and other stories online check us out at the w dot com. we're also on youtube under the dw news channels of next is our documentary countdown to 1989. the fall of the berlin wall seemed usually in berlin. all was here. thanks for watching. the via humming does not get drunk. why do gravitational waves squeeze all bodies? how much do we need to put a stop comp claim for help find beyond says get smudge on dw science and i'll take 10 of the berlin wall. it divided the city for almost 30 years,

assembled at the cold war. it's separated. families send destroyed lives. anyone who tried to breach at risk death the secretly plan construction of the wall and it's sudden fall all preceded by. something like a countdown size does not include any numerous personal accounts, diary entries and letters showed the true extent of the division of germany after the war. a big commemorative year has reached its skirt and wants to meet 50 years since the beginning of the war. 40 years of the federal republic and the ged are the $200.00 the anniversary of the french revolution. i am against revolutions, so much is destroyed in those years of, of people. my own we have my diary to rent and raven about this and

legitimate states and its people serve and i want to travel the world is so big really guests on this, this one's what right does the government have to imprison entire people? the the berlin wall was soon a thing of the past. just a few days after its fall in november 1989. the 155 kilometers of once ominous reinforced concrete, became a corey for souvenir hunters, coughing, coughing, the

memo of a vague divides relation. yeah. was it really involved was the symbolic expression of the cold war to the rest of the world. and it stood for the confrontation between the major powers all ends to a certain extent, while it represented the divided europe, one ends all found. and in this respect, of course, the fall of the walls was also symbolic. and provided images that people could identify with the money where everyone shouted, hurrah until i left was operating on the morning of november 9th, 1989. hardly any one could have imagined that the berlin wall would soon be history the exactly one year before the fall of the wall. the cold war was still firmly anchored in the minds of people on both sides. the berlin wall was part of everyday life. west berliners were used to leaving the city via transit routes through the ged are

often given us off to the west, had implicitly accepted the g d r. and with it, the berlin wall, the topic of a re, unified germany was not really on the agenda for politicians on either side. when people find you don't find it was often talk over unification and some nice features. so can you meet with liberty seriously believed in health conditions and it wasn't anywhere and cited as i see people thought the g d or was very stable. he that's what can, nominally speaking, it was relatively for the east of a there was no sign. if anything changes this function, so he's in the late 19 eighties, the berlin wall was literally insurmountable. the large gray bulwark consisted of several barriers and alarm systems. despite this escape attempts were made time and again, usually with fatal results, the westwood reacts with angry headlines and stoppages of financial loans to the

east. in the ged our plans were in the works for a high tech update sensor technology at electronics to replace nervous border guards. they were obviously aiming to take out the human fact. nobody would need to apply as of now you, you would have to select trouble with the would react as if the house are being invaded by burglars. but of course it's about people try to escape the house not to break into it. even at the end of the 1980s, east, germany's a c d regime wanted to maintain the facade at the g. d. r success. the small country tried to convince the west that it was one of the world's leading industrial nations. this is done. the problem was that they themselves believed that they understood the people that they, themselves were among the people that they were loved and respected by the people. that was the problem. conflict gaskets designs, as i others put in, they genuinely believed that they had built the best of all systems which even if

it wasn't perfect was the only system that could possibly attain perfection. and i think that was very much how they felt, but the system was unresponsive and i'm stuck. ready photographer did my reading on, documented the feeling of a nursing in his country for him. life in the g. d. r. health, no prospects. in january, 1986, he and his family applied for permanent resettlement in the federal republic of germany. the under can i start a new diary stuffed some cold this morning. i talked to 2.2 tons, which we are entitled to annually from the street into the garden. and then shuffles into the seller. and the one hand, the coveted heating material that's very welcome to and videos are unexpected. your

exit permits any day now, troy and it's to us to do this. unplug christa, top dish wide open field, and i wasn't the 1st person to make this request or, and that was one of many, many, many. and it was also clear to me that i was now and i may have to ged your task, and that's, that's a thought process and motion for me on cassette the basically, we are living in total. i can a be a leave. nothing that's moving here. we have a vacancy, she costs since 1975, it had been legal to leave the g d r for the west. that was the year erica shantika agreed to the final act of the helsinki accords on security and cooperation. granting his citizens the right to freedom of movement does try. it isn't one of us on the door to the massage of a peak, but i added him to it. so this mos on him freezing affairs. i stand going on to see

jobs feeling ours and for that each that station is, has an in stock on one can see in the 1980s that the number of applications to leave the country massively increased. and of course, more applications to leave were approved me for the c d regime. this was a way of releasing pressure to a certain extent, if me and give us i'd like to look up to last. the border crossing at berlin's state extra station became one of the most famous. it was known as the palace of tears because it was here, the ged or citizens leaving the country had to bid farewell to loved ones. applicants to leave, often waited years for decision and were subjected to mass of harassment. in the meantime, the indians to go. yeah, in the 1980s it became increasingly clear where the difficulties of the ged are legs, how the combination of restriction and surveillance combined with economic difficulties which are created a kind of tipping point. where more and more people said no,

we're not going along with it. that's nice, your mind destination. but the real threat to the ged cars power structure did not come from within. it came from moscow. in 1985 michelle gorbachev was elected general secretary of the communist party of the soviet union. he was determined to reform the communist system, the guarantor to proceed in, in, in the soviet union ended with the election of gorbachev who was from a much younger generation and bringing change to a system that knew it had change. his guiding principles work last noticed, which translates as open ended perestroika for restructuring. gorbachev wanted far reaching social reform. this meant admitting that the communist way as it stood, was outdated. as moscow is a little brother, the g d. r felt betrayed and reacted with panic. when the, the old god goods in the city realized what was going on in russia, for instance,

with a band rushing publications from being available inside east germany because they were afraid of infection spreading this as political change to cold. so we had magazines published in german and the g d. r. or strictly censored. the journalist ingrid e bear from forest in brandenburg was an avid reader of the soviet magazine. sputnik published by the international russian news agency, university. sputnik brought a touch of glass most to the g d. r. until november 18th, 1988. the sputnik has been banned. learning from the soviet union means learning how to win, or maybe not after world came to visit. you wanted to know what i thought about spot think being banned. and what i thought about the political situation. i found

that very strange and try to steer our conversation to other topics. the, the brandenburg gate a unique symbol of the division of germany and the city of berlin with gorbachev at the helm in moscow. western powers hopes that the time was right to address the question of the war. but when us president ronald reagan deliberately chose the brandenburg gate as the backdrop for a speech to moscow on june 12th 1987, not all politicians in the west were pleased general secretary gorbachev. did you see peace if you seek prosperity for the show via union in eastern europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. mister gorbachev opened to this gates.

visited here that you care don't this when his speech it was on the it was frank. some people the time. so it was night which it probably in the sense was he came out like likes to the little boy who caesar the amber has no clothes. he came out and said, one is all this why, why do we still have this? that was probably, that was brought to me that the majority of west german society had long since turned his attention to powers, london, new york, or wherever away from the east, which was no longer on the political agenda. now for 3 months after reagan speech at the brandon for gate, s e d leader, s h, tony car, travel to west germany for a state visit official protocol provided for a motorcycle escort with only 7 instead of the usual 15 bikes. the honor guard

for hanukkah was also somewhat scale down from the standard as this came from don was so it already started. there is honeycutt. read it in bond like a head of state of a sovereign state and according to which protocol that is, that was a lot of discussion about that. and it was only half a state visit to boston officially. it was a working visit for because the federal republic had not officially recognized the g d r as a state. and so the basic lawsuit gave them away and went that special case. hanukkah ignored the subtleties of protocol and use the visit to showcases state sovereignty. chancellor helmut kohl remained diplomatic and did not mention the wall. yeah, the machines agency did try the vin often v good is your

1st integral. one thing for i had in 1989, a young east berlin or put the claims of the c d regime to the test. 20 year old chris guest. roy took a risk and climbed over the wall. 10 bullets were fired at him. he became the walls last victim. do you do the ged are always wanted to be perceived as a sovereign, great state in the world community and such terrible incidents. so she didn't fit that image of coldness and the generated bad press. and so at some point, the c d leadership said this has to stop. it's giving us such a bad press, we won't get any more loans if indeed to me shortly after, on april 28th, 1989, the vin minister for state security efforts, milka revoked. the order to shoot at the wall. i want to say something,

comrades, if you're going to shoot us, then you'll have to do it in such a way that the person in question doesn't get away. the comment stays with us. yes, that's the thing. so what's the point of firing 70 shot? and then he runs over to the other side and they launch a huge campaign and the other one times were more revolutionary. it wasn't so bad, but now there are new times inside. we have to take that into account even then the wall seemed a terminal in the spring of 1989, the number of applications for x. it permits continued to rise each month and there was still no freedom of travel. the permits were seen more as an arbitrary act of mercy. in april 1989 ingrid ebert and her husband applied for a permit to visit the federal republic of germany. wilford's mother will be 70 years old and may she invited us to vote, spoke with submitted an application and had to go to the district police office.

what followed was like an interrogation. what do you do in your free time? do you collect coins? what are the children's day when you travel with you to fully answered every question, just kept our heads down on top of that and you needed a specific reason. you needed a specific invitations if it was for a limited period of time. but you had to apply to the authorities to be able to make this trip. and the application could be refused for any reason. the fate of the berlin wall was decided hundreds of kilometers away in the spring of 1989. on may 2nd hung gary and general announced a depressed conference that the border fortifications between hungry and austria would be dismantled, with spectacular consequences. one to have each by means i thought something is really changing here. if the judy or is no longer the joints of prison, it always was. now they're being forced to let people out. so if he calls that's

the writer, walter compels had spent 6 years in prison before he was able to fleece to the west in 1956. at the beginning of may 1989, he followed the events and hungry with astonishment. pictures from hungry web border fences are being dismantled. 6 photographers snapped the hung, gary and soldiers as they cut the barbed wire without any emotion. they are the same soldiers who normally guard the border. they say the news of the hole in the iron curtain was censored in the g d r. instead in g d r a news broadcast s c d leadership basked in the glow of made a celebrations. deep mile re, mon suspected it would be his last may day. in the g d r. he took his camera along to photo grass. everything was good to have experienced once again and

concentrated form, devotion, or submission of an embarrassingly broad mass of the ged, or population towards the router's. this made it clear for me again and again. nothing will change socially in this country for a very long time to come to wash and vacuum as already gone. use it during those 4 years of waiting for the exit permits. and on the inside bill, i was no longer a citizen of this country. this in the meantime, angered ebert and her husband had obtained a travel permit to visit his mother and wolf spurred in west germany. they arrived there on the afternoon of may 7th, the very day the ged, or had scheduled an election. the we sit in front of the tv in the evening. we look forward to the election results and place bets,

then the results, 98.85 percent of all valid boats in favor of proven togetherness, strong socialism and secure peace. who's feeling who here the local elections in the ged, or were known as going to fold? a cynical allusion to the yes only voting system. but in may 1989 evidence of s e d. electoral fraud came to light for the 1st time. at least 7 percent of voters had courageously voted. no. distrust of those in power was everywhere. tommy's principality does visor, they didn't question the electoral system in principles. but said my god, what so bad of 10 or 15 percent? maybe 20 percent of the population is again stated that getting you would still have a huge approval rating energies and switch to the house in protests here. and there, with very few people were involved in such actions as the number of friends have

great respect for those who openly expressed their displeasure. there was nothing in our mailbox again, psychologically we're in a pretty desperate situation at the moment. the would you say enough by piece? well, let's divide it then it goes to see a comm road from the c d standing in front of our house during the last election. that's why we would like to ask you to go to the pony that's going to be explained by us. we've been waiting for over 3 years to leave the country just the one that still hasn't been approved. i said to his niece, of course, we're not going to your election. well then he laughed at the got down more than 7000 kilometers away from berlin. tensions were escalating. at the beginning of june, they erupt it in the most brutal mass, murder of dissidents under a communist regime. in a long time, chinese troops opened fire on students, demonstrating on t m, and square in beijing,

4 days after the bloody correct down the claims. thousands of lives the ged are finally issued a statement supporting the chinese government, the ultimate then that folks commerce to invest the deputies of the people's chamber. to note that in the current situation, thoughts the political solution to internal problems of these persistently sought by the party and the state and leadership of the people's republic of china. and for it has been prevented bluetooth as a result of a violent and letting riots of antique constitutional element in the vault and just the reactions to phillip euro in east germany to a gentleman square massacre. it was indeed in retrospect, a strange one. i think there were people inside the regime, particularly in the military and secret police operations, who would have been capable of that kind of thing. and it could look like a stretch at this point,

the cd regime was still trying to show strength. but the opposition in east germany was becoming increased seemly courageous. to alleviate the pressure, the ged are issued more and more exit permits. and the number of new applications grew by leaps and bounds from week to week. the after years of deliberation, the who's now also want to leave the g to your just not yet clear how they will do it. the choice is between applying to leave or sleep. the exit viruses spreading like an epidemic among the people of the ged, or it's beginning to border on hysteria and certainly madness in hungary, more and more east germans gathered at the border with austria more than 20000, had already made it across the border. according to reports, from gary and border officials sent back any east german citizen, they caught,

as they were obliged to do. so at the successful attempts inspired many, the ged or regime reacted with stubborn silence. the hundreds leave the country every day. the scary thing is the silence in on use both costs all as well with weld on use paper pages of sort of success stories. how long can we continue to sweep fill, send to the rug? well, the eyes of those in power where of it is let's see, for some of the, and restrict hospitalizations on march bureau to clean away. good. so less than about what happened that summer was always the so called democratic central list, which the communist had devised on their drawing boards of power, now crumbled at their feet. on the golf vos should be our current of 20 go,

was seriously ill. he was unable to access and his assistants were unable, politically unable, on willing, and also not courageous enough to make decisions. physical med chide, also covered. on august 19th, over $500.00 east germans fled on mass across the hungarian border. forces in hungry had announced a symbolic cross border picnic together with the pan european union. the austrian hung gary and border was opened for 3 hours. a decision with far reaching consequences. these impressive images travelled around the world. the news from hungry encouraged people, and the g d. r. on september 4th, 1989. the 1st of the monday demonstrations took place in leipzig at the time, leipzig photographer martin nauman, was out in about in the city center with his camera. he wasn't on assignment,

but he had a hunch he was seeing history in the making the mass prayers for peace and the saint nicholas church. after leaving the church, the participants carried banners demanding freedom of travel, and calling for changing society. state security tore down the banners a few days later in hungry the cage door. finally opened the hun, gary and government decided to allow g d. r. citizens to leave for the west without consulting moscow or east berlin. first, my stomach pains or signal, i can't go on like this. i want to get out. i want to close my eyes and ears. a screen shot to toll out or even leave. stamped again. is it better to sleep? escape the only way the

people suddenly realized that, okay, the wall might be from edible, stale, and people must still being shot, trying to get over it. so you don't. why, why? why? i'm trying go over the wall. why even bother to have faith papers? why bother to put in an official, a application to leave the country when you can just go hungry and move across the border into austria from the go wherever you want. and the well, the deep mile reminds departure to the west was finally approved in september. after the long wait, he sold his house and with his family left everything behind. today we were able to make the last official under the official trips said good bye to my mother in the afternoon. tomorrow we crossed the in their german border across the berlin wall, saying good bye to run, store to our house is very, very difficult for me. we've done shouldn't be kind. so the border guard stood

there. there was the seat. that's the word said left before we settler. i've never heard the term before this unless they believed it would all go on forever. and of course, that's what seemed really i think the police are in addition to the hon, gary and border, it was now possible to officially apply for asylum at west german embassies in warsaw, budapest, or prost. sue. these embassies were completely full at the embassy in prague. thousands began camping out in the garden and hallways. unlike the hungarian government, the czech republic was reluctant to make decisions that went against the g. d. r. west german foreign minister hans dietrich ensure negotiated the solution. the

6, 14 am eyes and mouth sticky from crying. during the night the germans in prague were allowed to leave its estimated. there were 7000 of them. it was moving, tears came automatically and everything is in a state of flux. what was on think about just a few months ago is now happening. so i clowes a way to say it was clear that it wouldn't go on like this boy to the ged or didn't wanted to go on like this either. because the latest figures on tv every evening were about the ged, or, and always caused internal unrest. and you won't have to let them leave you soon. but then came up with a completely crazy idea of rooting the trains back via address them. you know, so via the ged or yeah, it's which was of course absurd. who's opposite. what on the night of october 1st, several trains that had been locked shot travel to hole in west germany just over the check border. but the ged are ordered such trains to be rerouted through east germany, so that the regime could officially grant exit permits. travelers,

identity cards were confiscated on groups. some people tried to jump on the trains as they passed by. 4 days later, another train traveling from the prague embassy passed through the g d r. and the situation escalated, police court into off, dressed in central station to prevent people from forwarding. the train waiting there. but the crowd stormed the station. things were changing quickly. that very night. yeah. the way up last night she thought a couple of city high. you need to get with that unit. by the end of september i see the leader home, a car was back at the home dum offered me one visit, the bible could no longer reconcile with my conscience to know and i was deployed as a to your guys gunner offices. then i went and said that i wasn't reliable for the job as to the cause i couldn't reconcile it morally wrong with my conscience bible

. and so they specifically said to us now on monday morning on the 9th, the demonstrators don't stand a chance to day. we have enough power today we have enough equipment today. we end the whole thing. on october 9th, after mondays, prayers for peace. 70000 people took to the streets and live sick. if this new cat had sounded the combat alert the army was on stand by these a. is it a situation in leipzig was highly explosive, because the state wanted to put an end to all of these demonstrations using the most and mark le berg as yeah, they had pulled together the riots police such as complex quad. so the national people's army, in from out of the complex squads weren't even showing up anymore. but she's kind of when they tried to give him a munition to the right. so easy to what they said,

we want to take it, but actually won't shoot as her own people in the nation. and if she's think of the item annoyed, october 9th was the turning point. the regime did not intervene. the masses chanted, we are the people. some members of the police even joined the march they say yesterday, 70000 people demonstrated a live 6. hearing the silence, admit the crowds, some noises from time to time, the chance and then intermittent silence, like after air rage, the crashing of beams, just and shouts. this thought the cloud mentioned deep and it was somehow clear to everyone who was paying attention that now the chinese card would not be played for us. i'm not something else would happen built in the days that followed people throughout east germany felt their fear dissolved,

thousands took to the streets and loudly demanded freedom. the right to self governance. and the removal of the c d. leadership change was in here. on october 18th, the de leadership in berlin reacted. removing erica shawnee car from office to successor, eagle on the fence announced his intention to reform the g. d r but people were no longer buying it. on november, 4th 1989, berlin was the scene of the largest demonstration in the history of the g. d. r. the state security service was nervous. a hastily drafted travel law, had drawn fury. people no longer wanted to be patronized. i've never seen images like the ones you saw in the news from the g d on today. half a 1000000 people were on the featured violin. i wanted to be that to be part of it

. it's no longer about respond. revolution is the order of the day the, the 5, all these people were now demanding the dismissal of the gone prince. the cd strategy had failed. on november, 4th, gunter chabot ski, secretary of the central committee of the cd was booed in berlin. neva, the, the young man that's good for me in trouble of ski. we then had the meeting which about ski and he said, by the way, we want to give people freedom of trouble. and i asked difficult, do you know what that means for your country? oh oh yeah, well he said to 150000 people might leave the country as it was. i thought was his assessment on to that as of all food on done. and then we talked about the

practical preparations they had made for this to the coughing and such was 0. that's one way. the morning of november 9th, 1989 began like any other day in berlin, with small provocations at the wall on the western side. torres climbed the observation towers to get a glimpse of the east in the ged. our preparations were under way for an international press conference. gunter shutout ski tried to answer during the list of questions about the new travel lost his big mistake. he had not yet read the revised draft to them, the task owners, and as always, just this time i'm part of the show the strength of minor tensor special for one particular 40. it's wanted to know how i could come when that follow up question comes and it's yes right away immediately it's. it's set something in motion that he can crash as was in kansas and this big guy. otherwise he couldn't

have gone home that night. how is it for spend one to invent, let's only there to see, discover that is the actions have opened the border and as well as shortly after the evening news people began to storm the border crossings at foreign homer street . several 1000 people demanded to cross into west berlin, but the lease told them they needed a visa or get most of the pen gun and it gets out to us. i don't mind them. i know it's a ton of odds of thoughtful, according to lieutenant colonel yeager. see the head of the border check point and fence when there were at least 10000 people. there was one hand he was worried about the fence. and so because the crowd like that with destroying everything. and

on the other hand, until he was annoyed because they had called the ministry for state security, you couldn't get a proper answer because they were celebrating or busy with something else. finally, the pressure became so great that he thought he to open up. okay. and then he said, we're letting out the float, who gets at around 1120, the wall was opened on board, home or street. all controls were suspended, and people simply walked over to west berlin. the 1, 10 am stationed interrupts for special events like orson welles, amazing, unbelievable. this is the we unification. police get flowers thrust in their hands for a group picture that's relaxed. all right? no passport, no idea. just walked through the

turbulent day. they were dramatic scenes that police stations. there's a huge q of people at the state bank to exchange their 15 us to march for 15, deutsche marks for the trip west. i use the whole roll of film are the 2 vs came home from school around midday. he ran in that was one very excited, 9 year old. and then he proudly laid his notebook on the table and said, from the west, the walls is broken. i totally insane. you might have to of long stomach eviction. it does. obviously, nobody expected the wall to be gone in the morning today. many people claim they knew, but that's how it is with history. and she's in hindsight 0 always many prophets for it. and i woke up in the morning, went down to buy a newspaper. and there was this thing. the people streaming choose the brother mall deep mar,

raymond had only been in bavaria where he now lived with his family. for 2 weeks, he photographed the west and felt a brooded again, watching in disbelief. he was stunned by the events in his former homeland and berlin. people are still dancing on the wall as if drunk with happiness. the brandenburg gates is also to be reopened on november 10th, so called for woodpeckers for already selling broken pieces of concrete. from what is probably the world's most famous german structure at the tourist souvenirs too. we are sitting on the sidelines. i feel awful. in the spring of 1990, the most colorful parts of the berlin wall were sold at an auction in monte carlo for an average of $12000.00 each. the. it is astonishing how something which is actually a serious and deadly work of engineering and consuming an enormous amount of

material. schuman and foot unclosing and numerous suffering and over 20 is, can suddenly devolve into kitch, a kind of commercial product. it is a lesson in how quickly people can forget. something was, was so dominant, so terrifying the world had literally changed overnight when the brandenburg gate was opened in december 1989, it was largely symbolic. just one year later, germany was re united the

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used to be 1st page researchers and scientists all over the world for you know, race against time. they are peers and rivals with one daring goals to help smart nature. the more like watching on youtube dw documentary, i want to tell you something. it's a bear with me. my house, i was a shot. i never saw, that is what happened to me. many people here to can you about it for the very 1st . leaving here, you know, event living with h a, b space, a lot of discrimination. raising awareness of h o d, and on and we're stuck in this cycle. shame assignments,

we need to break out of a, i want to tell you something how to tell a secret starts november 29th on dw, the . this is due to the news, and these are our top stories to i said it was president joe biden has spoken to the nation for the 1st time since donald trump was declared the winner of the presidential election. biden think election workers across the country for ensuring the vote was fair and transparent. heaps praise on a vice president complet harris for her campaign. and he promised a peaceful transfer of power. russian president vladimir putin has congratulated donald trump on the election when improvements 1st public remarks on the result. he said moscow was red.