Transcripts For DW Check-in 20240713

Finally over we want to celebrate this event once again with a check in special. Lucas trigger rides his bike along the berlin wall trail. Nichole fruitage follows the former course of the inner german border between the region and has and we go to leipsic where Peaceful Demonstrations in autumn 989. 00 sparked the collapse of the g. D. R. And the end of the division of germany. Look at the state can still exist to today lynn at the mall of park this is the border between east and west and once ran. In 989 it was transformed into a local recreation area. Today i write a long 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 im starting here in moa park going to the Brandenburg Gate and then all the way to the east side gallery lets go. My 1st stop on the berlin wall trail is the memorial site on ben i watched last and. Its the 1st stop for anybody wanting to learn more about the citys division rust colored poles and sections of the wall mark the location of the former border. Here a section of the wall has been reconstructed as it was during the division. The viewing platform provides the best view of the border fortifications true dimensions this is hell that you peered up to 989 the main inner walls with the death strip in between. Last year over a 1000000 people visited the berlin wall memorial on bear and i watched the last of it includes this documentation center. Historian hung up but i got showed me around the permanent exhibition. Display historical objects here that are important because theyre now for an immediate experience especially for visitors who dont know much about it who dont know the details about the berlin wall. Only taken here we see pieces of homemade diving equipment that who bet hard buy and use for his escape in 963. The north. Why did the berlin wall even exist why did they put up a wall through a city thats not here and a complex thats a very complicated question but if you want the short answer and have to say that it became clear after the founding of east and west germany in 1949 that 2 different political systems would become established and then theyd have a situation of mass exodus. And there were many people who wanted to escape east germany in the 950 s. And it culminated in the building of the war. It was a consequence of this exodus. As a mob i know fogies are. And how did the war stand for so long. How holes because it was a manifestation of an entire system. East germany was integrated into the system of eastern bloc states and so it was dependent on developments there. As not until the 1980 s. Was the development such that a little bit of opening was possible. And. I hope. That of course it was the east german citizens who took the decisive steps towards toppling the wall here. How do you teach such a complex subject to someone who has no connection with berlin who perhaps comes from south america or asia and then learns about the wall here. Yeah the model of control one we do it through the historical site we talk very specifically about what happened on bound so its very clear that the berlin wall split the street into 2 parts. So one side of the street belonged to ease. And the other side to west bend and. You had everything that made up the cold war in general was condensed here i think thank you so much my pleasure and thank you. I press on toward the city Center Following the reversibility here beyond whats now the government quarter the river marked the border between east and west until 1989. But it was guarded just as closely as elsewhere is viz white crosses on the banks testify many escape attempts here and that in death. The Brandenburg Gate stands as a symbol of germanys reunification until the fall of the wall it symbolized the very opposite it was a part of the death strip right by the berlin wall. Do you know what this gate represents i know not really. Do you know where the berlin wall was almost here thats what its my guess is it was here around here 7 do you know where the wall ran. Back there behind the case theres a line on the ground. If you think theyd be so ive been then i get from this where are we now in east or west berlin. I mean here. In the west. In the east is the is that. He said was do you know what the Brandenburg Gate stands for no i just got here it was my 1st time here actually did not know. Its a symbol of germanys reunification because so. Exactly oh very good. One of the obligatory sights in berlin connected with its division in the fall of the wall is obviously checkpoint charlie it can hardly be missed with all the tourists and how about the rounded. These large format photos summarize the most important points about the former Border Crossing where east and west faced off told under high tension. I continue on our quest for traces of germanys division along the berlin wall its fall in 1909 was the 1st big step toward reunification. An impressive relic is the longest section of the berlin wall Still Standing the east side gallery. A few weeks after the fall of the wall 118. 00 artists from 21. 00 countries gathered to paint this section but pictures are expressions of a new era dawning and hint at the emotions the fears and hopes it inspired. The wall left many visible traces in berlin and not just in the central tourist spots. There are less unknown places that have come back into their own. One such a way says is quite specs and. Until november 1989 it was part of the death strip. The water was gone the basin filled in with rubble and topped with border fortifications. After the fall of the wall the urban green space around was restored its a good place to end my journey along the berlin wall trail. Now were off to ashley in hisn new code furnishers hometown. When i was born and vega was on the edge of the federal republic a few kilometers from the inner german border between tooling and the east and hesson and the west of the border separated germany in the whole of europe into east and west but in 1909 the berlin wall fell and the inner german border was also opened for the last 30 years as a good has again been in the middle of germany. Today i want to take you on a little tour along the border between hassett and well theres that 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. My journey takes me south always along the former inner german border to the loon region i go past small towns and villages fields and meadows you dont really associate the landscape with terms like cold war or iron curtain but you can get an idea of what it used to be like at the Point Alpha Museum that lies directly on the former inner german border. Danis show bumi shows me around the. First the different stages of development of the east german border installations from 950 to the old borders stones were replaced by barbed wire. As gave these were still able to cut through it quite well when there was no patrol nearby but then the exodus to the west became more and more life threatening. There was no its not 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. At the inner german border more than 300 people paid for their escape with their lives the east german soldiers used to patrol the border strip past the east border tower only 50 meters away in the west the watchtower of the u. S. Army was located at belong to the observation post point alpha and the camp directly at the border 40 u. S. Soldiers from the black course regiment were stationed they had to be ready for action in just 10 minutes. News that coarsely meant to fly the black horse regiment it was a very strong you have to deal with its own combat helicopters armored infantry and artillery im with. The assumption was that if war broke out the soviets would advance with and this would be one of the 1st sights of a 3rd world war in the foot and it takes a lot of. Tanks were only allowed to drive up to this red line in the camp anything else would have been considered a provocation and possibly triggered the war there in the museum is visited by School Classes veterans from the usa and many others interested in germanys peaceful reunification. My next stop is far one of the oldest towns in tooling and. It was 1st mentioned as early as 814. 00. Almost as old the bridge over the valley. Begins on the other side and has been close enough to touch but in cold war times in accessible. Tells me that fire was directly in the restricted area the bridge was impassable. Guidance the bridge was a very important artery local reason its from the holy roman empire. It was on the via reg from likes to frankfurt. For we liked it very much and we were able to cross it until 1952. My aunt lived in the house on the border and then that ended here. There were more and more fences built 1st a wire mesh fence so im gonna watch tower was built on the bridge and then everything was closed off. There was nothing around this cause it was like a no mans land. How did people try to escape through the data yes of course. Very often my brother escaped in 1962 that he was a student and try back and he and his friends played jazz and that got them into trouble. So they swam across august 1900 to know. Why and say to did they succeed they made it yes 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 thats the best of us its. The best thing to have happened to us at the end of the 20th century. Its a feeling that you dont experience very often come and visit us. Today the bridge again connects and philips top its called the bridge of unity. My book castle near ice enough is a symbol of germanys unity it too was only a few kilometers away from the inner german border there are hundreds of castles in germany why is the vast books so important to germany. I have an employment with to find out. d how to. Start moving toward. Hes been guiding visitors through the book for many years 500 years ago protestant performer Martin Luther translated the bible into german here until then there were countless dialects only in the bible created the basis for a common german language. He tortured her to the language the german speak today was born in this room created by Martin Luther small itself which was good to start here 200 years later he said only through did we become one people one nation did we find a common language par. The nother milestone in the history of germany took place in the book. In 1917 students and fraternities from the many small states and principalities gathered in this chamber. They demanded a common german nation with Civil Democratic basic rights. Under law for the un a fraternity invited people to the vote book festival the other and their colors are black red and gold the black here in. Middle the red purple back then the gold modest briefly recognizable as the edge of the flag and as oak leaves in the middle. Of the flag becomes the symbol of german democracy a black red gold flag fluttered far book for the 1st time. For 30 years the book has been the castle of a unified germany again a silver members of the 1st months after the opening of the border west germans were finally free to visit the east without passports and visas and for many thought book castle was one of the 1st destinations. More than 700000. 00 people came in one year they waited in line for hours and. They were thrilled because the voc book was in super condition because they saw that investments had been made here for decades and a few we have seen in this 22 or 3 days all the golden cross on the tower and knew they were at home here here. 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. Last stop and this check in special is like see this is where the peaceful revolution began on plants 30 years ago. The demonstrations lead to the end of the g. D. R. And to german reunification i say goes took their future into their own hands and new era of investment and construction. 30 years after the peaceful revolution lights it has become a pretty exciting city everything seems possible here so its just the right time for a trip into the citys past and present. St Nicholas Church is the symbol of the 1989 peaceful revolution. A church best always been closer to the people than to those who were in power it dates back to the 12th century and was donated by like the citizens. In the 1980 s. This church was the only place where the people of lights could speak openly about the conditions in east germany. Open for everybody thats the motto of st Nicholas Church starting in 1982 people were invited to peace prayers and in fall of 1909 thousands gathered here 1st they took part in discussions and then everybody went out into the streets to demonstrate against the east german regime. An exhibition in the church tells the story of the peace prayers east german citizens called for dialogue but the regime refused to listen anger and frustration grew the peace prayers played a major role in keeping the people calm. The demonstrators carried their peaceful protest out of the church and into the city. This pillar reminds us that. Before the fall of communism used to be great rundown many houses were derelict its hard to imagine to date. One man who witnessed and accompanied this transformation is a cancer peter. d before in 1909 especially the inner city area what did they do to people. You can imagine the leipzig of the 1980 s. As a city that had fallen into the depths of despair. After 20 to 30 years of hardly any renovation many of the buildings were in a desolate state and the effect that the people. Put on people and had close links to leipsic for many centuries so it was painful for them to see the city center in particular to case so badly. For a few and then my opinion this per condition of buildings was an important factor in triggering the 1st protests in the autumn of 1909 that eventually led to the peaceful revolution. And. After the fall of communism renovation began throughout the city i now call my takes me to the to find these are 3 neighboring residential and commercial buildings from the late 19th century. This place is one of the most important ones chronicling the developments of recent years and decades. Brought along a little book that illustrates the transformation of this very same corner building. This one year exactly this is part of what we call the tri fugue him which was heavily damaged during the 2nd world war. Here you see the situation of the early ninetys after the war damage and 40 years of east german rule had been stabilized to make it safe then in the 1990 s. The entire complex was restored. I am now on the way to life and modern twist to the district. It used to be an Industrial Area a working class neighborhood. The fall of the wall brought the end of Industrial Production here but the factory holds remain. So. There was room for ideas and experiments that attracted artists and creative spirits. The best and most famous example is the Company Spinning mill within a short time its taken over as the harvest lights the start see. Lights use a boom town it is the Fastest Growing city in germany with currently almost 600. 00 thousands of have been since. An international and young city most people are between 20 and 30 years old. Thats also because of the university the new Main Building was inaugurated in 2012. The on sawmill includes the poli the University Church its reconstruction closes the room to the cityscape because the east german leadership blew up the Historic Old Church in 1968. The university of life which is the 2nd Oldest University in germany it was founded in 14009. 00. New and old are combined in a fascinating way to get a verse it is now a tourist attraction. Lad from up there from the cloud one bar you get a sensational view of the old posters plus. Laugh. And its true. I cannot imagine a better view. Like this is a city on the move with a lot of positive energy it was really fun to discover it to trace its past a little bit and of course to dive into the present as well its a really cool city by y. C. Of next time somewhere else injure. People in it merged reality wait a 2nd. We want the whole thing. Check out facts instead of make ideas shift deliver us. From the reality to cryptocurrency to your topics for live in an ever changing Digital World lets talk digitalisation. D. W. Busy. German voice. South african growth. In the Beethoven Fest 29 teams campus project. 2 worlds are united in time music. I think its done. In the eye of climate change. Africa. Whats in store. For the future. Come for the mega city double to get inside clear picture. 2 has become one of the most controversial issues. Ive never seen anything like this. We have scrutiny reached a new high tide peak. On. The prices remain. Completely balancing our real needs migrants will end on. The last. The world has ever seen people of all ages and demonstrating here really. Becomes times change well keep watching. D. W. Made for mines. This is deja vu news live from berlin somalias capital mogadishu is rocked by a massive truck bomb blast took place during morning rush hour at a busy checkpoint already say almost 80 people were killed many more injured also coming up. Australia braces for more bushfires after days of cooler weather over christmas temperatures are set to soar above 40 degrees celsius