several 1000 people gathered sunday night at berlin's brandenburg gate to mark the start of hanukkah the jewish festival of lights lighting the 1st candle on the 10 meter high menorah was the head of germany's central council of jews use of shows. on it is an 8 day festival celebrating the rededication of the holy temple in jerusalem during the 2nd century b.c. . you're watching d.w. news coming up next charged documentary film attorney mark them to live from watched some. of the. stand for. language courses. video. anytime anywhere. w. .

meeting will be held tomorrow between east german premier hands and west german chancellor helmut kohl no nothing when the chancellor arrives at 9 15 in the morning east german television will be broadcasting live from trust and i. played up the piece after tourists and i knew that reunification was going to happen. one way or another i could see it was what the papers wanted to. suit you could see their faces and the range of expressions people cheering but also people weeping it was deeply moving. says cole saw himself as the victor that's for sure vol. 000 the stack up

called the there was no stronger way of expressing the will of the people than saying we belong together we're going to the. last. we will not abandon our compatriots in the german democratic republic i suspect that was what the people wanted to hear they believed the chancellor they saw him as someone who'd gotten a lot done so he get the. done to the guy in the suture piece must spring from germany soils that is the goal of our unity and would. i that was probably a contribution not energy german unity but also to peace and suffering are i in once and i say that emotionally it was one of the most moving days of his life.

no one who was in dresden on the 19th of december 1989 will ever forget that day dramatic as it may sound it mounted a turning point in german history i'm peter limburg back then i was a reporter in dresden with the camera man you can hack we were reporting from west german t.v. from what was still communist east germany we'd had it over the day the balun wall fell and witnessed the system collapse the people we met were euphoric about the new found freedom but also anxious those workers should only come along as extraordinary was how we'd show up with a camera and a microphone interviewing all these people and they take us to where they lived and show us things and school there was an openness that we hadn't expected we assumed that they were all being spied on if you have the mother was put through to the army and i guess they didn't trust their own media that's true. but they weren't

worried about us because we came from the west in fact they often approached us 1st so it's a. lot of a little bit. we spent 6 months travelling around east germany a lot has changed since then and so have waiters who were there to. convert grief that was a. your highness wow amazing as usual. boardman smaller. about fair enough. it was a special time we had to make up a lot as we went along. the bank robbery for the fly think we were the only t.v. taken travelling around in a trap easy to see. the others had flashy valda with the most involve also move on and there we are in a truly it almost believe they come over from berlin just for a day we were there all the time but we didn't have our own car if you like was it

for us helmut kohl visit to dresden was one of the highlights of that transitional period after the fall of the war jurgen and i are going back to the city to talk to others who are also that. 30 years on what exactly made the 19th of december significant. and what was going on behind the scenes in december 89. it was very quiet on the plane everyone was preoccupied with their thoughts or we didn't know what was going to happen the atmosphere was very tense not much on. the whole warned us that we had to do everything in our power to avoid a volatile atmosphere explores even. in the common border.

the mood of euphoria and apprehension wasn't limited to palin the berlin wall had fallen on the 9th of november and after months of protests the east german government would step down across eastern europe the communist regimes were collapsing. people were celebrating but the future of the. germany's was uncertain. after the wall fell everyone was on the phone to one another all the time whether it was mitterrand margaret thatcher president bush or president gorbachev. president bush but bottom line was always keep calm. don't let anything get out of hand don't let things get chaotic. the whole process had to be kept under control and supports this was going to call into. 3 weeks after the fall of the

wall helmut kohl unveiled a 10 point plan for german unity including economic aid for east germany an easing of travel restrictions and free elections then joint government committees european and german unity as a common process and be defiant because no one knows today whatever unified germany will look like but i am confident that unification will happen if that's what the german people want to see i. can't his prime top secret until the very last minute sharing it neither with his own coalition partners nor his international allies other than the americans he was shown it in german just before it was published the british and the french at that bone was forging ahead with the plan without consulting them. certainly our national court was far too fast for the side in many many other people it was very

talking loudly about that but i think the reasons for the acceleration. first that the idea of unification was legitimized in close to 10 points speech it was accepted as the goal of germany west germany in this development but. president gorbachev reacted very negatively to the 10. in planned speech. when the west german foreign minister hans de twit kensho was in moscow gorbachev said very clearly that he opposed it he started to include that it was a dictate he couldn't accept it's important to see what if you look at the plan there was no timeframe it was basically just an attempt to create a road map not against the others but with them. if kohl had 1st gone around trying to shore up support for what he had in mind both on the domestic and

the international stage nothing would have ever happened nothing i think it was very brave of him to show that the responsibility by himself. on the 11th of december the ambassadors of before and i powers came together in berlin for the 1st time in 18 years they made it abundantly clear that german reunification could only happen with their approval. of the blues this alarmed the west german government they couldn't believe that the allies were discussing germany without their involvement with their minds. get in and i have a arrived in dresden it feels strange to be here like a trip back in time 30 years ago traveling to the east was a lot more complicated there were barely any train connections between east and west germany even chancellor cole's plane needed the allies permission.

the west german delegation wasn't sure how their visit to dresden would be received by the east german public not by the rest of the world the chancellor was acutely aware of the trip would be a high wire act with the world watching but then they were met of the apple by hundreds of people devise and flew through those most people didn't want the east german system any more if they wanted reunification. they wanted it as soon as it seemed in reach. the wall fell on the 9th of november because it was brought down from within it wasn't opened up by the east german leadership as is often said the people wanted to enter communism and they wanted reunification. then stick. on the plane he was unsure of what he would experience when he saw the cheering crowd still on top of the stairs he turned to rudolph minister of the chancellor and said it's a done deal. on the 1st.

of all the luxuries of governance go well because of our guns so a lot was also at stake behind small talk he's germany's new premier reunification was not on his agenda what he wanted was financial aid for his badly run down country. but isn't this really really the point of the talks was to voice the demands and expectations we had of east germany's democratization. with it and how it could be tied to economic and financial aid from the west. we didn't know that things would go in a completely different direction that day for. the men didn't know one another it was taken aback to realise that cole had prepared meticulously for the meeting yet . he became we talked in the car that took us into town for me to nobody to talk.

of. i was surprised the call had been briefed in detail on my biography. down to my childhood in the village of ya's and that's in western pomeranian tired of jasa notes and inform your thoughts. and i thought to myself. oh i could have told my own people to prepare a bit better for the time. goes too far to do starts to turn to when people were lining the street on the drive into town because we couldn't go very fast we could only crawl along the street in quantity if you could see the people's faces. and the range of expression on their cues east people cheering but also people weeping. to shift to what was deeply moving and. these germans had chosen to hold a meeting and a hotel for foreign visitors contact with the public was to be kept to

a minimum. but they hadn't bargained with the crowds who gathered ahead of the meeting between cold and multiple thousands of people wanted to catch a glimpse of the west german chancellor many were pinning down hopes on. this is a device to which then it's what we want more than anything that's yes we hope that the talks between more dro and cold will make it happen stilt dimension suster what we want is for the barriers that exist to be brought down today and that we can take major steps towards german reunification closer so i didn't get into an issue all that this month's issue i hope that the talks are calm and objective and on the bush citizen i think we're 2 very different countries and we can't just be reconciled in a sudden fit of emotion unbutton and would soon and to fill the country when we want things to change here we want our lives to improve. it have all of us i want

to see immediate steps taken toward german reunification with no further delay. you know going and i were among the crowd. this was soon as i remember there was a lot of jostling it was almost impossible to push your way through and ask a question just. call gave a few brief interviews which made matters worse. a crush got worse when he got out of the car as all the reporters from the west were used to elbowing their way to the front just. the whole situation was insane. it was fulfilled. the streets had been parking blocks but it didn't make a difference there was such euphoria 404 people were there in droves yet in shock they were calling out helmets helmets in a mood was it must a been very hard to multiple i need to tell you this is he was the country's leader but he was completely ignored. just to. i think it was all about the powerful

man from the west. but in fact hans multiple remembers it very differently from drew's room and. there was a very mixed reception at the hotel all clues people weren't just there to greet helmet but to greet hans too long i'd worked in dresden for many years they had faith in god as i had a home advantage in the in the home for. that was just the same that was the 1st time we saw the germany united fatherland slogan. what it was the message the world was getting in those dang. debated us with this book not only germans saw this image the whole world it is it. it's what.

i remember him it's. just incredible. at the press conference the distance between the 2 leaders was immediately obvious . they had to have kind of another i had no reason to foster a special friendship with hell a call on the hero it seemed. i wasn't boris yeltsin was must go to work later all those stories emerged about gorbachev and meetings held in the sauna you know we weren't friends not even close. and was a cautious man and this was a very new situation for him for 40 years the soviet union had kept the east german leadership on a short leash 15 these people went used to using their own judgment. even though their positions were poles apart cold trying to keep the mood upbeat. about

chancellor kohl you said you wanted to see if you could find common ground and you know i believe so but just think human hearts i believe that one to one talks have given us an opportunity to get to know one another and so it's possible that we will go on to find common ground in the way that can. go the expectation was that model would lay out the political and economic reforms he intended to launch. that's not what he did he read out a speech on improved relations disarmament peace love and understanding is there are a lot or little no one care to manage. what should have been said was chancellor kohl we need to initiate reforms in east germany these are the priorities and we need your help to. the

talks lasted longer than planned both sides agreed to facilitate contact between east and west. but cole was aware that multiple was not going to support his reunification plan. their different positions on the question were impossible to overlook. it often almost as if you know i am working on the. premise that we have 2 independent sovereign states and their continued existence is in the interests of european peace since i didn't. want to call disagreement his aim was to give the east germans what they wanted reunification but he also had to assure his international allies that germany would not be going it alone. how this was for you to house you have to move to everything that changes here will have an effect on the pearl of friends in europe as we are acutely aware. when we consider our own interests we must also

consider the interests of others not least the security interests you know here in the middle of europe in the middle of germany the interests of many are at stake the interests of all of our neighbors our love for them of course was that again not called new he was on very very thin ice and this he expressed at the press conference he said i understand there is unease i can see it i see the impatience but we have to be very careful that we don't destroy what we have just achieved just because we are too impatient. 30 years later there's not much left of that stuffy room in the cold to a pal asked president where the press conference took place. the cloquet this looks totally different totally. this is incredible.

today the venue is one of the city's top architectural attractions it houses a concert hall the home of the dresden film monic but i still don't know how we were quite near the front. close to the balustrades dome we've only had one camera we had to make sure we'd be able to get out easily. there was a lot of time pressure tricks. or the one if you were at the back you had a better chance of getting a quote when they left. the stage. but we did manage that. the report we shot that day just about made it into the afternoon news soon assuming you didn't know going it's concrete benefit cost much of 500 if you go with the door church of god just because you know i don't believe any of this you 2 should go on t.v. for they did it ok guys it. is the subconscious to be defined while the press conference was underway growing numbers of east germans gathered in front of the rubble of dresden stalin cassia the church of destroyed in the 2nd while they

followed the press conference on the radio oh. according to the official shan joel cole was to learn flowers at the ruins of the church his last appointment of the day. a day earlier the room had begun to spread like wildfire that cone would take the opportunity to give a speech. crowds began to flood into the square. hole wouldn't he address the people. i was. in. the speech had been announced by this man cabot wagner he was one of the organizers of the non-veteran dairy monday demonstrations against the east german leadership that were taking place at all to. revive the guns i fought in bundles concert hats and it's going to come in high as we want to give the west german

chancellor welcome i know enough alone care to share and listen to what he has to say when he lays a wreath at 4 o'clock at the church true in moscow instance our heart of the. after rain if occasion have a volcano served as man of dresden for several years. how had he known that cole would give that momentous speech fee a target for doing now and. 4 days earlier the deputy mayor had approached me and said it was possible that the chancellor would be giving a speech and that he was known to make last minute decisions. so we needed to get ready for action for hided side. no one could get ready for action better than the people who organized the monday demonstrations but then kohl speech simply wasn't mentioned again. to talk affecting the board for

the days went by and there was no mention of the speech countries and us at all but i had the impression that his speech could still happen. that's the shrunk so i grabbed the opportunity at the very last minute at the start of the monday demonstration to announce his appearance. the information spread like lightning that everyone wanted to be there you stuck your neck out. in those days we were very full of hope it's of these outside 200 did you expect the crowds the atmosphere was one of those on the whole i had no expectations i just wanted people to be there i've a head of colds visit to dresden phone had rejected the proposal that the chancellor gave a speech but the mood in dresden changed everything. wrote

in his memoirs that he jumped down ideas that afternoon in his hotel room. i began to such as i could go to see justice as a human. today those notes belong to his widow my cat told her i think that was really an extraordinary day for my husband let me just think what happened in the morning there were the people chanting unity unity helmet helmet as a politician if you don't have an answer for the people if you don't talk to them then i'd say you missed your calling it. in fact call had prepared for the speech in advance. this was for the mob and for the evening before dog situs comes the chancellor and i sat down together in the chancellery for a brainstorming session if you will. brainstorming. we came up with

a few ideas and he made brief notes. of that was on a 4 paper with a felt tip pen and foodstuffs. memoirs he sent that he wrote his notes in his hotel room that same day. i wouldn't set much store by memoirs. if. it wasn't definitely going to happen the idea was to wait and see how things developed there was no fixed script. the excitement was mounting at the church tens of thousands of people had gathered to see some of whom longed for unity alongside others who still believed in the communist regime including public servants. about what god was nutritional and then you'll have to work for the 1st time in your life would you say i was going to.

not just collect your salary. but you got regular training. you took regular holiday got a new medal every year we pay for that and we're still paying. the money. what. the atmosphere is volatile are you worried that the situation could escalate so it sort of. shows it's no one can predict what will happen i certainly hope it doesn't. have a fears both among cone supporters and his critics that the opposite side would time nasty. they're left wing extremists and they're everywhere if we can't get rid of them you have to help us with that it's not like i didn't listen to my friend i was in the middle of the crowd and the ones calling for unity with the worst still the i night mean and that's 150 s. my job here is just to keep the peace but i almost got a thrashing from

a couple of guys that's not ok the punks ran off and those guys ran after them yelling you read pigs it was like being back in the nazi era i mean if that's how they want to go about unity that's not ok we don't want any kinds of radicals. are . stopped there were plenty of people who said be careful with reunification it's not what we want what we want is a democratic east germany but they were in the minority it was a few chords school worse those old. does calls biggest concern was that the crowd would erupt when i'm going after that they would be aggression on fights nationalistic out bests you know. for a guy not to like this to show that could have easily shaken up the 2nd world wars for victorious powerless but great thinkers. like to. supporters or pete east german peace movement was shocked to see that the majority

of the people wanted reunification. the moola was not celebrating with the jubilant crowds on the day of cole's physics she had believed that east germany would survive the fall of the berlin wall. in october in october i co-founded the east german social democratic party i remember at the 1st events held here interest in that same year people were already talking about reunification. i couldn't believe it because i hadn't been thinking along those lines and it wasn't what i wanted it helped us. knock at the. was i i was. i was up for the i'm scarred i've never been afraid but there i realized the goodness if i speak out i'm going to be beaten up

there was such euphoria but there was simply no room for discussion they wanted one thing and one thing only reunification as soon as possible. and the deutschemark as soon as possible and it was just the best. we witnessed widespread anxiety off to the war found in the autumn of 89 more and more east germans were packing up and leaving for the west they didn't trust their government they thought the. order might close again. when helmut kohl visited the phone cashier he knew that with his speech he had to allay their fears and gang that trust whipping up further frenzy among the crowd i. assume in politics feelings are never a good advisor even though

a politician needs to know how the people feel that apply to this day it was a day of deep emotions but it was the rational thought which told him if you actually now the door will shut before it even opens all the way by to office. ladies and gentlemen my dear young friends dear fellow countrymen. i. run slow here fellow countryman as they gave me goosebumps it was the 1st time that a west german politician described us as country madsen's not as a soviet satellite like a baltic state where people happened to speak german that was how he began begun. that's against us united and soon i would like to start by sending you warm greetings on behalf of your fellow citizens in west germany the business will be cut out of the i was a little guy the 2nd said i'd like to say. i'd

love step is a word of appreciation and admiration for this peaceful revolution in the german democratic republic. it is a demonstration for democracy and. they will cocky for peace 15 and for freedom if i write. for it and for the self-determination of our people. live it and self-determination also means that we in the federal republic respect your opinion used as well to stick here and we don't want to patronise anyone would give at only a month at the football. he was trying to show that they were. equal he was trying to pacify them to show them that they could benefit and they would had it happen for us in the united yemen. here last we won't abandon our countrymen

and the german democratic republic of the was divided by we want to work together as closely as possible especially regarding the economy see you. a clear goal to improve the quality of living in east germany as quickly as possible. we want people to feel comfortable here. we want people to be able to stay in their homes and find their happiness study i. said for you it wasn't only cheering. dancing there were lots of people towards the back of the crowd who just stood there frozen and for not believing what was happening to mo took us others were just overwhelmed the t.v. reports didn't show that there was a mixed reactions the only show the applause was done in fans and we were called to

come in with. these are you know the pro bought by saw his speech as a diplomatic mass to pay us i know he spelled out the we are one people message we belong together. and we need to see what the future holds none of us need. you get on the other hand there was the reality. obviously an off day on the reality of 2 states 2 system that's just so i stopped it's rises to human being we want to enter a world with greater peace and greater freedom which sees more cooperation with each other than opposition against each other in the house of germany our house must be built under a european roof that must be the goal of our policy the mission into you that we stand for the basic law and we share your goal german unity that

you have one day of us but we want it to be agreed to by our neighbors and the soviet union in particular because europe must not be destabilized because he and off those were the messages. that was what the people wanted to hear and they believed the chancellor cons they saw him as someone who gotten a lot done so he get this done too it's now it is up to us to continue peacefully along this path in the time ahead of us to proceed with patience sound judgment and together with our neighbors and suddenly it winds of the nothing but i'd like eat fish let us work together toward this goal. letters healthy each other in a spirit of solidarity to check to see them here from here in dresden and i send my greetings to all of our compatriots in the german democratic republic and the federal republic of germany should the need for what god bless our

german fatherland the the the i was. i. would have my fist it was manifestly obvious that the east. people as represented in dresden didn't want to try a 3rd way. they wanted german unity. year going and i almost missed the speech there was no mention of it on the official agenda we were busy finishing up our t.v. report fortunately when we were done we ended up walking back into central dresden . this exhibit we went past the square. and you could see the crowds arriving from afar. it was already dark so we any call to speech from far off. there was no mistaking the people's

message to cold they wanted rain if occasion to happen fast the east german leadership had no support. and interest that evening in dresden when we sat down together we knew there was no point negotiating further agreements with madrassas government with the only thing to do was get the ball rolling with free elections as quickly as possible and the fear 100 some bush dimmed in the survivor clearly our mistake was based on our expectation that the treaties we agreed on serve as a foundation that made both states viable during that phase. feel by it is just in there for us and they give us a tot he think that was pushed aside by cole very quickly they can visit as well it was one of the most difficult speeches of my political life it's when the people who are waiting for a statement not only there on the square but across the country who live in west

germany and in east germany millions of people abroad or where their own concern is that had to be taken into consideration we're also watching and listening i sense that you have. decades on the square where coal. gave his speech looks very different. today it's dominated by the following ketchup rebuilt after reunification. financed by german and international donors from all denominations it's considered a symbol of peace and reconciliation. destroyed by allied bombs in 1945 it now attracts countless visitors every year locals are proud of than city's landmark.

pastor sebastian fight says that cole speech and the events of 30 years ago are inextricably linked with a frown catcha. the man who bit of it is eve when you look at the images today there he is standing in front of the rubble of the church laying out the path to a new europe the middle and will instinctively today i think he laid the foundation for the rebuilt church to become not only a symbol of german reunification but also of european unity will soon. be judged as to the place the against i would say that for the people addressed and it's a symbol of the change that came with the associated with the change that they themselves made happen. to cut. but not everyone is pleased with that change. in the past 5 years there have once again been demonstrations in front of the frown cashel they are organized by picky eater a movement began in eastern germany that is nationalist. and far right supporters

feel left behind and blamed the way reunification happened. in ferguson one mustn't forget that these people had to really learn everything as a result of the laws new regulations a new type of economy and. the smooch some people see reunification as a gift others as dictated and. offered so of course some people felt left behind us and i think it would make guns mccollum's and he says play with mention obviously there hasn't been enough of a dialogue with these people these are not wanting unification wasn't automatically a statement of support for a democratic system quinces team given his and but they didn't know what that was. that process needs to be reappraised you know if all these people are saying that maybe they wanted different systems. or that they're on happy with today's germany fleet and the. sustained winds will be slow and the number of people attending

the picky eater demonstrations hash trunk but the search sounds so. the far right half day in eastern states suggest there is still a significant number of people who are angry some say that these people feel their contributions to communist east german society are not respected doesn't that's the underlying feeling and it's come to the boil these days i don't know why exactly after 30 years but they don't feel taken seriously in their own country they don't feel there's any acknowledgment of what they achieved in their lives. that's the perspective that. we wanted to give on the way the east german government that i was a part of was treated after night 190 was pretty shocking. and. they acted as though german reunification was up to the chancellor alone. as a result east germany was completely sidelined. for. this

you can't do that and then be surprised by the ethnic. one thing's for sure in that post-war period the message colin was given by the people of east germany was unmistakable they wanted him to negotiate reunification and to do it fast 1st that fateful evening in dresden in front of the ruins of the frown catcher and again when it came to elections he delivered reification 9 months after his tightrope act in dressed in. the dresden that you're going and i revisited is thriving but we've met people who experience that day in 89 and germany's rapid reunification as a profound shock the process had its disappointments but hopefully dresden will find a way to deal with populist looking to instrumental lines those disappointments 30

years ago in front of the ruins of a frown kasher east germans made a choice they chose a free democratic side. scientific. minds let me say that my goal should the historical hour permitted i night remain with the unity of our i and dear friends i know that we can achieve this goal and that the hour will come when we will work together towards it it provided that we do it with reason and sound judgment and a sense for what is possible the path there will be difficult but it's the right path it leads to our shared future i'd.

look at me a section at lee as affectionately as you can. lead a mere person in the middle of his election campaign to turn the camera back on. in the year 2000 a documentary secretly chronicled a power grab. but i'm here for that i'm here of it to the ends justify the means

to tim's witnesses in 70 find. on d w. 50 years of religions for peace people from many different faiths are working together toward a common goal the peaceful resolution of religious conflicts. now all female members are for legends' for peace from the middle east are demanding the larger. own common ground is empowering women to be the rule. making them agent of change. the female peacemakers stores january 5th t.w. .

this is d w news coming to you live from berlin turkey warns of a new refugee crisis tens of thousands of syrians have fled fresh attacks by russian and syrian government forces in the it lip region turkey's president says his country will not be able to cope with the influx warning of consequences for europe too also coming up afghanistan's.