Transcripts For DW DocFilm 20240713

Begins in a meeting will be held tomorrow between east german premier hans maggio 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 charleston played up in the days after interesting i knew that reunification was going to happen. One way or another i could see it was what the people wanted order to get a. Good suit you could see their faces on the range of expressions people cheering but also people weeping it was deeply moving. Towards new cyclone saw himself as the victor thats for sure wall. I want to stock up on the there was no stronger way of expressing the will of the people than saying we belong together were going to the flame. Yes 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 whod gotten a lot done so he get this done to the front white guy and suture piece last spring from german soil that is the goal of our unity and i was probably their contribution not Energy German unity but also to peace in Central Europe i in my sin i say that emotionally it was one of the most moving days of his life. For. No one who was in dresden 119571989 will ever forget that day dramatic as it may sound it mount a turning point in german history im Peter Limburg back then i was a reporter in dresden with the camera man youre going to hack we were reporting for west german t. V. From what was still communist east germany wed had it over the day the burning wall fell and witnessed the system collapse the people we met were euphoric about the newfound freedom but also anxious most mcleish only felt it coming what was extraordinary was how wed show up with a camera and a microphone interviewing all these people and they take us to where they lived and show us things consequently it was an openness that we hadnt expected we assumed that they were all being spied on the mothership would suit you. I guess they didnt trust their own media thats true is this we also know that they werent worried about us because we came from the west in fact they often approached us. 1st. Floor of a little city. We spent 6 months travelling around east germany a lot has changed since then and so have waiters and. Colored grief that was a reception with your highness wow amazing as usual. A lot slimmer board with a smaller. About fair enough. This is because it was a special time we had to make up a lot as we went along. Weve been going for the fly think we were the only t. V. Time travelling around in a trap people to see. Me others had flash evolved with the most vocal so move on and there we are in a truly that almost believe they come over from berlin just for a day we were there all the time but we didnt have our own car but it 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 were also that. 30 years on what exactly made the 19th of december significant. And what was going on behind the scenes in december 1009. Their clients on the plane with me everyone was preoccupied with their thoughts or. We didnt know what was going to happen the atmosphere was very tense like i am on. That whole warned us that we had to do everything in our power to avoid a volatile atmosphere explores even. In the common view order. That. The mood of euphoria and apprehension wasnt limited to palin the berlin wall had fallen on the 90. November and after months of protests the east German Government had stepped down across Eastern Europe the communist regimes were collapsing. People were celebrating but the future of both germanys was uncertain and. 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. Person push but bottom line was always keep calm. Dont let anything get out of hand dont let things get chaotic. The whole process had to be kept under control and supports this was going to call in total. 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 redefined as no one knows today whatever unified germany will look like but i am confident that reunification will happen if thats what the german people want and b. B. C. Should i call kept his plan 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 were wired that bond was forging ahead with the plan without consulting them. Certainly our passion was to go it was far too fast sighted many many other people it was very talking loudly about that but i think the reasons for the acceleration were. For. Just that the idea of unification was legitimized in close 10 points speech it was accepted as the go of germany west germany in this development. Of president gorbachev reacted very negatively to the 10 point plan 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 couldnt accept its 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. Call 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 have shouldered 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. That they wouldnt this alarmed the west German Government they couldnt believe that the allies were discussing germany without their involvement with their minds. Youre going 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 coles plane needed the allies permission. The west german delegation wasnt 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 trick would be a high wire act with the world watching but then they were met of the apple by hundreds of people just mentioned because most people didnt want the east german system anymore they wanted reunification and 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 wasnt opened up by the east german leadership as is often said the people wanted to enter communism and they wanted reunification. On the plane he was unsure of what he would experience but when he saw the cheering crowd still on top of the stairs he turned to rudolph minister of the chancellery and said its a done deal. And this awful. Moment when the fall it. Was a good governor spoke last becoming a bunch of sort of a lot was also at stake behind small to east germanys new premier reunification was not to mourn his agenda what he wanted was financial and aid for his badly run down country. But isnt this really. The point of the talks was to voice the demands and expectations we had of east germanys democratization what we would like to with it and how it could be tied to economic and Financial Aid from the west. We didnt know that things would go in a completely different direction that day for. The men didnt know one another it was taken aback to realize that cole had prepared meticulously for the meeting yet. He became we talked in the car that took us into town to nearby the fish talked. Often. I was surprised the call had been briefed in detail on my biography focused current down to my childhood in the village of yas. Its in western pomerania tired in the end of yas and notes and fulfillment and for mere thought. And i thought to myself. Oh if i could have told my own people to prepare is it better for the time. To go too far to to start started when people were lining the street on the drive into town because we couldnt go very fast we could only crawl along the street in quantity you could see the peoples faces. And the range of expression on their queues east people cheering but also people weeping. To flee through it was deeply moving and. These germans had chosen to hold the meeting and a hotel for foreign visitors contact with the public was to be kept to a minimum. But they hadnt 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. Results of islam which then its what we want more than anything us yet still we hope that the talks between more drawing call will make it happen still. Diversion and 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 dont get into an issue all the mans issue i hope that the talks are calm and objective and on the bush to be set aside i think were 2 very Different Countries and we cant just be reconciled in a sudden fit of emotion and i would soon enter a film can. We want things to change here we want our lives to improve and specify you have all of us i want to see immediate steps taken toward german reunification no further delay. You know going and i were. Among the crowd. Was one senator who remember there was a lot of jostling it was almost impossible to push their way through and ask a question. 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. But the whole situation was insane. It was fulfilled he saw the streets had been packing blanks but it didnt make a difference there was such euphoria 40 or 40 people were there in drives you shot they were calling out helmets helmets they moved it must be very hard for multiples i mean its a good reason he was the countrys leader but he was completely ignored. And goes to a well i think it was all about the powerful man from the west. But in fact hans multiple remembers it very differently from. Jerusalem and. There was a very mixed reception at the hotel all clues people werent just there to greet helmets but to greet hans too long id worked in dresden for many years they had faith in me and kinds because i had a home advantage and little i knew him for. That was the scene that was the 1st time we saw the germany united farm finance slogan. What it was the message the world was getting in those dang. Events you know as with this book i not only german saw this image the whole world did i look as if. Its what. I remember him this i just thought incredible. At the press conference the distance between the 2 leaders was immediately obvious. They had to have kind of or not i had no reason to foster a special friendship with helmut kohl on the here it seemed i wasnt Boris Yeltsin as most go to work later all those stories emerged about gorbachev and meetings held in the sauna we werent 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 can you i believe so i was just in given huts i believe that one to one talks have given us an opportunity to get to know one another and so its possible that we will go on to find Common Ground on the way theyre going to have. The expectation was that model would lay out the political and Economic Reforms he intended to launch. Thats 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 cared and. 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 cold. So where that multipole was not going to support his reunification plan. Their different positions on the question were impossible to overlook. And. We get off on almost as 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 so its an older. Cold 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 a house you have to move to everything that changes here will have an effect on the peril 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 a cold new he was on very very thin ice and this he expressed at the press conference he said i understand there is a nice i can see it i see the impatience but we have to be very careful that we dont destroy what we have just achieved just because we are too impatient. 30 years later theres not much left of that stuffy room in a cool to a palace to dresden where the press conference took place. The cloquet this looks totally different totally. This is incredible. Today the venue is one of the citys top architectural attractions it houses a concert hall the home of the dresden film monic. We were quite near the front. Close to the balustrades dome weve only had one camera we had to make sure wed be able to get out easily. There was a lot of time pressure. Or the one if you were at the back you had a better chance of getting a quote when they left. But we didnt manage that. The report we shot that day just about made it into the afternoon news. Thing did no one gets concrete benefits thats too much of a 500 of yours but i did George George a virtue of going to see if youre up at all fav any of this youtube shes going to vote for the day i get life it. Is these other countries to be defining while the press conference was underway growing numbers of east germans gathered in front of the rubble of dresden Stalin Cassia the church of our lady destroyed in the 2nd while they followed the press conference on the radio. According to the official shan joel cohen was to name 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. Would he or wouldnt he address the people. I was. The speech had been announced by this man cabot wagner he was one of the organizers of the nonveteran derry monday demonstrations against the east german leadership that were taking place that all to. Revive guns i fought and won this concert hats and is going to come and high as we want to give the west german chancellor a warm welcome i know enough alone care to share and listen to what he has to say when he lays a wreath at 4 oclock at the church ruined by sellin stones out in heart of the. After rain if occasion habit wagner served as man of dresden for several years. How had he known that code would give that momentous speech fear targo for didnt know and. For 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. No one could get ready for action better than the people who organized the monday demonstrations but then kohl speech simply wasnt mentioned again. To talk if a. Vote for the days went by and there was no mention of the speech. But i had the impression that his speech could still happen. Thats 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 were very full of whole cities outside 200 did you expect the crowds the atmosphere. There will help the hope i had no expectations i just wanted people to be there id head of coles visit to dresden and phone had rejected a proposal that the chancellor give 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 would have to such as a good to see justice see him on. Today those notes belong to his widow michael cole 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 and as a politician if you dont have an answer for the people if you dont talk to them then id say you missed your calling it. In fact call had prepared for the speech in advance. This wash 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. As a warm brainstorming. We came up with a few ideas and he made brief notes feel rushed to him. That was on a 4 paper with felt tip pen and food stuffed. Memoirs he said that he wrote his notes in his hotel room that same day. I wouldnt set much store by memoirs. If. It wasnt 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. Down to what got me through youll have to work for the 1st time in your life would you say i was doing it. Not just collect your salary when you got regular training. You took regular holiday got a new medal every year we paid for that and were still paying and thats. What. The atmosphere is volatile are you worried that the situation could escalate so it sort of. Shows thats no one can predict what will happen i certainly hope it doesnt i have a fear as both among coal supporters and his critics that the opposite side would town gnostic. By. Their left wing extremists. And theyre everywhere if we cant get rid of them you have to help us. Listen here my friend i was in the middle of the crowd and the ones calling for unity where the worse still the i know. If peace my job here is just to keep the peace but i almost got a thrashing from a couple of guys think thats 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 if thats how they want to go about unity thats not ok we dont want any kinds of radicals. Out. There were plenty of people who said be careful with reunification its not what we want what we want is a democratic east germany but they were in the minority it was a few old school worse than. Does cools biggest concern was that the crowd would have raps on im going after that they would be aggression on fights nationalistic out bests you know. Flay all right not to allow this to show that could have easily shaken up the 2nd world wars for victorious powis very quickly go see if theyre hawkish like to. Supporters of the 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 culls physics she had believed that east germany would survive the fall of the berlin wall. In a poor helpless in october i cofounded 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 well i couldnt believe it since i hadnt been thinking along those lines and it wasnt what i wanted was a little. Luck at the. Was i i was was i hope for in the us ive never been afraid but there i realized the goodness if i speak out im 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. 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 didnt trust their government they thought the. Order might close again. When helmut kohl visited the fallen cashier he knew that with his speech he had to allay their fears and gain their trust without whipping up further frenzy among the crowd i. Assume that 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 he actually now the door will shut before it even opens all the way by to office. Ladies and gentleman my dear young friends dear fellow countrymen. I. Love snow here fellow countrymen is that gave me goosebumps yes it was the 1st time that a west german politician described just as country mad not as a soviet satellite like a baltic state where people happened to speak german to finish but that was how he began begun. Thats the best of us and she nodded and still i would like to start by sending you warm greetings on behalf of your fellow citizens in west germany the business will be gushed out of the it was all over i know the 2nd thing id like to say. Id love staff is a word of appreciation and admiration for this peaceful revolution in the german democratic republic. Case it is a demonstration in for democracy. Feel table clucky for peace 15 for freedom i hate. The french and for the selfdetermination of our people. Live and selfdetermination also means that we in the federal republic respect your opinion used as well respected because he was trying to pacify them to show them that they could then if it and they would had it happen for us in the united kingdom. Here last we wont abandon our countrymen and the german democratic republic of the was evident by we want to Work Together as closely as possible especially regarding the economy see you write a clear goal to improve the quality of living in east germany as quickly as far as i feel. We want people to feel comfortable here you know if we want people to be able to stay in their homes and find their happiness study i. Said it wasnt only cheering crowds there were lots of people towards the back of the crowd who just stood there frozen not believing what was happening to most of the skiff others were. Overwhelms of the t. V. Reports didnt show that there was a mixed reactions the only show the applause was done in fans into a cup become a no go you. Shop is over you know and 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 that on the other hand there was the reality. Obviously on off the way i did the reality of 2 states 2 system its just so i stopped its rises to even hear me 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 had with misty and a few of us we stand for the basic law and we share your goal german unity that you have islands 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 to be dizzy and off those were the messages thus far 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 its 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 7 minutes until the nothe front id like eat fish let us Work Together toward this goal. Letters help each other in a spirit of solidarity check to see them from here in dresden i send my greetings to all of our compatriots in the german democratic republic and the federal republic of germany looks at the when you go god bless our german fatherland now the it was i was i was. Bored of money fest it was manifestly obvious that the east. People as represented in dresden didnt 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 a 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 peoples message to cold they wanted rain if occasion to happen fast the east german leadership had no support. And interest that evening in dresden and when we sat down together we knew there was no point negotiating further agreements with more drugs government with the only thing to do was get the ball rolling with free elections as quickly as possible if you can do you fear 100 some boost him 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 coal very quickly they can show visitors why it was one of the most difficult speeches of my political life its given the people who are waiting for a statement not only there on the square but across the country in the in west germany and in east germany millions of people abroad are where their own concern is that had to be taken into consideration were also watching and listening i sense that you have. Decades on the square where coal. Gave his speech looks very different. Today its dominated by the following cash it rebuilt after reunification. Financed by german and International Donors from all denominations its 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 citys land park. Pastor sebastian fight says that cole speech and the events of 30 years ago are inextricably linked with a frown catcher. Im going to bit of a dizzy 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 stand today i think he laid the foundation for the rebuilt church is to become not only a symbol of german reunification but also of european unity and it will soon. Become president at least the against i would say that for the people addressed and its a symbol of the change that came with the associated with the change that they themselves made happen. That 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 cash they are organized by picking a Movement Began in eastern germany that is nationalist that islam and far right supporters feel left behind and blamed the way reunification happened often forgets and one mustnt forget that these people had to really learn everything as a result of the laws new regulations and a new type of economy they grew up to smooch some people see reunification as a gift others as dictated and. So of course some people felt left behind us and i think it would make guns mccomb of them is just plain myth mentioned obviously there hasnt been enough of a dialogue with these people these are not and wanting reunification wasnt automatically a statement of support for a democratic system quinces team given his and but they didnt know what that was. That process needs to be reappraised you know if all these people are saying that maybe they want to different system. Or that theyre on happy with todays germany the fleet and the. Sustained winds will be slow and the number of people attending the picky eater demonstrations hash trunk but the successes. The far right have seen 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 doesnt thats the underlying feeling and its come to the boil these days i dont know why exactly after 30 years but they dont feel taken seriously in their own country they dont feel theres any a knowledge ment of what they achieved in their lives. Thats the perspective that. We want to do given the way the east German Government that i was a part of was treated after night 190 was pretty shocking. And very they acted as though the german reunification was up to the chancellor alone. That as a result east germany was completely sidelined. For. This you cant do that and then be surprised by the f b i. One things for sure in the postwar period the message cole 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 and again when it came to actions he delivered reunification 9 months after his tightrope act in dresden. The dresden that youre going to and i revisited is thriving but weve met people who experience that day in 1009 and germanys 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 so. Scientific. Minds let me say that my goals show the historical our permit it i remain with the unity of our i and dear friends that i know that we can achieve this goal and that the hour will come when we will Work Together towards 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 its the right path it leads to our shared future i i. Will. Eco africa. Plenty of garbage and not many Construction Materials can do what to do here is the garbage like old bottles to build things. This is the school not the photons i hear. The simple solution for a serious problem. He could have forgot. Minutes. What secrets lie behind. Discover new adventures in 360. And explore fascinating parts of the. World heritage 360. 2 didnt. Discover the. Documentary. Plane. This is the news coming from australias Prime Minister apologizes and his holiday to face the countrys unprecedented bushfires to volunteer firefighters battling a blaze near sydney have been killed crews are working to contain more than 105 is fueled by record temperatures and highways. At least 3 people have been killed this police in india crackdown on nationwide protests against a contentious new citizenship