this is d.w. news live from berlin a once divided city that's celebrating the 30th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall the front lines of the cold war. scenes from 30 years ago that still give many germans goosebumps germany has been marking these historic events with ceremonies here in berlin and elsewhere around the country chancellor angela merkel honor the memory of those killed trying to flee communism offering a special message about freedom. 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 with events throughout the capital and around the country german chancellor angela merkel and other european leaders took part of the ceremony earlier in the day at the site of where the berlin wall once stood speaking at the event merkel 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 grodd 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 5 minutes very boring without the courage and desire for freedom that motivated the poles hungary ends czechs and slovaks the peaceful revolutions in eastern europe and german reunification would not have been possible. guns on its way flooded 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 for years before the wall fell this chapel hosts regular ceremonies in honor of those who died during germany's years of division. is the in the law and you mention i pay tribute to those who were killed near the wall because they sought freedom and high pay tribute to the 75000 people who were imprisoned because they attempted to flee east germany november the 9th of november is a day of destiny a day of horrible but 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 a divided germany. i spoke earlier with correspondent thomas sparrow who was at today's memorial event at ben i watched asa. we're standing here mariana and one of the main men morrill for the burning waldo memorial at the back now is tossed in the center of the german capital and this is one of the most important memorials i've just said on this is as 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. but also of the leaders of those 4 eastern european countries that we saw in our report are not such the leaders and not only the leaders but also young people that he referred to the political and the personal invitations not only of the wall as such of those 28 years that germany was divided but as well that 9th on november 989 the date of the

berling wall fell and what came afterwards so as such what we discover today what we realized today right here at the end i watched morial was in a way a commemoration in various levels of commemoration in a personal level but also a 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 stress today 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 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 have a german chancellor who grew up in the eastern part of the country i mean dr speech i'm going to call not only mentioned the personal implications of living in a divided city what the burden 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 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 ny paid or 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 what i'm talking about celebrating the organizers of the events here mention that it was time for a 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 wish possibly more real. spare reporting for us from the berlin wall memorial thank you very much. let's now take a closer look back at that magical night 30 years ago when the berlin wall began to crumble and people took the 1st steps towards a united europe. the world 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 thus evil and no one dreams this could be possible in their lifetime and the solution is just too good to be true new york millions have waited for this moment. so you've never been to the west no never what sort of feeling is it brilliant indescribable the atmosphere in the joy you can't believe it oh my 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 f. no i just went over stood there had my feet on the ground that's pilot that's my just to see if it's true or not stand because now i can go back. and for that any time it's fantastic leaders were surprised and overwhelmed former an incumbent man as a prime timber gate. they spoke of the happiest people are of the united europe a vision and ideas. leave the peace somewhere for the museum. of the people must be able to meet each other again freely not just for a few days but only in ways. one year later east and west germany or

united but bitter memories of decades of separation and a system of oppression remained. and as part of d.w. special coverage on 30 years after the fall of the berlin wall our reporters take you to key locations where history was made. racial stuart joins us now from somewhere in the german capital hello to you rachael so where exactly are you right now well i'm right in the middle of the city actually in the building behind me played a really important role in the events of the 9th of december 1009 let's take a look at how it looks back then 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 and green 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. but 30 years ago today that sense of control was gone behind these walls there was chaos the german east german regime was trying to deal with 1st start an exodus of its citizens who've been fleeing to the west but they were also having to deal with more and more public protest not just here in the capital but also in other east german cities like leipzig. the party does knew they had to do something about it they had to offer the demonstrators something what they came up with behind these walls was a relaxation in travel regulations the pub the press conference that was going to follow didn't exactly go to plan but it would lead to the full of the berlin wall.

all right to use a rachel stewart reporting from the former east german center of power of the politburo thanks very much rachel. the 9th of november is also the anniversary of a very dark day in german history on this night and 938 anti semitic mobs led by nazi party militaries went on rampages throughout germany attacking jewish people and property this night of violence came to be known as kristallnacht or the night of broken glass recalling the shattered glass of synagogues homes and jewish owned businesses it marked the start of the systematic persecution of jews that led to the horrors of the holocaust. you know ups the worst was. $55696.00 names read aloud by members of the jewish community in berlin the names

of berlin victims of the holocaust a service to commemorate the night of broken glass took place under visible police protection with recent anti-semitic attacks fresh in people's memory. under the myth this movement anti semitism is on the rise could it be that we need to find new ways of remembering things the most perhaps we must take new paths to fight anti semitism. and we just must know you very good despite most the office suggested that if every german student visited israel once it might prevent programs from happening in the future in the night from november 9th to november 10th 1938 nazis set thousands of jewish synagogues shops and residences on fire across germany and austria hundreds of jews were killed or imprisoned berlin's mayor also sounded a warning about the present. invention again and again people are attacks

when they come out of a synagogue where a jewish skullcap or speak hebrew. each of these incidents is one too many there in smaller will and yet they keep happening on talk of the 6000000 jews were killed in the holocaust reading all the names of the berlin victims alone took a total of 7 hours. before we go a quick reminder of our top story. germany is marking the 30th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall the events are taking place across the capital german chancellor angela merkel and other european leaders took part in a ceremony at the site where the wall once stood she honor the memory of those trying to flee communism and warn people not to take their freedom for granted. here watching d.w. news stay tuned for our ongoing coverage to commemorate the fall of the berlin wall 30 years ago up next the newsroom's perspective we talk to journalists who were on

the story back then american adelstein for me and the entire news team here in berlin thanks for watching. 30 years after the fall of the berlin wall. t.w. . he wanted to smash the berlin wall long before it finally found. a lazy off issued a new york state you know linda bags actually better known as a v.b. legend of german rock music. let's find out more about his amaze.