you can see it's a recreational area it's a favorite of joggers and bike right as people walk along this here but 30 years ago just behind those trees was the wall and where i'm standing right now that was the infamous death strip that was sort of the border strip that separated east and west germany and this is actually the place where i'm standing right now is the very spot where chris get froyo died 9 months before the wall came down when he tried to flee to western germany and again here hide who was chris get froyo what can you tell us about him. well chris was

a very average young man of 20 years of age he worked at the east berlin airport as a as a waiter in the restaurant there he was also an athlete a talented gymnast but he was also a man his friends tell us that he was a man who was always very keen on his freedom he wouldn't hold back with his opinion and of course that made life for him very difficult in a country like east germany his mother said of him that even when he was a 12 year old boy how he dreamt of going to america travelling the world and as he grew older of course he realized that in this country that wouldn't be possible so when roughly when he was 20 had just been told that he would be drafted into the army very soon he and a friend of his. decided it's now or never they didn't want to go and serve in the

east german army so they decided to flee and they sort of went to the wall just right behind b.'s trees where the war was they climbed the war undetected got over it and then they had to cross this strip of death really which was filled with barbed wire all sorts of traps there were guard towers and of course armed guards with a standing order to shoot to kill and then they crawled underneath these barbed wire obstacles and of course they triggered an alarm and the lights went off and the guards were alerted and that's when the shooting started so they ran to the final fence that's right here next to the it was right next to the canal which was the last obstacle and then went away from the shooting ran alongside the fence but straight into the firing line of the next post 22 shots were fired at the 2 young men that night one hit his friend who was immobilized by it and 2 shots hit chris.

froyo one went straight to his heart and killed him on the spot and in a rather nasty turn of events chris's mother lived only 2 kilometers that way that way 2 kilometers away from the border that night she heard the shots fired at her son not knowing of course that her son was in the firing line let's listen in to how kris kross mother remembers that fateful night. has fallen from. as a small it was already i don't know at the end of about 11 30 pm shortly afterwards on something and then there were these shots and so many of them and with 3 minutes and you flinch. and i've don't think it means that at some point you go to bed. shreds and if shake it off.

the streets we're off and then you get up early in their door and you're the 1st news report that is. the scoop and you're shocked and appalled. that they simply don't have the slightest idea that it was your own design or. his was a happy childhood in east germany holidays on the beach with his family he could be anyone but as he grew up he realized that the opportunities his hung country offered were strictly limited those limits were clear refusing to accept them cost him his life. because because you're at their mercy you can't do anything they did that to your child and all you can do is scream silently confession if i had run through the streets yelling they would have stuck me in the madhouse right away that they just take. his mother and the friends who

mooned him had no idea that chris cared for i would be the last german killed on the border some very emotional testimony from chris cuffe roy's mother gary hart what happened after he was shot dead where he was cremated and then buried in a very modest ceremony his family was put under immense pressure not to talk about the circumstances of his death because it was always source of embarrassment for the east german regime for the border guards they for border guards who were actually shooting at him they received a commendation and cash bonus of 115 months but that wasn't the end of the story for them after german reunification those responsible for the killings at the wall were put on trial and off the 4 border guards who were involved with this guy for

his death 3 were acquitted and one was received a suspended sentence of 2 years for killing for firing the actual shot that killed chris freud today all that remains of chris get froyo is this memorial here right at the spot where he died to remind us of the last man who died at the war all right w. l. cers reporting from the spot where the last person was shot dead trying to flee over the berlin wall to the west we thank you very much for your reporting. and d.-w. special coverage continues with documentaries and live events including a concert at berlin's iconic brandenburg gate that's coming up later in the day and you can also find more information about all of our coverage just go to d.w. dot com forward slash berlin wall and also don't forget you can get to do

w. news on the go just download our africa google play or from the app store that will give you access to all the latest news from around the world as well as push notifications for any breaking news you can also use the developing you opt to send us your photos and videos. coming up next the night the wall came down and in-depth look at what happened here in berlin 30 years ago today american evan stealing from me and the entire news team thanks for watching. after the fall of the berlin wall. t.w. . wrote if. he tries to do. and he's ready to.