Ive always wanted to show you around my hometown a small city in the state of hessen in the heart of germany. There are more than 1000 have to merge houses here. And if youre lucky youll hear the bells ring at the market place. When i was born and spiegel was located on the fringe of the German Federal republic germanys and our border ran only a few kilometers from here it separated has and and germany and all of europe for that matter and to east and west but in 1909 the wall came down in berlin and the border between east germany and the federal republic was opened for the past 30 years now and speak it has been at the heart of germany. Today i want to take you on a little tour along the border between hassett and thuringian well visit places that still bear witness to the Cold War Division of germany and thats victims and well find out what has changed since reunification turning a once heavily fortified death strip and so unattractive Tourist Destination. Well visit a small town torn apart in the cold war. Well check out bob castle one of the symbols of german reunification. And globetrotters steve painter sends his regards from durban in south africa. Im heading south all the way along the border between hess and tooling and until i reach the. 3rd cities and towns meadows and feels quite unimaginable that this region was once marred by the cold war and cut into by the iron curtain i want to find out what things were like back in the day and head over to point alpha a former u. S. Observation post at the inner german border. In oxford. Takes me around the premises 1st he shows me the different stages of the east german border fencing. Starting in 1952 the old boundary stones were replaced with barbed wire. But those trying to flee could easily cut it when no Border Guards were in sight so the east german leadership made escaping more and more dangerous. And i know were in the middle of a minefield that dates back to the 1960 s. When they began building the berlin wall on august 13th 1961 the inner german border was secured through military means and 1. 3 to 1400000 land mines were planted. The death strip whoever managed to pass it unscathed was often brought to a halt at the last border fence would have from there. It would have been very difficult to climb the fence practically impossible to pull yourself up by your fingertips. Up until 1904 there were also s. M. Seventys here antipersonnel mines which would detonate if anyone tried to climb up. They were called automatic firing devices and would have fired shrapnel that anyone trying to escape and had. This was the Border Patrol road in the former east. Only 50 meters across the border a u. S. Army watch tower it was part of observation post alpha 40 u. S. Soldiers were stationed here they all belong to the reno and black chorus regiment a demanding task at the frontline of a conflict that had the whole World Holding its breath and is that quickly given the black horse regiment was a very strong unit on its own combat helicopters armored infantry and artillery the assumption was that if war broke out the soviets would advance and this would be one of the 1st sights of a 3rd world war and it couldnt it could fly and go to. Every Accidental Movement could have had devastating consequences tanks were only allowed to drive up to this red line a rule established by the americans and meant to avoid provocation that could have caused the soviet leadership to see. Nowadays point out tells the tale of germany seemingly distant but there youve recent history groups of schoolchildren come to learn but also veterans who served here and many people from around the world interested in germanys peaceful reunification by the way this watch tower was only built in 1984 back then nobody thought that 5 years later the cold war and the iron curtain would be history until not too long ago the region were in right now the loon was full of military infrastructure on both sides of the border today the low Mountain Range as a protective bias fair reserve and still somewhat of an insider tip for travelers for hiking biking or just taking a little time up. The one is a low Mountain Range in the middle of germany often called the land of open spaces it ranges from the state of turning in to hassen and the various. There are some larger cities on the outskirts for example mine again in the east which for a long time was the capital of the duchy of socks a mine again. For the borough city of boulder in the west. And right in the middle is the vasa cookbook the highest peak of the 1950 meters. This is the heart of gliding in germany because of the thermals. The 1st attempts at gliding took place before the 1st world war for the 1st competitions were organized in 1920. A sailplane is designed to write the air currents without an engine so that it can just glide through space. Back when germany was still divided sailplanes from hessen in the west sometimes found themselves gliding towards and even over the border just 15 kilometers from the boss a cuppa. Some pilots were even arrested and only released weeks later after paying a hefty fine in torch marks. The planes were confiscated. Today these gliders and paragliders have the same ideal thermal lift conditions but there is no border that they have to mind. So they can glide freely in the one glance of the open spaces. Little remains of the iron curtain only the Border Patrol road still meanders through germany i can start to walk on it on the shores of the baltic sea and would end up in hope and bavaria the 1400 kilometers of exclusion zone have turned into a greenbelt a protected area for flora and fauna. My ts kissed as one of the many environmental activists in east and west that demand the german green belt not be used for construction or agricultural purposes he wants it to be fully returned to nature those interests were close to the book on the taft which is now flowing again and its own bed and. Before the wall came down this stream was part of a no go zone on the eastern side of the patrol road set up to prevent escapes. When the. After the wall fell the riverbed was recalled invaded by environmentalists and hassen with you know enough to move her to see. India. That now there are wetlands for plants and animals for and this is a very valuable im a christian you have to undergo recently you dont get a flu now. Surprisingly political and military hostility were Fertile Ground for endangered species. And regularly takes visitors around the greenbelt to introduce them to the biodiversity of the region and. I know. I went on a really fun walks with some biology students from all snuffed look. We went to the also which is known for its orchids the country. Instead of the usual half hour the walk took 2 and a half because the biology students kept stopping at every blade of grass. When they met for. Their lives so its not just the locals in the greenbelt has turned into an attractive Tourist Destination this clean up on the greenbelt will never be a tourist trap thank god. Its not done but its very important that those who are interested should be able to come here. And. This will always be a small select group there wont be any mass tourism. But were noticing more and more people coming from a far more fun clothes on and finally on. My next stop is far one of the oldest towns in tooling and. Its existence was 1st documented in the year 814. Almost as old this bridge that crosses the vent of river on the other side lies phillips only a stones throw away but unreachable when germany was divided elizabeth its born and raised in fatherhood tells me how this bridge when from connecting people to separating them. During a cold war was located in the exclusion zone what was daily life like. With a few when we drove in and drove out we had to show a special stamp on our id. No one else was allowed in on friends couldnt visit us. We were allowed to request a visitors permit from the police for very close relatives 6 we wouldnt know for 6 weeks whether wed get permission or not because im a good miracle because. In that battle ben this place looked very different and you tell us about this bridge and the role it played. Yeah the. Bridge was a very important artery cause of 4 kids from the Holy Roman Empire it was on the view regular from like sick to frankfurt or. We liked it very much or if you leave and you were able to cross it until 1952 and im on now you know or lived in the house on the border i wouldnt mind a tunnel and then that and i did hear your there was there were more and more fences. First a wire mesh fence. Then i watched tower was built on the great. And then everything was closed off and there was nothing around this cause it was a no mans land really i mean months lot and i dont want to people trying to flee across the valley thats really. Worse very often my brother escaped in 1962 he was a student in flyback and he and his friends played jazz and that got them into trouble with this band so well they swam across in august 1982. So i and. Safety did they succeed as they made into a virus and in november of 989 the border opened what was that like your family was reunited so was germany euphoria must have been immense i suppose and thats the stuff this is about its the best thing to have happened to us at the end of the 20th century this. Its a feeling that you dont experience very often come on in the us. You can relive this moment in foz local history museum. And amateur filmmaker captured the scene as the west started to tear down the border wall the famous berlin wall came down on november 9th 989. 00 only 3 days after the border between father and philips top followed. Oh oh oh. This is going. To. Since then the old bridge has returned to its original function connecting and philip stop. Trying to take a little tour of the lives tom the small town is home to a true gem a castle dating back to the 17th century and surrounded by a lush park. Setting out to explore the world wasnt really an option for the citizens of communist east germany people in fox couldnt even visit their neighbors here in philips top nowadays things are much easier that our globe trotters states paint it all he needs is a ticket a backpack and a sense of adventure this time we caught up with him and durban south africa 2nd biggest city. We started things off in the sunny city of devon im here with my local guide to tell me who god is around for today some stock i could go now to the legal eagle welcome to the city of babylon was on the lookout were going to take a wild on a call to. South africas womb a city is like a dont like east coast and thats a population of about 3 and a half 1000000 in the metropolitan area durban is famous for being the busiest port in the country its also seen as one of the Major Centers of 2 reason because of the citys womb subtropical climate and extensive beaches to. Get. It. Right richard and moses be the stadium which was built for the world cup in 2010 and were here to make russia the worlds tallest when its got. To. Live through what you. Know is it safe and it was scary. Its expected its gets to be back. Should stay on ground. In the next morning we hit the road and drug about 3 hours northeast. So we just drove into the wind and what we see just right after we went to some sea brought here. I guess is. Our base inside the park was the hilltop cant which overlooks the reserve. First came dr king are sitting right. There ready for the season. Right also theres research to support. The little day employers because it is the oldest proclaimed nature reserve in africa it consists of 960 square kilometers of purely topography and is known for its rich wildlife and conservation efforts here each of the big 5 game animals can be found in just a short amount of time also we were able to see 4 out of the big 5 on our 1st game drive. And we are back at the covered resort in the pool which is the purpose of quite finished this trip through the region of was the laptop. Was. Back in germany im on my way to the protest mining area stretching out on both sides of the back up and has an as well as chewing out between 1945989 it was divided after reunification east and west german potage industries merged the privatization led to the closure of unsafe or inefficient mines and the loss of many jobs in the former east the mine in macas was turned into a visitors attraction. Wallish guba takes me on a tour of the huge underground labyrinth. Even the ride is quite an adventure. 140 square kilometers of winding tunnels the nazis believed this to be the perfect hiding spot in april of 1905 u. S. Soldiers couldnt believe their eyes when they came upon this room thousands of boxes and bags filled with cash diamonds and gold paintings by rembrandt go do. And many others anticipating the downfall of the 3rd reich the nazis hid a lot of their gold and currency reserves and macca us. From assuming so what dimensions are we talking about here from that old line of mark i knew you were right markets throughout the summer. If you count everything in but it comes to 3000000000 writes mark in the bank notes alone. There was so much money stored here that there was a shortage of cash in berlin. One of the most spectacular finds never t. V. This is of course a replica the original is back in berlins Pergamon Museum if all of this is an adventurous enough for you you can also explore the labyrinth by Mountain Bike but there are only a limited amount of spots and dates so you should sign up ahead of time in any case theres plenty to see down here. Like this grotto full of sparkling salt crystals. Because it was on board its Something Special or unique in the world as far as we know salt crystals of this size with a metre long edge arent found anywhere else except at mcas. And in the right light its twice as beautiful. The time now for our weekly the mail our viewer jeff messmate sent us a video of his trip to the island of later on the philippines there he went scuba diving and thats an amazing footage of the pacific colorful underwater world. By. One. Why. Why. Why why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why why. That book castle in eyes in a symbol of german reunification. If you was located only a couple of kilometers from the inner german border germany is arguably a country of many castle so why did the vast book play such a crucial role in german history im eating with Elise Baum Howard to find out that that was a for many years hes been shelling visitors through the vast books into the birthplace of the modern german language 500 years ago monte lucia translated the bible into german and. This very room until then there have been countless dialects has bible created a unified german language in the language that german speak today emerged in this room with Martin Luther. Good to start here hundreds of years later he said we became of people a nation because of Martin Luther thats how we found a common language they would fight to get my hands on the spot. Another milestone in german history took place in the books banquet hall and 817. 00 students and fraternities hailing from small states and principalities got together and this room. Here they demand that the founding of a unified german nation with Democratic Civil rights. Under the 1st the un a fraternity germanys 1st fraternity invited people to the festival. When the fraternity colors were black red and gold was black in the middle red and then a modest gold on the rim of the flag and in the middle and old french. Was about the flag became the symbol of german democracy black red and gold blue over the log book for the 1st time. Today the book is once again a castle for all germans a little a still remembers the 1st months after the border was opened west germans were finally able to cross into the east without needing a visa or passport and for many the bought book was the 1st place to visit. Just that one year more than 700000 people came. And they waited in line for hours before they were amazed because the fact book wasnt such a good state and that money had been invested over decades. All prejudices flew out the window before they saw all the gold cross on the tower and they knew they were home here the homes of. Even the hardest of frontiers are essentially artificial concepts and because theyre artificial they can be challenged by the people and eventually taken down its been 30 years since the fall of the iron curtain and the reopening of the inner german border 3 decades that have blurred the lines between east and west and still we mustnt forget about the past which is why its so important to have places that remind us of how difficult and Different Things is to be around these parts thanks for joining me thats it for this week ill see you next time somewhere in germany. Ok you know this is you know 5 minutes 4 minutes. Has an hour and a beauty combined. Has it all. Fits in the pantheon of the great tenors certainly his one for the ages. Come up. With him how to be done to go softly as well. You know if i had known that the boat would be about small i never would have gone on the trip to you know i would not have put myself and my parents or my 10 year old out of the game of the to give a flavor would. Love one son to the other one a little bit if you give them i have Serious Problems on a personal level and i was unable to live their lives im going to. I want to know their story and for my great stir fried and reliable information for margarets. Logo to the girl next new jersey chapter. Closed goodbye of stories. With exclusive insights. And a must see concerning parts culture to ensure of. Place to be in full curious minds. Do it yourself networkers. So subscribe dont miss out. And im. Glad. I am. Its been 15 years since the moon landing. She was the 1st man to walk on the moon. As a small boy she dreamed of the stars. As a pilot she flew anything no matter how to dress. A church or go to the pole. As an astronaut he took part in the greatest adventure in history. But she wrote a legend was simply a human being who was neil armstrong. The moon was his destiny starts july 20th on t. W. Turkey has received the 1st shipments of a Russian MissileDefense System at a military base in the capital ankara turkey a nato member is going ahead with the deal despite the threat of sanctions from the u. S. The russian weaponry is incompatible with nato systems