this is d.w. news live from berlin a once divided city that celebrating the 30th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall the front line of the cold war. scenes from 30 years ago that still give many germans goosebumps germany's been marking those historic events with ceremonies here and elsewhere around the country chancellor angela merkel honor the memory of those killed trying to flee communism offering a special message about freedom. american

i haven't seen thanks for joining us. germany is marking the 30th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall with events throughout the capital and around the country german chancellor angela merkel and other european leaders took part in a ceremony earlier in the day at the site of where the berlin wall once stood and speaking at the event america warned 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 groud countries 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. emphasized the role of east european countries before the fall of the wall the openly demonstrated for more freedom. or noted moot or not in fighting that's 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 it's about this place and this day remind us of a great historical achievement. and they remind us that today we europeans are united in joy. 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 a 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 commemoration events in the german capital and our political correspondent thomas farrow 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 burlington waldo memorial at the banner i wish toss in the center of the german capital and this is one of the most important memorials i've just said on this is such the place where the big political commemoration took place early this morning with the participation not only of german chancellor angela merkel and german president punk rock last time my own but

also of the leaders of those 4 eastern european countries that we saw in our report are now such the leaders and not only the leaders but also young people he referred to the political and the personal indications not only of the berlin wall socket of those 28 years that germany was divided but as well that 9th on november 989 the date of the burly wall fell and what came afterwards so our socks what we discovered today what we realized today right here at the piano washed 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 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 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 i say that's something that's very important not only for her but also for germany as well to have a german chancellor who grew up in the eastern part of the country i mean. not only mentioned the personal implications of living in a divided city what the burning wall 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 streets dividing families and friends but the german chancellor

also stressed what that meant politically but she could also the role that those $47.00 european countries played in stressing once again and by the way again that's something that other people also stress that the burden wall the fall of the berlin wall was not only a result of those demonstrations in what happened here in berlin it was also an international situation an international development on a such an international development that warrants to be celebrated today and went pretty much celebrating the organizers of the events here mentioned that it was time for celebration but it was also a time for reflection and discussion and that is something that has also happened today very clearly at the bend i was crossing the morial all right tom a spare reporting for us from the berlin wall memorial thank you very much. well now let's take a closer look back at that magical night 30 years ago when the berlin wall began to crumble. the wall must go what had seemed

unimaginable became true on november 9th 1989. after 28 years a chink in the wall and suddenly immeasurable freedom. when i'm with my mother and my father over there can i go over there and see my parents yes. good luck. with. that bus and no one dreams this could be possible in their lifetime and the sushi it is too good to be true and in new york millions have waited for this moment. so you've never been to the west no never with sort of feeling is it brilliant indescribable the atmosphere in the joy you can't believe it it's crazy. logs an. 11 30 pm at berlin's bornholmer strasse a transit point the borders 1st began to open here freedom had finally won.

now it's off to west berlin. destination the glittering came down from a not. just and we just walked right through without being stopped it was fantastic i thought we were i mean i just went over with my id i asked if it was free yes they asked what are you going to pay with. and what did you do here in western and no f. no left no i just went over stood there had my feet on the ground that's violent that's not just to see if it's not student because now we can go back and forth at any time it's fantastic. leaders were surprised and overwhelmed former an incumbent mazz at brandenburg gate. they spoke of the happiest people in the united europe a vision and ideas. leave the

peace somewhere for the museum. but the people must be able to meet each other again freely not just for a few days but only ways. one year later east and west germany were united but bitter memories of decades of separation and a system of oppression remained. and at the heart of this oppression was the politburo the heartbeat of east germany's communist government where all key decisions were made here's a closer look at one of the places where history was made the politburo the power center of the east german state. they met here every tuesday morning the socialist party bosses they were the people who made practically all the decisions

for the country. behind these walls they did everything agreeing on economic plans setting the prices for cars and deciding the details of parades through berlin those decisions were implemented by the government but it was here that every aspect of public life in east germany was directed. let's bring in your reporter rachel stewart who is standing by at the site where the politburo once stood there rachel where exactly is this in berlin. well i'm standing right in the middle of burden actually just around the corner of some of the main museums there's the building procedural but the building behind me it's probably not on most tourists lists when they think of places to visit but like loads of places in the city there's reminders of germany's divided past if we look up at the wall you might actually be able to see there are a few marks on there that's where the s.e.d emblem used to hang that's the

socialist party that was in charge in east germany this really was the hub of power in east german politics this building it's where the politburo met and they're the people who made all of the important policy decisions in east germany. now what was going on behind this war particularly important on the 9th of november you think of the east german regime you think organization being in control because they controlled everything from the prices of goods to the movement of their citizens but that's what made it incredible what was happening right here 30 years ago there was chaos they were trying to work out how they could deal with the things that been going wrong for them in the weeks previously so what had there been in the panic mode that been set in 1st of all there was the exodus of east german citizens they've managed to get across to the west going via 3rd countries they are hungry of czechoslovakia but there was also public protest on the streets it wasn't just here in berlin but also in other east german cities like dresden and like says

people were taking to the streets to demand democracy they wanted freedom of press freedom and freedom of assembly and in the year that the east german regime was actually hoping to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the east german state its citizens were taking to the street to demand the reform or even the demise of that very state so some concessions had to be made 1st of all there were some changes that the top for example was removed as party leader the politburo was going to the root reforms but it wasn't enough or at least it came too late when on the 4th of november between high. if a 1000000 and a 1000000 people gathered at the city's alexanderplatz right underneath the iconic t.v. tower the party leaders knew they had to do something they had to make some kind of big concession for the protesters and that's exactly what was being discussed here 30 years ago what could they give to the protesters what they came up with was a relaxation in travel regulations which is a huge deal just imagine the east germans haven't been able to for decades go over

to the west so people in this building they were preparing for a press conference what would happen at that press conference didn't exactly go quite to plan but it would lead to the full of the berlin wall. w.'s racial steerage giving us some history at the site of the public piro the former head quarters of the east german companies government we thank you very much indeed. and special coverage continues with documentaries on 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 on all of our coverage just go to devalue dot com forward slash berlin wall. and don't forget you can always get the w. news on the go just download our app from 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 d.w.

app to send us your photos and videos. you're watching d.w. watching. years after the fall of the berlin wall. t.w. . wrote it. he passed it on. and he read it to. every 9989. the story behind one of the most remarkable days in recent german history.