the berlin wall itself was about 96 miles long, completely separating west berlin from east berlin. again, cutting it off from the rest of east germany. we had a couple of pieces of the berlin wall i would like to show you. we have two authentic pieces of the berlin wall here. we ship them over to washington, d.c. from germany and put them up here. most people, they think of all the graffiti and color and designs on the wall. these are completely plain. that's because they were on the people were not allowed to graffiti the wall. they did not want people drawing on the wall was because having the wall be completely plain makes it easier for the guard to see people. visiblethem more against plain background. before the berlin wall was felt, several million of the 3 million people cross the border from east to west. people didn't stop trying to get out of east germany. tried to,000 people get out and half that number were successful. we have some great stories about people who were successful. of avery and a lot of creativity. the berlin wall was not just one wall, it was two walls. w

we're leaving east berlin. this is on the look there's our escape that's my mother running a camera man happened to film the family as they fled. we were able to leave by the door and my father handed baggage out because we wanted to take a few things. look there i am my sister my mother and my father. and just imagine i even took my bird along and its cage. i couldn't leave it behind i think it was the only bear that fled to the west. excrete itself was little more than a walk across the street participants in the events like rosen are living proof of what happened here in a divided city. the building on burner strasser was bricktop. torn down and eventually replaced by the actual pearl and what the city remain divided for 28 years. if i were walled in now i wouldn't think it was so nice. i'd be very very curious about what's behind the wall what it would look like and how it would be if i were allowed to cross it off. they should i won't even wall in my worst enemy because he won't have much room to move arou

berlin? >> as we read the words that were read tonight, that is correct, all of the checkpoints know, those gates will be open. it remains to be seen how the news will be taken here in the next few hours but the very grim facade of the wall, only a few going withoming and all the dogs and walls exist only as a symbol at this point the gates will be open. >> we're just getting the service from the wire coming from east berlin saying exactly what you've just reported, that the east german spokesperson says the new order means that people can pass through the berlin wall itself from east billionairin -- berlin berlin. these developments coming as communist authorities have been under tremendous pressure because of the tens of thousands of east germans fleeing their country. of this evening in east germany, they can leave whatever they want and however they want. we'll have further developments throughout the afternoon and nbc report this evening, nightly news, from tom brokaw, today.in east berl

airport in berlin, temple hof. a huge complex built in the nazi era. his academic career brought him to washington, d.c. he was a research fellow at the united states holocaust memorial museum working. his latest publication in 2016 dealt with the memorialization of democracy, the history of democracy in museums in memorial sites across germany. without further ado, i would like to welcome the doctor. >> hello. can i move this up. >> i think i can move that up a bit. it is nice to be back and to see actually. thanks that you all came. thanks chris for the nice introduction. and thanks to your team to host us here in this magnificent building, i have to say, being charged -- reinventing a museum i really understood what you have achieved here. congratulations. it is a honor that you have up aa slaver on our advisory board. she will be with us once we create our new museum. i am grateful that ralph is with us. he is a real air lift veteran. it is amazing to have you here tonight. thanks for coming. it's cordial welco

wall itself from east berlin to west berlin. of course these developments coming as the communist leadership, the communist authorities in east berlin have been under tremendous pressure because of the tens of thousands of east germans fleeing their country. as of this evening, they can leave whenever they want and however they want. of course we will have further developments throughout the afternoon and a full report this evening on nbc nightly news from tom brokaw, who himself is in east berlin today. that is the news for now. utley, nbc news, new york. announcer: this has been an nbc news special report. announcer: we interrupt this program for an nbc news special report. here's harrick utley. -- garrick utley. garrick: good afternoon. here's the latest information coming to us from east germany, where short while ago government officials made the very startling announcement that east german citizens will have the right to leave their country to travel directly to west germany or to west berlin. it will no longer be necessar

in east berlin and her body is in west berlin. the construction of the wall in august 13th 961 put an end to that situation for not right away 4 days later the streets leading from east to west had been blocked but the front door to burn our strasser 11 was still open. one day had lunch our parents said all right when you're done in a single take a few belongings and today we're going to flee. we're leaving east berlin. oh look there's our escape that's my mother running a camera man happened to film the family as they fled. we were able to leave by the door and my father handed baggage out because we wanted to take a few things. in my look there i am my sister my mother and my father. and just imagine i even took my bird along and its cage. i couldn't leave it behind i think it was the only bear that fled to the west. was little more than a walk across the street participants of the events like rosen are living proof of what happened here at the void city. the building on burnell strasser was bricktop. worn down and eventually re

a park in berlin it doesn't look all that special berliners have lots of green space to choose from but this isn't just any park after the fall of the berlin wall in 1989 this brought sectionals no man's land was turned into a retreat area the moa park that's takes us to this week's topic and to the starting point of my tour. i'll be following the berlin wall trail right through the heart of the city. today i ride along before my border between east and west berlin on this bike following the line of the berlin wall i would like to see what remains of the history of the division of europe germany and berlin so i'm starting here in moa park going to the brandenburg gate and then all the way to the east side gallery let's go. we'll find out what became of the wall and why pieces of it are still standing. our weekly viewers video spirits' you off to norway. plus a check in fan takes us around the sights of his hometown san francisco. my 1st stop on the berlin wall trail is the memorial site on bet no washed. it's the 1st stop for anybody wanting to learn more about the city's division rust

east berlin tonight, tens of thousands of people crossing into west berlin, pouring through the berlin wall, which opened today. not waiting for officials or even daybreak, they are still coming. host: those are the words and images that nbc used to open its special report on the night of november 9, 19 89. 30 years later, we are remembering that earth and concrete shattering day. gallery,he berlin wall from the newseum and washington, d.c. it is our home for the next three hours on washington journal on c-span and c-span3. we're asking you to share your own memories. give us a call and let us know fall meantrlin wall to you. if you live in eastern or central time zones, the number to call is (202) 748-8000. mountain or pacific time zones, (202) 748-8001. at a special phone number for german-americans this morning -- that number (202) 748-8002. if you want to send us a text this morning, that number is (202) 748-8003. if you do, please include your name and where you are from, and of course you can catch up with us on social media, on twitter @cspanwj, and on facebook. we welcome you t

east berlin tonight, tens of thousands of people crossing into west berlin, pouring through the berlin wall, which opened today. not waiting for officials or even daybreak, they are still coming. host: those are the words and images that nbc used to open its special report on the night of november 9, 19 89. 30 years later, we are remembering that earth and concrete shattering day. gallery,he berlin wall from the newseum and washington, d.c. it is our home for the next three hours on washington journal on c-span and c-span3. we're asking you to share your own memories. give us a call and let us know fall meantrlin wall to you. if you live in eastern or central time zones, the number to call is (202) 748-8000. mountain or pacific time zones, (202) 748-8001. at a special phone number for german-americans this morning -- that number (202) 748-8002. if you want to send us a text this morning, that number is (202) 748-8003. if you do, please include your name and where you are from, and of course you can catch up with us on social media, on twitter @cspanwj, and on facebook. we welcome you t

to west berlin the berlin wall itself. that announcement, surprising and important announcement, can this afternoon made by the chief official spokesman of the communist party. tom brokaw is in east berlin at this moment. he was covering that news conference. give us the details. >> it was a surprise because it came at the end of a likely news conference whose the east berlin communist party chief. it was almost by accident he told the assembled reporters they recommended this afternoon and it is about to become formal government policy that any east german citizen who wants to leave this country temporarily or permanently will be able to do so by going through the many checkpoints of the berlin wall by crossing the borders into the west. he will no longer be necessary to go to hungary or czechoslovakia to get out of here. this in effect dissolves the berlin wall, although, it will remain standing physically. >> it has been standing there since 1961. we are familiar with the pictures of the tens of thousands of east german

host: steve vogel, our guest, brick trail in berlin -- betrayal in berlin.e've been talking about operation gold along with your memories, your thoughts on the legacy of the berlin wall, 30 years after the fall of the wall . this is penny in new york. caller: can you hear me? host: yes, ma'am. 47.er: i'm my grandfather was a world war ii hero. seven combat jumps. i was, on november 9, i was living in western pennsylvania. i was going to a city and rounds ville, pennsylvania, and i applied to a program called open door, so i ended up being an abbasid to representing western pennsylvania for the united states of america in germany. -- abbasid or representing western pennsylvania for the united states of america in germany. we left d.c. when you are interviewing george bush, i remember our first two months in cologne. we were all told to go to the embassy and george bush got on the line and said, you know -- it was very heartfelt when he said this to us. he said i can't recommend that or that for the year, you come home. he also said if you stay, i ashly recomm

of berlin. this starts the division of germany and berlin after the war. that division became concrete -- the election of of the berlinn wall. in the years after world war ii and with the occupation of east germany and berlin by the soviets, hundreds of thousands of people in the east had been fleeing to the west. these numbers became larger and larger. it was a terrible drain of intelligent and of skills in the east. these numbers were reaching very large numbers in the months leading up to 1961. east germans called it the anti-fascists board. was to keep out west, but of course, it did keep millions of well.erman in as the city of her then was completely isolated within east germany. berlin, which after the war, it was set up with a political and economic system and was democratic capitalist, completely surrounded by communist east germany. it became a symbol of the division between the communist and democratic system in the cold war. years a hotspot for many during the cold war, of that tensi

history where were you that night i wasn't in west berlin i was in east berlin looking at it when it came to the crunch. oh i was with a group of people who i had sort of joined up with coming from the east there in lies a story would have enough time to that and we were heading for the berlin wall to try to become among the 1st people to actually get up on the berlin wall at the brandenburg gate from the eastern side and one of the guys in this group that i'd sort of found myself among said charge and so we all started running towards the wall and there were border police with kalashnikovs in front of her on the breast as it were and we drew we challenged through their ranks and then climbed up onto the wall so you think this is an indication of how dangerous it could get in there i mean how you already heard ben that it was open. in my instance with a couple of friends i'd come from the west where i write you so rightly said that that was where i was based on the time i'd come to the inn for leading staff there are border crossing into the each still enjoined up on the other side w

including east berlin and west berlin. that announcement was made at the news conference which was concluded a few minutes ago in east berlin. two points to keep in mind, first of all, the berlin wall, the wall of concrete and barbed wire still stands. as of now, it appears to be nothing more than a symbol of the old iron curtain because east germaners will have the right to leave into west berlin itself. announcer: you can watch archival films on public affairs in their entirety on our weekly series, reel america, saturday at 10:00 p.m. and sunday at 4:00 p.m. eastern here on american history tv. announcer: next we hear from sophia rosenfeld, who is the author of "democracy in truth: a short history." she talks about the long-held tensions among citizens in a democracy to determine what the truth is, rather than relying on an elite class to determine what the truth is for them. the robert

east berlin tonight, tens of thousands of people crossing into west berlin, pouring through the berlin wall, which opened today. not waiting for officials or even daybreak, they are still coming. host: those are the words and images that nbc used to open its special report on the night of november 9, 19 89. 30 years later, we are remembering that earth and concrete shattering day. gallery,he berlin wall from the newseum and washington, d.c. it is our home for the next three hours on washington journal on c-span and c-span3. we're asking you to share your own memories. give us a call and let us know fall meantrlin wall to you. if you live in eastern or central time zones, the number to call is (202) 748-8000. mountain or pacific time zones, (202) 748-8001. at a special phone number for german-americans this morning -- that number (202) 748-8002. if you want to send us a text this morning, that number is (202) 748-8003. if you do, please include your name and where you are from, and of course you can catch up with us on social media, on twitter @cspanwj, and on facebook. we welcome you t

30 years ago witnessing history where were you that night i wasn't in west berlin i was in east berlin looking at it when it came to the crunch. oh i was with a group of people who i had sort of joined up with coming from the each therein lies a story that would have enough time for that and we were heading for the berlin wall to try to become among the 1st people to actually get up on the berlin wall at the brandenburg gate from the eastern side and one of the guys in this group that i'd sort of found myself among said charge and so we all started running towards the wall and there were border police with kalashnikovs in front of her on the breast as it were and we drew we challenged through their ranks and then climbed up onto the wall so you think this is indication of how dangerous it could get in there i mean how you already heard then that it's very it was open. in my instance with a couple of friends i come from the west where i write you so rightly said that that was where i was based at the time i'd come through the invalid insurance or the border crossing into the eastern enj

kennedy was in berlin saying it's benign bellino showing solidarity with berlin sit ins ins so this is a long tradition and we want to remind president on this great tradition. now of course the berlin wall as we know it was built to keep its own citizens in right in the end trumps a border wall is really meant to keep people out i mean so does your does the symbol really hold and i guess i mean you're absolutely right and we know that this is not 100 percent coherent but it's really the general idea of walls like do walls fit into a democracy and there was say no you shouldn't have walls of course any bought us etc but that was dia to give a signal to show a sign a big sign and yeah but you're absolutely right it doesn't fit totally the comparison. how do you get this piece of the wall i mean it's there's only a few bits left in berlin a lot of it was was cleared away pretty much immediately where do you find now these days a piece of the berlin wall it will be a surprise because it's quite simple you just have to google it and we find an online store dealer and berlin who is selling

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 i

this is day to day news live from berlin germany marks 30 years since the full of the berlin wall fireworks and musical performances were the centerpiece of celebrations at the city's landmark traveling bird gate with thousands to joining the party also coming up even morales calls it a coup bolivia's in basle president says and he democratic groups are trying to oppose him as police change sides and join in the protests. i'm rebecca ritter's welcome to the program germany has been marking the 30th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall events took place across the capital with the main celebration at the brandenburg gate earlier german chancellor angela merkel and her your other european leaders took part in a special ceremony to remember those who died on the east germany's shoot to kill orders against anyone trying to flee to the west but the evening began with an iconic conductor lading an iconic concerto before and i connick backdrop. thousands gathered here to celebrate as they did 30 years ago in the state when berlin sprang number gate became an unforgettable backdrop to a night

west berlin. it wraparound for 96, miles including said 27 miles to the heart of the sitting. by 1980, nine the wall consisted of 45,000 concrete blocks, 259 pathways, and 30 bunkers. during the wall, at least hundred 40 people were killed trying to escape the communist bloc for the freedoms of the west. and now, the berlin wall has been gone for longer than it stood, but we are asking you to join in this morning to give us your thoughts and memories of that day and what you watched that day 30 years ago, 1989. let's start with todd from brentwood, california. good morning to you. your memories from that day? >> i remember it well. it was a great day. i remember reagan, the anti-communist warrior champion, mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall i hope a oc and the rest of the squad is watching this, bernie sanders socialism was such a devastating failure. cuba, venezuela, china, russia even the scandinavians are running away from it tremendously. we have such a generational divide here in america conc

park in berlin it doesn't look all that special berliners have lots of green space to choose from but this isn't just any park after the fall of the berlin wall in 1990 this broad section of no man's land was turned into a.

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 celebra

news live from berlin celebrating the 30th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall we'll go live to berlin's brandenburg gate for festivities that will include a keynote speech by germany's president also coming up on coverage of this historic anniversary at the berlin wall memorial the presidents of poland the czech republic slovakia and hungary joined the german leaders and berliners took place roses in the remaining section of the wall german president front steinmeyer hailed the role that those countries hajj and the events of $989.00. and we'll look back at that historic night 30 years ago and the events that led up to the fall of the wall. omarion evanston it's great to have you with us germany is marking the 30th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall events are taking place across the capital with a big celebration currently underway at the landmark brandenburg gate on november 9th 1989 communist east german authorities lifted travel restrictions and opened the border crossings to allow people to move freely to the west after decades of oppression and the fall of the ber

the berlin wall itself was about 96 miles long, completely separating west berlin from east berlin. but also completely surrounding west berlin and again, cutting it off from the rest of east germany. we have a couple of pieces of the berlin wall i would like to how you. we have two authentic pieces of the berlin wall here. they were donated to the museum by a county which is outside of east berlin. we shipped them over to washington, d.c. from germany and put them up here. most people, when they think of the berlin wall, they think of all the graffiti and color and designs on the wall. these are completely plain. that's because they were on the east side, where people were not allowed to graffiti the wall. it would have incurred some pretty severe penalties. one reason why they did not want people drawing on the wall was because having the wall be completely plain makes it asier for the guard to see people. it made them more visible against plain, like -- light gray or white background. seeing them without graffiti should around mind us -- should remind us of them keeping people in

west berlin was a was a shot from for its system its ideology there was capitalism in the west berlin being shown off in the in the windows of the big boutiques in west berlin in east germany that was the showoff city for. east german communism truth be told both cities were really rather dingy but in a fascinating kind of way i mean what it helped helped everybody to make some good music and that's a good thing but today the united berlin is a better place to stay with us peter because once the wall opened then as wasted no time tearing it down but it left a scar that took decades to heal in our next report we're going to meet an east berlin photographer who risked documenting the war from his side of the city. the center of the island skyscrapers and tourists filled the streets but this was the death strip until 1909 it was part of the heavily guarded wall complex which separated west and east 150 kilometers long and then places up to 150 meters wide as oh no berlin or was allowed to enter get down if you grew up in east berlin the wall stood right next to his home this is where he

years after the fall of the berlin wall. w. dear antone.when your mother was born in 1969 the world was already 8 years old you know my grandchildren were born after the war born in a real unified germany 3 generations one family on a journey.

and now he was a rabbi in berlin. and on top of that behind the iron curtain it was all a bit much because she'd feel. from illinois to east berlin norman addressed the media in his newly built apartment in east berlin. he looked forward to his life in this very different world. i have everything i need friends and members of the community have made sure that i feel at home here. 'd a survivor of norman was on a mission he wanted to help resurrect jewish life in east germany. his lectures drew large crowds especially young people among them was for greenstein a lecturer at humboldt university and daughter of a former deputy interior minister. she met the new rabbi at oranienburg. constitute as he said and then. came right over i didn't know anything about real life rabbis you know i only had this image in my head gleaned from rabbis in the books of bob and he wasn't like them at all in. this. would have. this is you know he was captivated by the rabbi and his charisma he taught and others like her what it meant to be

east side gallery the berlin wall the stretch of the berlin wall that had been a symbol of division turning into a symbol of of unity and of berlin as an open and cosmopolitan city that it is today and even though it's dark and it's raining and people are running for shelter i really feel that you can you can feel history here even now 30 years later yes i think that's a very good point it's impossible to escape it even if you are getting drenched our very own david love itself there braving the elements at eastside gallery david thank you. and all this week e.w. is bringing you special coverage on reports on events leading up to the fall of the berlin wall 30 years ago we'll also have live coverage of saturday's ceremonies and commemorations taking place at brandenburg gate we have you will join us then are here some of the other stories that are taking place and making headlines around the world british prime minister boris johnson has officially notified buckingham palace that the country. well go to the polls on december 12th the election campaign is likely to be dominated by bright sai

but i can tell you, i lived in east berlin, natalie, for five years and back then, berlin was reallymall back water town. to see the way it is right now, it is remarkable. as was just noted in that report, it has now become a tourist attraction, but at the same time, 30 years later, it is still so very important to especially educate young people about what the wall meant and how terrifying the berlin wall was to people who were living on both sides of it here in what was this divided city of berlin, natalie. >> i was wondering how engrossed in this evening the young people are. how does the car there drive, fred? >> so the car, we can give you a little tour if you have one second of time. so the trevant car, it has 45 horsepower, it goes about 70 miles per hour. the thing is, if i try to get into it, it's quite difficult. i do drive this car, right? so i can show you getting into it, i'm about 6'5". so, like, it's very difficult for me to actually get in. but then i do make it. and also, the other thing is that if you do the ignition, you have to pull this lever here which is called

, in the 1950's, we had the berlin airlift to support the people in berlin. in the 1980's, we had president reagan telling us to tear down the wall, and in the 1980's hest died, died -- people were circumventing the wall going from east germany into checkless a blocky a and west germany -- checkless lamacchia -- checkless love bockius -- it was a time for the wall to come down and have freedom for these berliners. and all of the warsaw pact countries. i also forgot to remember to and -- forgot to mention on december 21, when they were invading panama, we were all having the berlin wall torn down both between the right stock and brandenburg gate. it was the best time in the world. host: hope harrison here to talk about the things to remember about the berlin wall. guest: let me just say it is theerful to be here with only east german guard tower outside of germany. i hope very much they will find a place to keep these, because they are such important historic artifacts. speaking of memory of the fall of the wall, i myself was on a plane, headed to berlin on th

never ending story of the fall of the berlin and. german history at its best all dead live head story expresses perfectly what those images from november nights 989 to the people of back then he worked as a graphic artist making movie posters for the former east germany's only film company and on the night the wall opened he was one of the 1st east berlin osa comes through the checkpoint at the city's bon bon home bridge only to embark on the most memorable night of his life. or 9989 david rome fell in berlin i can go to see. people were throwing their arms around each other and hugging each other you didn't know them but you had them anyway it was pure emotion. i cried to my song and when i look at the pictures today i still get teary. although i don't think someone else can truly understand what every person there was feeling so he's now flipped through. for 41 year. germany was a divided country from 1961 until 989 a wall even split the city of berlin into the western half was part of democratic west germany the eastern half belon

dot com forward slash berlin wall and also don't forget you can get to do w. news on the go just download our africa 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 developing you opt to send us your photos and videos. coming up next the night the wall came down and in-depth look at what happened here in berlin 30 years ago today american evan stealing from me and the entire news team thanks for watching. after the fall of the berlin wall. t.w. . wrote if. he tries to do. and he's ready to.

it cuts through the heart of berlin.e have learned to live with it. ♪ narrator: we refuse to think that it will always be this way. ♪ narrator: in the beginning, we waved across the wall to our families in east berlin. ♪ narrator: it didn't matter who watched us. but later the communist policeman came and stopped our families from waving. ♪ >> [speaking foreign language] narrator: my mother lives over there. they will move her away if she dares to wave. i speak to my children in east berlin with hand signals, making certain the guards are not watching. i don't want them to harm my family. we have become good with our signals. ♪ narrator: at dusk, the communists have a hard time tracking us down, but we take chances, especially on nights when an escape is planned. ♪ narrator: in the beginning, many people escaped in broad daylight by jumping out of windows facing the western the sector of the city. ♪ narrator: our firemen were there to help. we remember the woman being held by communist guards to prevent her from joining

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 just went over with my id was let in and just went over there i asked if it was free yes they asked what were you planning to pay with and what did you do here in western and no after you 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 you know we go back and forth any time i was it's fantastic leaders were surprised and overwhelmed form an incumbent man as a prime demba gate. they spoke of the happiest people in the united europe and fissions and ideas. leave the peace somewhere for the museum. 5. 30 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 were united but bitter memories of decades of separation and a system of oppression remained. alright thomas said what can we expect where you are over the course of the day this has been a week lo

in east berlin living in west berlin so you were crossing the border every day what was it like for you looking back 30 years ago when the wall fell. when i worked in the embassy i crossed checkpoint charlie affinity but it wasn't as a normal person might see because when you worked in the embassy you had different number plates you went through different channels but when i started working here. it was well familiar because i knew i had been here before. thank you so much for talking to us kristin mclean you have a memoir out it's called 2 berlins one was never to have in the english and german because i've written to my memoirs from 79 and then. and what happened. between then and i thank you for talking to christine mclean thank you back to you carol. thanks very much to christine mclean 1st of all and also to you david it does look like there's a fabulous atmosphere down there and almost makes me wish i could be down there mouth south and i'm thinking even despite all of the people and the artwork and the new developments that there is definitely still the ability to get a sense of

and giddy few hours east berlin poured into west berlin the 1st step towards this country's reunification. to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the wall demise berlin has events happening all over the city in historic locations and one of them is the east side gallery and my colleague david leavitt's is down there now for us hi david can you tell us just where you are exactly and what it might have been like 30 years ago. right karen well the east side gallery is the biggest stretch of the berlin wall that is still standing there very few of them and this is the biggest and tonight it's not just a wall it is a projection screen for a film about the berlin wall where better to watch this film to now where i'm standing right now is not always an outdoor cinema this was what was known as the death strip and 30 years ago if i'd been standing here i would have been shot dead by east german border guards either from the towers around me or from patrol boats on the river behind me and now behind me you can see these lit up blue posts these are mark the border itself which of this part of the cit

east side gallery the berlin wall the stretch of the berlin wall that had been a symbol of division turning into a symbol of of unity and of berlin as an open and cosmopolitan city that it is today and even though it's dark and it's raining and people are running for shelter i really feel that you can you can feel history here even now 30 years later yes i think it's a very good point it's impossible to escape it even if you are getting drenched our very own david love itself there braving the elements at eastside gallery david thank you. and all this week g.w. is bringing you special coverage of the boards on the events leading up to the fall of the berlin wall 30 years ago we'll also have live coverage of saturday's ceremonies and commemorations here's some of the other stories now that are making headlines around the world a folds alarm at amsterdam's is schiphol airport has prompted a massive deployment of security personnel spanish airline apology. saying that the hijacking alert system of one of its planes was activated by accident no passengers were hong. kong leader kerry lamb has c

support for the people in berlin, the people in west berlin. in the late 1940's, the soviet union tried to stamp out west berlin and the u.s. had the berlin airlift and we saved people. it's important to show the solidarity and u.s. support and u.s. support for west german's and german unification was consistent throughout the decades. we were important in helping facilitate their unification. host: you mentioned the berlin airlift. dig into that for a little bit. guest: just to explain to our viewers, the soviets tried to starve out west berlin. they wanted to take over west berlin. to them germany had been divided into two states. we're talking about 1947-1948. you had the presence of american, british and french troops in west berlin. the soviets tried to starve out west berlin. they tried to cut the lines of communication. what the united states did was to begin and airlift. we flew our planes and literally dropped food and other supplies. you can see photos of german children rushing and getting chewing gum and cigarettes, but also food. s

east side gallery the berlin wall this stretch of the berlin wall that had been a symbol of division turning into a symbol of of unity and of berlin as an open and cosmopolitan city that it is today and even though it's dark and it's raining and the people are running for shelter i really feel that you can you can feel history here even now 30 years later yes i think that's a very good point it's impossible to escape it even if you are getting drenched our very own david love itself there braving the elements at eastside gallery david thank you. well tonight i'm joined here at the big table by a man who needs no introduction quentin peel spent much of his career as a journalist reporting on the east west conflict during and after the berlin wall he's now a fellow at the much review chatham house think tank in london when it's good to have you on the day where were you that 1st week of november 1909 and what were you planning to report. on i was sitting in moscow as i had been for a couple of years at that stage reporting in the extraordinary revolution that was happening in the sovie

one of the top destinations for east berlin is exploring west berlin with the luxury car gave a department store which was famous throughout the country since the store's founding in 1907 was ready for the record setting number of visitors east german shoppers who stayed up all night exploring west berlin. first and foremost we decided that all our guests should get a free cup of coffee here so they can warm up 1st. the shelves full of tropical fruits packed full of merchandise this was a new experience for the visitors. it's. accompanied my eyes i don't know what i should buy 1st or what i should eat 1st i bought some muscle simple uncrowded it will use are new to me. these were nervy days the east germans have to head back across the berlin wall by 8 o'clock that evening no one knew if they would be allowed out again. as of the shopping experience for the east germans and christophe you know we have to let our viewers know you know you know what you're talking about you were born you grew up behind the iron curtain what was your experience when the wall fell. well the 1st experience was