Really check out our podcast you can get it wherever you get your podcast you can also find us. Tom foreman slash science. Germany is celebrating its 30 years anniversary of reunification in 190 west germany and east germany reunited to become one nation what was it like to join us and shift today to take a virtual journey through time. This is what the berlin wall looked like and unbreachable stone obstacle on the close god dividing the city for most citizens of the g. D. Are leaving the country for west germany was not possible you had to go to extreme lengths to flee like digging underground tunnels using Virtual Reality its not possible to experience what it was like when people try to escape and one from khosla got to experience what it was like for his grandfather who dug a tunnel underneath the berlin wall. This man in this picture is tells me here from go is that hes my grandfather and in this picture you see him building a tunnel under the burden wall losing of your car goes on to one chrysler and social historian and at the very time traveling back to the 1964 for the you to show virtually history. I can see in his eyes that he has a plan. Just a few years now but younger is this really is that pretty much javelin in time in 164000 Michael Vaughan coast and some friends dug a tunnel from west berlin to eastbourne and they wanted to help people to the g. D. R. It took them 6 months of digging in secret to complete until you can experience the tunnel in virtual space 12 meters deep 145 meters long the tunnel builder from back then is now a pensioner when close miking from coarsely sees the virtual video of the berlin wall until it brings back memories from latency. Before cold this. Way an exhausting. Especially on the knees are always covered in scratches and then. Sometimes we had to live. In constant fear of the tunnel. Despite all of the risks the plan works out 57. 00 women and children were able to flee using the term which is a place in the history books. And the famous story was the nothing families excrete through a house that stood directly at the wall this could also be relived virtually history. Maybe just maybe. Next. Time it offers virtual posters exploring east berlin when it was still part of the g. D. R. The bus passes by buildings that no longer exists today which is interesting to locals. Travelling through checkpoint charlie the Border Crossing point between east and west is particularly interesting. I think the most frequently asked question is actually where is the wall. And its of course an enormous responsibility to present and to make this experience relive a ball. But its also a chance to encourage people to think about what things are like that and what lessons we can learn from. What its impressive images today it really does look very different. As a scholar of Cultural Studies at the university in berlin and Kings College in london she looks at the ways in which we are can make history more vivid. How effective technologies like bush a reality truly are in bringing history back to life i think these formats work really well. And considering how theyre becoming more common for personal use it makes sense to use them for educational purposes but its important to have people. Like the disadvantage is that Virtual Reality is designed to complete and recreate an intensely emotional situation. This can quickly lead to taking on a position that can be quite problematic especially in historical political education is a very Emotional Experience perhaps its too emotional of an experience to be used to teach history objectively luckily theres another way to time travel. And the adventure game the berlin wall players have flee the d. D. R. The developers of the game hope that it can help educate young people about what life was like to tell a tarion state now where exactly was this wall thats probably the most frequently asked tourist question. A are can help with that. Suddenly the back complete with border patrols tanks and watch towers. Using augmented reality technology. Displays the virtually on your smartphone or tablet. You can even jump through the decades and see how the border. Was transformed from a barbed wire fence into a concrete wall. The most fascinating moment for me is when you put your phone aside and you still have this lingering impression that the objects are still there and that is connecting history to reality in a way thats impossible to do with a book or a movie. The berlin wall was located just a 10 minute walk from our studio here ive obviously test the b. F. Already its pretty interesting but im not fully convinced yet even though it provides spatial imagination of the walls border during a different historical period. Im sticking with photographs of course theres more to the g. D. R. Than the wall former g. D. R. Citizens dont like having their lives reduced to that if you would like to take a more personal look at everyday life in the g. D. R. The project or a memory box might be for you a german argentinian filmmaker and a canadian political scientist got together to archive and digitalize home movies recorded from 947 to 990 and now publicly available its their contribution to a more comprehensive understanding of life and the g. D. R. Life in the g. D. R. 8 millimeter film personal memories spending 4 decades 7 years ago. Herskovitz made an appeal in the newspaper for 8 millimeter films shot during the g. D. R. They never thought that they would be able to collect more than 2200. 00 rolls. 415 hours of film has now been digitalized archived and published on the open box website you can filter your search date and let yourself drift through the. Terms and freedom hubby or yellow who see 2 2nd film snippets repeatedly recombined randomly. And these 2 seconds or listen many stories in and so thats something that Digital Technology allows. If you look at the clips one after the other it changes. A little bit differently has a different effect it does. Just. These are videos that people innocently show up for themselves or their family. And thats the big difference compared to our behavior today of course. We also film our surroundings our children the food we and the places we travel. But the difference is that were also always aware that we might post or share these videos. Whereas this material on the other hand was never intended to be shared widely. Falls in risk of its visited the people who either filmed or appeared in the videos. They were then asked to comment on the. Morning sometimes at night i would dream of going to west been to see what it was love. Open memory box a more personal and unique glimpse of life in the g. D. R. And whats offered in history books what a great project but for some memories of live in the g. D. R. Less pleasant the ministry of state security or stasi spied on its own citizens when it became apparent that the g. D. R. Was and they they tore up the star the records but not completely 600000000 scraps of paper were left. Now Artificial Intelligence can help to reassemble them. The computer is doing this puzzle using the sky and fragments of torn stones he records 600000000 little pieces are stored in the archives and then you fraction of them have been digitalized it would take centuries for humans to complete this puzzle and thats why the puzzle was invented. And the gun spits on the holes for the size of the fragments is a very special challenge there was for example and a 4 piece which was torn into a 143. 00 pieces and the e. Puzzler was able to handle this challenge with really also the arc and stability thats come nikolai is the creator of the. Setting Machine Vision at the found hope for institute for Engineering Design in berlin since the eightys its a technology that enables confuses to recognize and identify objects even without a template. Vision is necessary because there are many visual processes where human beings are unable to deal divisional information in form of like medical actually images for example. Machines are faster and more effective than humans in processing large amounts of pieces and complex shapes like that to start the documents. First the software has the torn edges of each piece memorizing color content paper type these categories used for presupposing then self learning algorithm reassembles those places that have been identified as belonging to gether. Also pilots resemble the 23 bags filled with. The 1st they had to be digital thats arranged 700000 little pieces from the switcher all grew them was able to reassemble. Problem even though the software was working the scan it turned out to lack the necessary precision it for. And his team came up with new plans for a rather automatic scan is they would enable greater precision but they couldnt get the necessary funding. Even though theyre no longer scanning starfleet for the technologies being used around the world today a program very similar to the lead has legs being used to put fragments back together that weve destroyed like these from the 1900. Community center in born as iris writes. Or these books and documents from the cologne city archive which collapsed in 2000. Meanwhile there are still thousands of bags full of shredded secrets in the stasi documents archives waiting for a machine to put them back together again finding the right puzzle piece from 600000000. 00 little pieces its impressive what i can do to me projects like the odd time arrive make history. More tangible i also remember more details what do you think which project impressed you the most and what time period would you like to travel back to let us know on facebook or d w dot com and dont forget to have a look at our you tube channel where theres a lot more on the op thats it for today and. Her. Daytime job is the village. But they have a sideline as a you tube star. Doesnt even have elements. The couple are a breath of fresh air in germany Protestant Church. Different a man. Next door. Treats a Better Business. Dirty side of cocoa production is especially evident in the conflict. In the gulf plantations have destroyed primeval forest adults and children work like slaves. All to sweeten the bottom line for International Cocoa producers. 45 minutes. In the height of climate change. Africa so. Whats in store for. The list for the future. E. W. Dot com were going to go city hall to get insight. Into. Well. This is a small town in the north in german a state of lower saxony. Its home to around 2000 people and nearly all of them are protestants. But im a has something no other town in the region has asked. Stephanie and eleanor vodka are same sex couple both ordained ministers the local pastors and also the you tubers their channel is called on does amen on doors being the german word for different and amen well so be it. The topic of an upcoming episode is the gay and lesbian hanky code by which some queer people signal their sexual preferences. I dont think i can do it. What will happen after its broadcast ill have to go into hiding. Iranians to bring queer in Church Together thats our intention and not long ago while listening to a podcast i had something about the handkerchief and thought this is interesting some color has always seemed to have the same significance like violet for instance that means practically the same thing in the church isnt it here as in the thank you. Brigitta sharda chairs the Parish Council in iowa she showing us the vestments and various altar linens each color has a special liturgical significance the pastors about to see a link between this tradition and the color code the queer people used to indicate their sexual preferences. Lets get it now discussed pretty much anything there i had 2 or sexual couples dont signal in public what they like to do to each other. And when it comes to the topic of sex you may reach a point where you say i really dont want to know. That could of course happen to us but then its usually the case that it quietens down again. They knew from the start that not everybody would like their you tube channel. Said oh do bring this stuff. Down. Here you see the spam container in the car. We have to pick it up ourselves then you must. Know im in an elevator with sperm. And here you can see our positive pregnancy test. Finding out the time carrying a child that im going to be a mother that were going to be a family of us has really changed things just like that ive developed enormous feelings for this child the love for this being in my belly. He would still i if we were in a Polyamorous Relationship this would maybe you die to. One text this never take long if i had a horse a woman on my side it would kill you but now its worth it i think it has a lot to do with the individual in the course of your life you have to figure out who you are and what you need some of the stuff they record the videos in the old parsonage. The channel is produced by the local Protestant Churches radio station. Is the program producer. Im casting that im hearing all decisions we quickly noticed that most people werent up to it then we met ellen and defeat by chance at a party in frankfurt we drank a lot of apple wine together and realized they were perfect for it to their total opposites and yet have such a strong bond we had so much fun that evening and thought maybe that will come across on the internet. Or. Remember if you show means penance by are doing that by and then that and then we have to hang on for most of your listeners its clear that by that i mean spanking or your let in here but if you are like stephanie and dont understand these concepts spanking means putting somebody else asked was what penance equals spanking in just 6 months under sa men has garnered more than 10000 subscribers that makes it the most Successful Program in the german Protestant Churches new social media offensive. Steffi isnt bothered by negative comments but recently one of her parishioners expressed criticism that she took to heart. And is causing her problems while filming the latest episode. But you know its inhibiting me that comments about how when i change my voice i sound stupid that post is blocking me. But most reactions are positive theres lots of fan mail. This is wait its bigger than the beirut i have seen your videos was like a revelation its hard for me to put into words and it probably sounds crazy but just to see your buddies knowing youre there and that youre happy makes me happy. Candace amen has found an audience. Some of the we couldnt have imagined it 5 months ago then the coronavirus came along and gave digitalisation momentum in the church and maybe a whole new form of church is developing through things like under this mission for. The capital of lower saxony. Was controversial in the Protestant Church from the start. We asked the local bishop what he thinks about. My story steffi and adenhart because the bishop is no fan of men. Trying to mammas me for me oh theyre not doing it for me. Im not the target audience cool if i gives off there are lots of things where i think after 3 minutes oh no not again or thats just silly and the continuous self irony and the story of their relationship which they talk about over and over no thanks i dont need it so but other people like it you know they find it interesting and thats the reality of. The pastors themselves you tube as part of their ministry including their candid discussion of how ellen got pregnant. The bad english to think yes according to statistics one in 5 couples cant get pregnant without help you and that should remain silent on the issue. And this is past pool of your pa. I think we know what its like to get a negative pregnancy test after 2 weeks of wasting test not after youve invested a lot of money in the process. Why this is the church is silent in the face of the suffering. But ministry is about letting people know hey youre not alone. And giving people hope when you look at work. For us there are stories in the bible about people who tried desperately to get pregnant but these stories are largely unknown no longer told me talking about human failure is part of preaching and thats why we do it. As. The doctors are visiting the german capital berlin. Its wished f. E. U. Had killed was born and raised and came to know the church. And visit to her old parish in the berlin markby district. Pastors open the church just for her say its so nice of you to do this on your day off to. This is the path wed always take. You know im not sure where it is but its not on here i think we only have to go up one flight of stairs. And this was your room this was the room its really big. So cool. So its amazing that they gave us a room like this we were just straight ahead. You didnt have any supervision this was a number it was incredible we smoked weed here and drank they put in a football table and asked if we needed a t. V. And a playstation and they never asked anything about incredible i was so impressed that they trusted us it was reason enough for me to go to church. Its amazing for me to see this room she told me lots of stories about herself and her friends things that happened here i couldnt quite visualize it because for me the church was a place where you were taught a place where there were clear rules thats the complete opposite of what she experienced here so its really great to be here in this room im. Officially stephanie belong to a different parish the kaiser 3 jewish Memorial Church in the berlin hands a quarter she was confirmed in this church and here she struck a bargain with god. She would attend church for a year after confirmation if you helped her make something of her life. You were confirmed here. For crazy new years is strange to be back it was so long ago that was in 2000. And you received your 1st blessing on those steps well i was already christened but the 1st i can remember kneeling section me. Well theres no need or it was not exactly sure where it was what you dont really show you. I didnt laugh i was so nervous. I noticed it made me feel cold. As a teenager i heard that our i didnt understand the sermon didnt understand what the people was doing here i was glad if i could find the right him i had no idea what was going on even though id been confirmed. Or perhaps. I just used the time to think about my life happening and that one hour a week helped me become calmer more reflective what about and i heard really good things. I tried to listen to the sermon but after 3 minutes my mind would wonder. But i would still grasp some idea that i could think about the millions in the bank the masses in your thought. The best loved i felt at home here in church i was lost in a battle and i had my parents but my father died young i was always a trouble maker in school. And here i learned to find peace just. As it enabled me to do things that i hadnt been given the chance to do before. And im a pretty tough. Christian ministry wasnt an obvious career choice for Stephanie Rocca but she rose to the challenge. Today shes meeting her confirmation class for the last time before their big day. On the agenda making sure everyone shoes are in good order i love ok we are prepared its nice to know now you just have to relax a little and enjoy yourselves why you. Ask people get their shoes on i. Thought. I might you come over here since you had twins show me your souls the other one. Ok here ok. Ok. Yeah i know mick i get that leg up you can do it ok. No visible price tags on the soles now comes the running test its there to see i love then but now i want you to run around the rails to nuts in your shoes and you cant you start a. New guy who cares step it up. That show wont make it but was also falling apart. The shoe exercise was simple now its time to rehearse the confession of faith busy play twins go 1st. You declaring your faith in front of the congregation i believe in god the father almighty the creator of heaven and earth. If we get into scenes the resurrection of the body and live life as a lasting and in. Very good lawyers got it noise i was the one necessary for the pastor. But not all of the kids know their confession of faith as well as the twins pastor roger gets tough. If you cant remember it ill cancel tomorrow i keep telling you youre the ones who have to declare your confession of faith you have to recite it on your own i wont help you. Stephanie hard can also be stern home. She agrees to practice with each candidate. Only the twins are allowed to recite together. But the kids do get to choose a group activity. As a guide i think is really cool guys you know its. Not everyone would do it no. Conference if. He could but how do you get it. To. Who are. No laughing after all or. No outing is complete without a souvenir photo. Yes now we know stephanie much better. We know that we can share anything with her and she doesnt get mad or say no. Its not so much and i have never been go cussing said was fun and just because im a 35 doesnt mean im over the hill. Back in the church ellen heart is explaining the lords supper right now to a trainee. So at this point when were standing before the altar we have to turn stretch out our arms and sing to the congregation mind. Since you might have officially ellen is just the pastors wife but since shes also an ordained minister the spouses share many duties its great for the parish to pastors for the price of one. In the past imo only had male pastors their pictures hang behind the altar some of them were so popular that streets were named after them then stacy and ellen hardcore arrived. Its great having them in the parish i like how she holds the Services Partner fits in marvelously and can also feel. Great really great unique very good. Friendly likeable very approachable i think shes good. Into. A meeting with a local mayor. But. Well probably have to celebrate christmas outdoors. We can only accommodate 43. 00 of the church and theyll be 500. 00 people we can do it in the church. The vital out and that if you need firm ground the tunnel next to the gym in Community Center would be an alternative to the construction work should be finished by november at least that would give you a level space doesnt. To say it should be finished by november. On the lets not get a bounce. Fall because there is a fan hes even appeared in one of the videos with the form of people in love with me is the deputy mayor of dion sin and the mayor of the whole area. Is here folks give me some war so mr mayor you know you know that guy is. Getting late years have dragged me out here for the wonderful be you good i thought id see my church tower i was over there i cant see anything at all. And i think its under has become something people here identify with a supporter i meet a lot of people the local historian for instance who say did you see the new video yesterday theres a lot of enthusiasm guys dresses issues in a completely new way and its fascinating it appeals to all age groups and the people are happy to be associated with it so. That you but. After seeing the mare has just a few minutes her youth group like every friday evening she works on the youtube videos in her free time. First and foremost stephanie god is imus pastor the focus of this evening is the upcoming confirmations. The young people here have already been confirmed but they want to help their pastor with this years services. Who will be there on sunday. Yes who can be there from the start i mean in danson sunday arrives the big day due to the coronavirus pandemic begin to shada is setting up the service and im outdoors. Her sisters and their husbands have come to lend a hand. You know that. And that turns out to be somewhat difficult. Not only do they have to consider social distancing regulations but they also have to figure out the best place to put everything on the on even lawn. On. I mean on this in. 3 years ago the Parish Council was asked if they were willing to have a lesbian couple as pastors and. They havent regretted their decision to except stephanie and ellen vodka. Isnt that wonderful pastas for the parish it was absolutely we do even a thing from a very conservative traditional pastor like the ones we used to pastors that emerson fresh completely new the church was full from the start i thought what was happening here you have to expand the building you. Want stephanie who has already confirmed 3 young people in the neighboring village. Now its time for the Confirmation Service in. Because i think we should move the al to over there. Thats what this is the only spot where it didnt what its been stabilized and you need to pray for him to move. After all the time and effort it took to set things up pastor rocca has other ideas about where the altar should go. She wants it closer to the kneeler. Tries her best to explain the difficulty of finding smooth spots on the lawn for the table and chairs. You can but the pastor wont give in. To it up to this was he said after some discussion about various things that could go wrong the decision is made to move the needle or closer to the altar instead. A lot of the fans. And then the ceremony begins. Rather than one Large Service there are several small Confirmation Services because of kobe 19. There stress backstage. In the parish talk kitchen zuzana shutter rinses small glasses for the communion. Because of the pandemic each confirmation candidate is given a separate glass. The final Confirmation Service of the day is with this is even the twins held in their own backyard. Imagine this in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit. Stephanie is a village pastor with heart and soul. And. She never wanted to serve a congregation in berlin. And guard against evil helpful and strength all good. Youve said yes to our church to your god and saying yes means yes to everything and part of that everything is the lords supper its beautiful that we can now celebrate it together this is my body which is given for you do this in memory of me christs body given for you. Because of the coronavirus we cant shake hands but we can do this. Other side of your brother were. Given to me. As christ says and i am the light of the world and whoever follows be able never walk in darkness but will receive eternal life and so go in the peace of the lord d d. Stephanie hardcores contract has just been extended for 10 years and her you tube channel and those are man has been nominated for a media prize locally and internationally its a Success Story but only just. I think the greatest thing we could achieve is no longer being viewed as different but simply as part of the church and the world and later we can have a Senior Citizens channel about incontinence or whatever but nobody would be view just different. Were going to call it im continent. A. Things will be making you tube videos until were old and gracie i dont call them. That. About what the bible. Has a lot of us and souls of. Our sweet treats Better Business chocolates. To the side of cocoa production is especially evident in the conflict. In the gulf plantations have destroyed chronicles as adults and children more like slaves. All to sweden the panama. For International Cocoa producers. 15 minutes. This is some next story a stubborn rice farmer from thailand. His problem pests. His credo no chemical. And. Steps. To. Strike. The students who arent the best. Training successful. Such that it. Starts october 1st 2 w. Every 2 seconds a person is forced to flee their home nearly 71000000 people have been forcibly displaced. The consequences of disastrous our documentary series displaced depicts dramatic humanitarian crises around the world. Forgetting i didnt go to university to kill people that i dont want to have my boss come to me and tell me to kill someone having in many and if i dont theyll kill me. Keeping things for their lives and their future so they seek refuge abroad in a basket as me the most about their status seem to arise is that someday we wont even see the really sad. But what will become of those who stay behind its a way my husband went to peru because of the crisis. If he hadnt gone there we would have died of hunger. That son out of town. Just starts october 16th. This is the. U. S. President speaks from the hospital where hes being treated for me. I came here. I feel much better now working hard to get me all the way back i have to be back. But he also says he still faces a critical next 2 days in his personal fight against the coronavirus also coming off azerbaijan and armenia trade accusations over a deadly attack on the us of a job 2nd city as