this is deja news live from berlin germany marks 30 years since the fall of the berlin wall fireworks and musical performances were the centerpiece of celebrations at the city's landmark kronenberg a with thousands joining the party also coming up in our coverage of this historic anniversary summer remembrance of the building war memorials for the victims of cold war division german president frank all this time on his tribute to eastern countries and their role in the events of 999. and of course we'll look back at these dark nights 30 years ago and the events that led to the fall of the.

i'm rebecca races welcome to the program germany has been marking the 30th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall events took place across the capital where the main celebration at the brandenburg gate only german chancellor angela merkel and other european leaders took part in a special ceremony to remember those who died under is germany's shoot to kill orders against anyone trying to flee to the west for the evening's events began with an iconic conductor mating an iconic concerto before an iconic backdrop.

thousands gathered here to celebrate as they did 30 years ago on the state when violence brandenburg gate became an unforgettable backdrop to a night that changed the world. in what was a no man's land between east and west the thousands rushed to the land to climb atop the wall and make history. as the main celebration german president in my hour paid tribute to east germans and others in the east bloc whose peaceful demonstrations led to the fall of the iron curtain here people to carry their legacy into the present. invent via. today when we remember the brave people back then with gratitude. and maybe even tears in our eyes and we can't just sit by and watch as that for

which they fought is forgot you. just we can't allow people to be excluded and attacked democracy to be disrespected and our solidarity destroyed we can't allow that to happen. to notice. earlier in the day leaders from central and eastern europe placed roses to honor the many who were killed trying to escape communist east germany on banners toss the ball and run straight to the middle of the street dividing families neighbors and friends. chancellor spoke at the chapel of reconciliation nearby it was built on the former death strip where the east german government demolished a church to build border posts. having grown up in eastern germany merkel knows the impact of the berlin wall firsthand. at this ceremony she delivered a message of hope. really you know about walkman and then when the berlin wall

ladies and gentlemen is history kind of it proves that no war that segregates people and limits freedom is so high and so wide a city that it could not be broken through and. this is brilliance message to the world on this 9th day of november not unlike the scenes that captured the world's imagination 30 years ago. and they don't use the chief political editor mccain has been following the celebrations for us at the brandenburg gate. early in germany east and west celebrates 30 years in the fold of the fallen who are here at the brandenburg gate in this city built to symbolize the power structures in the now and over the past decade has gone from being the symbol of the whole movie when they so when the

also part faced off to becoming the symbol of german reunification a lot of fans a lot of pro-forma says this evening but in between also the masses that east germans need more of a say in where germany or unification is truly go we politicians here like fallen may. also reminding that experiencing the freedom east to west germany howards today also means taking responsibility for the freedom of the future. and those spectacular celebrations mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall but let's turn the clock back 30 years and see what actually happened on that night that changed the history of the world. the world must go what had seemed unimaginable became true on november 9th 1989.

after 28 years of. sink in the wall and suddenly in measurable freedom. when i'm with my mother and my father over there can i go over there and see my parents yes. it looks like that dust no one dreamed that this was possible in their life a tough guy image upload the solution it is too good to be true millions of people have been waiting for this moment. so you've never been to the west no never what sort of feeling is that brilliant indescribable the atmosphere in the joy you can't believe it my it's crazy. laws 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 i just went over with my id was led in this went over there i asked if it was free yes they asked what were you planning to play with and what did you hear in western and no effort just went over there and stood there had my feet on the ground that was it 1st just went over there to see if it's true because now i can go back and forth at any time it's fantastic leaders were surprised and overwhelmed form an incumbent mass at brandenburg gate. they spoke of the happiest people on earth and the united europe a vision and ideas. leave the

peace somewhere for the museum. 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 or united but bitter memories of decades of separation and a system of oppression remained. i reporters have been out all day it came locations where history was made 30 years ago they devotees rachel stewart joins us now where are you. well i'm here at the very point where the 1st crossing was opened on the 9th of november 1809 is not one of the best known crossings perhaps the brandenburg gate or checkpoint charlie i'm in the north of the city at bornholmer strasse and there are plenty of other people here tonight too celebrating this historic moment so 30 years ago today there's an announcement is just been made

a little premature labor happens that the borders are going to be open and you can imagine the reaction over here in the east people haven't been allowed to cross the borders like this one for decades at least not without risking their lives many of them have also got friends and family still on the other side as well so as soon as they hear the news many people make their way straight to the border before long there's a large crowd gathered here at the enormous task but remember the gods themselves haven't actually been given any official information at this point worst case scenario they could end up shooting at people who try to cross that's their instructions they've had so far but luckily they avoid this the still an air of panic though that's rising as more and more people arrive by about $920.00 they decide to start letting a few people through to ease the pressure but it's not enough there are thousands and thousands of people demanding to be let out a vision the west which they now believe is their right so the chief border guard makes the decision as 11 30 pm now we're going to open the various within the next

few hours more than $20000.00 east germans will cross over to west berlin at this point and other checkpoints across the city will soon follow suit and remember this won't just mark the end for the berlin wall it will mark the end for the east german communist party will be the end of the getting of the end of the cold war and within a year it will mark the reunification of germany. from rachel stuart reporting for us from home in berlin thank you. now from a key border crossing let's go to get says reporting from another historic location of little. out of more than schloss in the center of the lane and because in this building behind me all the believe that stood there before the political events of the 9th of november culminated in a very famous a press conference me during that day pollute the political scene in east berlin it was very busy busy there was frantic activity there was

a full of pro meeting there was a central committee meeting where basically it was decided to lift travel restrictions on the next day the 10th of november and then a man called going to schabowski who was have been the government spokesman only for 3 days was told to go and brief the international press which he then did and there were a couple of misunderstandings there in that press conference and i think we can have a listen to that right now. the east german government was under growing pressure on the evening of november 9th 1909 spokesman going to be called a press conference. in a bid to quell the growing demonstrations communist authorities had agreed to allow east germans to travel without restrictions to the west. was asked by reporters when this would take effect he looked at his notes. just as far as i'm aware

it's effective immediately because. the east german regime was caught off guard across the border in west berlin camera teams waited for something to happen the announcement set off a tidal wave of east german citizens who wanted to enter the west hours later history was made as people began crossing the border freely and the berlin wall began to fall. so 30 years after the fall of the berlin wall where can you still see it the longest surviving section runs along the east side of the land. after the wall open artists from around the world transformed it into a giant outdoor canvas it's now world famous and one of the men's most popular tourist attractions. the east tai-chi larry was started in february 990 artists were invited to paint an original portion of the berlin wall

back then the initiative was designed to help east german artists who had suddenly been left without an income but in those exciting days of the former communist state opening up artists came from all over the world. when berlin was divided it was common for people on the western side to draw graffiti on the wall but on the eastern side people approached at their peril the wall became more and more fortified with heavily armed guards tripwires searchlights and lookout towers border guards were ordered to shoot to kill anyone who tried to escape and more than 100 people were killed trying to cross the border in berlin alone just a few months after those instruments of oppression were dismantled the east side gallery turned the symbol of terror into a canvas for free expression some of the artworks have become famous around the world because the gallery is exposed to the weather the images of her to be restored or even repainted several times today the east side gallery is

a popular tourist destination. you're watching d.w. news the business leader is up next but 1st we'll leave you with the music from the berlin staatskapelle conducted by daniel barenboim at the brandenburg gate as part of the celebrations there thank you for watching.

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