LEADIN:

Tourists visiting the Berlin Wall are stepping back in time using augmented reality.

They are using an app called Time Traveler - that creates videos of historical events when a smartphone or tablet is pointed in the direction of a monument or building.

STORYLINE

It is August 15th 1961.

Conrad Schumann, a 19-year old People's Army soldier from East Germany, is standing guard at the newly built barrier separating East and West Berlin.

On the other side of the barrier a crowd has gathered. They are calling for the soldiers on the opposite side to defect.

Suddenly Schumann starts running and after a few steps he is next to the barbed wire separating East and West Berlin.

He takes a leap, machine-gun in hand, and escapes to the Western side - and with that action creates one of the most enduring images of the Berlin Wall.

The photo of Schumann in mid-air, taken by Peter Leibing, became world famous and has been used for decades to illustrate those first confusing days when the East German authorities surprised the world by cordoning off the West Berlin.

The temporary barrier of barbed wire soon became a wall, with guard towers and a so-called death zone controlled by snipers and landmines.

Now, 25 years after the wall fell on November 9, 1989, visitors to the Berlin Wall Memorial at Bernauer Strasse can use a new app to get a feel for Schumann's escape, and 9 other events from the 28 years that the wall divided the German capital.

The Timetraveler app, developed by Robin Hardenberg in cooperation with Munich-based Metaio, uses augmented reality technology to show the historical video and photos on smartphones and tablets.

With the help of GPS the app guides the visitors to 10 sites.

Once there, the user clicks "activate augmented reality" and sees a regular feed from the camera on the screen.

But shortly after a video or photo will appear on the screen, superimposed on the current live feed, creating a mix of old and new video.

Standing at the viewing platform at Bernauer Strasse, Hardenberg explains:

"Time Traveller is an app that allows you to experience history at the place where it happened. Here for example we are at the Berlin Wall strip and you can see what happened when the Church of Reconciliation was destroyed, it is a kind of symbol of the godlessness of this place. And what is special is that you see it here, you don't see it as a film on the iPad, but rather you see it at the place where it happened. It is like a window to the past."

The app is available for 1.79 euro 9around USD $2) both on iTunes and on Google Play.

The Berlin Wall once encircled the whole of West Berlin.

It started off as a simple barrier made from barbed wire.

But throughout the years the construction was reinforced.

A concrete wall was built in 1965, and soon after a second wall inside the East German territory, which created the so-called death strip between the two walls.

The final version of the wall was built in 1975 and ran for 150 kilometres (93 miles) around West Berlin.

It was 3.6 meters (11.8 feet) high and made up of thousands of slabs of reinforced concrete.

On November 9, 1989, after months of protests and political changes in both Moscow and Berlin and confusion surrounding new travel directives for East German citizens, the wall was breached and then opened.

After the fall, most of the wall was broken apart and taken away.

Today there are only a few places left in Berlin where visitors can come close to the original wall structure.

The Bernauer Strasse memorial is one of the hot spots for the Wall tourists, and one of the reasons Hardenberg decided to focus the app on that area.

"It is really for tourists but also for anyone who is interested in the history of Berlin," he says.

"The Berlin wall has almost disappeared from the city, but here you can actually see what has happened in the past. You can see people escaping from windows and you can see how the wall was built."

Most of the video clips show escapes in the early days of the wall when people could cross the barrier by jumping out of their windows.

One shows 77-year old Frida Schulze dangling from her window.

Above, in her apartment is an East German official trying to pull her back.

Below a man is pulling her leg, trying to help her escape to West Berlin below.

In the end Schulze drops down onto the pavement and makes her way into the Western sector.

Another clip shows the Rosin family throwing their belongings out of the window as East German officials arrive to ask them to vacate their apartment.

According to the Germany Federal Commission dealing with the documents and records of the former East German State, at least 136 people died trying to cross the Berlin wall between 1961 and 1989.

But today the scenes around Bernauer Strasse are more serene.

Tourists wander around the memorial, getting a feeling for what life was like in a divided city.

Anna Harlin and Tim Bergdorf are visiting Berlin from Stockholm, Sweden.

They are trying out the Timetraveler app for the first time.

Harlin says she is impressed:

"I really like the app actually. It is great and it would be wonderful if you could work it everywhere, just put it on all the houses and see what happened there, like for 40 years ago," she says.

Bergdorf says the app gave him a better understanding of life behind the wall.

"It gave me a bit more of a better understanding of what actually happened here. Really interesting and really cool," he says.

Over 2000 people visit the 220-metre long (722 foot) stretch of the Berlin Wall each day according to Berlin Wall Memorial Foundation.

On average a visitor spends 70 minutes here.

"The Berlin Wall is a very important tourists attraction in Berlin. In general tourists also come to Berlin for the history of the city," says Hanna Berger, the Berlin Wall Foundation spokesperson.

Berger says the foundation is a positive for people developing new ways to experience the wall.

"I think this is helping," she says.

"We also think that this is good way to inform. It obviously depends on what the app shows, but in general it is good to use these new technologies, I think it is especially useful for the younger generation."

In addition to the augmented reality part of the Timetraveler app, visitors can also read information about the different points they are visiting.

The app shows the end of the story about Conrad Schumann who leaped to freedom.

He spent his whole life in the West but suffered from depression, despite building a new life there and in 1998, almost ten years after the fall of the Wall he committed suicide.

Another sad end to another sad story with the Berlin Wall as a permanent backdrop.

AP Television

Berlin - 24 October 2014

1. Close of smartphone with Timetraveller app. Person holds smartphone up towards picture on building near where Berlin wall used to stand. Video appears, showing Conrad Schumann jumping over barbed wire to escape to West Berlin on 15 August 1961

2. Close of smartphone showing video of Schumann jumping

3. People looking at video, large picture of Schumann in background (taken by Peter Leibing)

4. App showing information about escape of 77-year old Frida Schulze. Person presses activate augmented reality and video appears showing Schulze trying to escape by her kitchen window

5. Wide of person holding smartphone, zoom in to smartphone, picture appears showing apartment buildings that stood on the spot before being demolished to make way for the Berlin wall

6. Anna Harlin and Tim Bergdorf, tourists from Sweden, looking at app

AP Television

Berlin - 25 September 2014

7. Robin Hardenberg, creator of Timetraveller app, holding up tablet. App shows destruction of Church of Reconciliation on January 22, 1985

8. Close of app showing destruction of Church of Reconciliation

9. SOUNDBITE: (German), Robin Hardenberg, Creator, Time Traveller:

"Time Traveller is an app that allows you to experience history at the place where it happened. Here for example we are at the Berlin Wall strip and you can see what happened when the Church of Reconciliation was destroyed, it is a kind of symbol of the godlessness of this place. And what is special is that you see it here, you don't see it as a film on the iPad, but rather you see it at the place where it happened. It is like a window to the past."

AP Television

Berlin - 24 October 2014

10. Wide pan of Berlin Wall at Bernauer strasse memorial in Berlin

11. Close of Berlin Wall

12. Man by Berlin Wall

13. Tilt up of Berlin Wall

14. Pull focus from street to Berlin Wall

15. Wide of Berlin Wall

16. People in front of Berlin Wall

AP Television

Berlin - 25 September 2014

17. SOUNDBITE: (German), Robin Hardenberg, Creator, Timetraveler:

"It is really for tourists, but also for anyone who is interested in the history of Berlin. The Berlin Wall has almost disappeared from the city, but here you can actually see what has happened in the past. You can see people escaping from windows and you can see how the wall was built."

AP Television

Berlin - 24 October 2014

18. Close of app showing Berlin wall being built

19. Close of app showing Berlin wall being built

20. Pan from Berlin Wall memorial to Berlin wall strip with picture of the Rosin family escaping from a window on August 17, 1961

21. Close of picture on wall showing Rosin family escaping

22. Harlin and Bergdorf looking at escape of Rosin family on app

23. Close of video showing Rosin family throwing their belongings from window on Bernauer strasse

24. Wide of Harlin and Bergdorf holding smartphone

25. Close of Harlin and Bergdorf holding smartphone

26. App showing escape of Schumann

27. SOUNDBITE: (English), Anna Harlin, visiting from Sweden:

"I really like the app actually. It is great and it would be wonderful if you could work it everywhere, just put it on all the houses and see what happened there for, like 40 years ago."

28. Close of app showing escape of Schulze, zoom out to wide

29. SOUNDBITE: (English), Tim Bergdorf, visiting from Sweden:

"It gave me a bit more of a better understanding of what actually happened here. Really interesting and really cool."

30. Close of app showing when Schulze finally escaped. An East German official is trying to pull her back in to the apartment but a passerby grabs her legs and pulls her down to the safety of West Germany below.

31. Wide of tourists at Berlin Wall strip near Bernauer strasse

32. Wide of memorial wall

33. Close of people at memorial

34. Hanna Berger, Berlin Wall Foundation spokesperson, walking along Berlin Wall

35. SOUNDBITE: (German), Hanna Berger, Berlin Wall Foundation spokesperson:

"The Berlin Wall is a very important tourist attraction in Berlin. In general tourists also come to Berlin for the history of the city."

AP Television

Berlin - 25 September 2014

36. Hardenberg holding tablet with app showing family escaping by jumping from window. The West Berlin fire brigade stands below with a stretched out rescue sheet.

37. Close of app showing escape of family

AP Television

Berlin - 24 October 2014

38. SOUNDBITE: (German), Hanna Berger, Berlin Wall Foundation spokesperson:

"I think this is helping. We also think that this is good way to inform. It obviously depends on what the app shows, but in general it is good to use these new technologies, I think it is especially useful for the younger generation."

AP Television

Berlin - 25 September 2014

39. App showing picture of old buildings that were demolished to make way for Berlin Wall and Berlin Wall strip

SHOTLIST

August 13, 2008

1. Pan from right to left over Berlin Wall memorial site in Bernauer street

2. Mid of memorial panel with inscription, reading: (German) "Memorial to the Berlin Wall, in memory of the division of the city on 13 August 1961 until 9 November 1989 and in the memory of victims of communist violence."

3.Current Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit walking towards memorial site

4. Close of banners at memorial site, reading: (German) "In memory of the victims of the Berlin Wall"

5. Pan to flowers at foot of memorial

6. SOUNDBITE: (German) Klaus Wowereit, Mayor of Berlin:

"It is very important because on one side we must remember the victims and that is a commitment of every generation and also show on the other side that the Wall and dictatorship like the DDR should not be allowed to happen again and that is duty of every generation."

7. Various of photographic images of Berlin Wall at memorial site

8. People looking through gap in part of original Berlin Wall at memorial site

9. Close shot through gap

August 12, 2008

10. Mid of Artist Ben Wagin at another former site of Berlin Wall near the Reichsstag in Berlin Mitte

11. Metal sculpture of human beings with sunflowers

12. Wagin marking where the Wall stood, pan to section of Wall still standing

13. Wide of trees planted in memory of victims of Berlin Wall

14. Zoom in to part of original wall still standing in area know as Parliament of Trees

STORYLINE:

Germany marked the 47th anniversary of the Berlin Wall's construction on Wednesday with Parliament President Norbert Lammert and Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit laying wreaths at a memorial at one of the few sections of the barrier still standing.

Communist East Germany started building the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961.

East German leaders aimed to seal off their border with the capitalist enclave of West Berlin in an attempt to stop a haemorrhage of people to the West.

The so-called "anti-fascist protection rampart" stood for 28 years.

Its opening on November 9, 1989 was greeted with scenes of jubilation and was followed less than a year later by the demise of East Germany.

Much of the concrete wall, which snaked around West Berlin for 96 miles (160 kilometres), was swiftly demolished.

Berlin Mayor, Klaus Wowereit, said on Wednesday it was vital to "remember the victims and that is a commitment of every generation and also show on the other side that the Wall and dictatorship like the DDR should not be allowed to happen again and that is duty of every generation."

On Tuesday, artist Ben Wagin marked part of the ground in the new government sector of Berlin where the Berlin Wall formerly stood.

He did this to draw attention to the absence of original parts of the Wall still standing in Berlin and to highlight the importance of placing remaining parts under conservation.

Estimates of how many people died attempting to cross the Berlin Wall vary, researchers for the Berlin Wall Memorial said last week that their latest estimate is 136.

An estimated 700-800 died along the entire length of the border between East and West Germany, they said, while thousands of people managed to escape.

German cabinet minister Wolfgang Tiefensee, who is overseeing efforts to rebuild the former East Germany, which still struggles economically, said this week that the government is preparing celebrations in Berlin, Leipzig and elsewhere to mark next year's 20th anniversary of the wall's fall and the peaceful protests that led to it.

SHOTLIST

AP TELEVISION

1. Various of American actor David Hasselhoff arriving at Berlin Wall, surrounded by media

2. Wide of Hasselhoff arriving at news conference, holding up t-shirt with slogan (English) "Berlin Loves You"

3. SOUNDBITE: (English) David Hasselhoff, actor leading protest to protect Berlin Wall:

"This last piece of the wall is really sacred. It's the last memorial to the people who died and to the perseverance of freedom."

4. Cutaway of media

5. SOUNDBITE: (English) David Hasselhoff, actor leading protest to protect Berlin Wall:

"What the wall is about. It's about people and it's about hearts that were broken, hearts that were torn apart and lives that were lost. That's what these people are talking about today, it's not a piece of real estate."

6. Pan from media to Hasselhoff holding newspaper article commemorating his performance at the Berlin Wall on New Year's Eve 1989/1990

7. Wide of protest at Berlin Wall

8. Hasselhoff walking through crowds at protest, surrounded by media

9. Wide of Hasselhoff in caravan

10. Hasselhoff singing his song "Looking for Freedom" from back of caravan

11. Wide of protest

12. Protesters standing next to Berlin Wall

13. SOUNDBITE: (German) Rohardt Junge, protester:

"I'm here because I'd like to see the East Side Gallery preserved as it is, and because I think it's a nonsensical idea to build luxury apartments here."

14. Wide of protesters walking

15. SOUNDBITE: (German) Andreas Baummueller, protester:

"I hope that the (Berlin) Senate realises that this is about much more than just some apartments for a few people. It is about preserving the city's atmosphere."

16. Various of protest

17. Wide of Berlin Wall East Side Gallery

STORYLINE

David Hasselhoff has put his name behind a campaign to preserve one of the few remaining sections of the Berlin Wall.

And in Germany, The Hoff's name carries weight.

The American actor best known for starring in "Knight Rider" and "Baywatch" is fondly remembered by many Germans for releasing a schmaltzy song called "Looking for Freedom" shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Hasselhoff said on Sunday that a real estate developer's plans to move part of the wall was "like tearing down an Indian burial ground" because of the great historical importance it had.

"This last piece of the wall is really sacred. It's the last memorial to the people who died and to the perseverance of freedom," he told a news conference in Berlin.

Hasselhoff drew crowds of fans as he joined protesters at the remaining part of the wall, known as the East Side Gallery.

Standing in the back of a bus, that served as a makeshift stage, Hasselhoff sang "Looking for Freedom," with many in the crowd singing along.

Berliners have rallied against the plan they say is part of a wider trend of steamrollering Berlin's tumultuous history to make way for gleaming developments in the now unified capital.

"I hope that the (Berlin) Senate realises that this is about much more than just some apartments for a few people. It is about preserving the city's atmosphere," said protester Andreas Baummueller.

SHOTLIST

1. Various of American actor David Hasselhoff arriving at Berlin Wall, surrounded by media

2. Wide of Hasselhoff arriving at news conference, holding up t-shirt with slogan (English) "Berlin Loves You"

3. SOUNDBITE: (English) David Hasselhoff, actor leading protest to protect Berlin Wall:

"This last piece of the wall is really sacred. It's the last memorial to the people who died and to the perseverance of freedom."

4. Cutaway of media

5. SOUNDBITE: (English) David Hasselhoff, actor leading protest to protect Berlin Wall:

"What the wall is about. It's about people and it's about hearts that were broken, hearts that were torn apart and lives that were lost. That's what these people are talking about today, it's not a piece of real estate."

6. Pan from media to Hasselhoff holding newspaper article commemorating his performance at the Berlin Wall on New Year's Eve 1989/1990

7. Wide of protest at Berlin Wall

8. Hasselhoff walking through crowds at protest, surrounded by media

9. Wide of Hasselhoff in caravan

10. Hasselhoff singing his song "Looking for Freedom" from back of caravan

11. Wide of protest

12. Protesters standing next to Berlin Wall

13. SOUNDBITE: (German) Rohardt Junge, protester:

"I'm here because I'd like to see the East Side Gallery preserved as it is, and because I think it's a nonsensical idea to build luxury apartments here."

14. Wide of protesters walking

15. SOUNDBITE: (German) Andreas Baummueller, protester:

"I hope that the (Berlin) Senate realises that this is about much more than just some apartments for a few people. It is about preserving the city's atmosphere."

16. Various of protest

17. Wide of Berlin Wall East Side Gallery

STORYLINE

David Hasselhoff has put his name behind a campaign to preserve one of the few remaining sections of the Berlin Wall.

And in Germany, The Hoff's name carries weight.

The American actor best known for starring in "Knight Rider" and "Baywatch" is fondly remembered by many Germans for releasing a schmaltzy song called "Looking for Freedom" shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Hasselhoff said on Sunday that a real estate developer's plans to move part of the wall was "like tearing down an Indian burial ground" because of the great historical importance it had.

"This last piece of the wall is really sacred. It's the last memorial to the people who died and to the perseverance of freedom," he told a news conference in Berlin.

Hasselhoff drew crowds of fans as he joined protesters at the remaining part of the wall, known as the East Side Gallery.

Standing in the back of a bus, that served as a makeshift stage, Hasselhoff sang "Looking for Freedom," with many in the crowd singing along.

Berliners have rallied against the plan they say is part of a wider trend of steamrollering Berlin's tumultuous history to make way for gleaming developments in the now unified capital.

"I hope that the (Berlin) Senate realises that this is about much more than just some apartments for a few people. It is about preserving the city's atmosphere," said protester Andreas Baummueller.

SHOTLIST

1. Travelling along the east side gallery

2. Various of damaged illustrations on East Side gallery

3. Head of East Side gallery artists, Kani Alavi, checking his painting

4. Wide of Alavi walking by his painting

5. SOUNDBITE: (German) Kani Alavi, head of East Side gallery artists:

"If the politicians do not start to act soon we won't have the East Side gallery in its authentic form any longer. We have to act now and we have to use the finances we have received from several sources; the government, the city of Berlin, private sponsors and Lotto."

6. Close of gap in a wall

7. Med of split wall

8. Med of damaged wall and illustration

9. Wide of tourists walking along the East Side gallery

10. SOUNDBITE: (German) Manfred K�hne, Berlin city official:

"We have to coordinate the construction of a park, the reconstruction of the wall and the repainting of the paintings at the wall. The reconstruction of the wall and the repainting is delayed because we had to move some old houses from the park area."

11. Wide of Berlin wall

12. Various of East Side gallery illustrations

STORYLINE

Seventeen years on from the fall of the Berlin Wall, city officials and artists are locked in a battle to save one of the largest remaining sections of the historic monument from property developers, pollution, and vandalism.

The East Side Gallery, a three-quarter-mile stretch in Berlin's Friedrichshain neighbourhood, features the work of over a hundred international artists and includes iconic images like the embrace between East German leader Erich Honecker and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.

This popular tourist spot is in danger of disappearing altogether because of deteriorating walls, pollution, and tourists who like to pick-off pieces for souvenirs.

September's planned restoration is put at 1.8 (m) million US dollars, a figure that will increase depending on how much of the wall and its artwork can be saved.

Kani Alavi, heads up the East Side Gallery's Artists' association who fight to preserve the wall.

Alavi, an Iranian-born artist who contributed a mural in the 1990s says that politicians have to "act soon" to keep the Gallery "authentic".

"We have to act now and we have to use the finances we have received from several sources; the government, the city of Berlin, private sponsors and Lotto."

Another obstacle to restoration is property development planned for the area.

Manfred K�hne, a city official says: "We have to coordinate the construction of a park, the reconstruction of the wall and the repainting of the paintings at the wall. The reconstruction of the wall and the repainting is delayed because we had to move some old houses from the park area."

The wall's western side was covered in graffiti during the decades after the barrier was erected on Aug. 13, 1961. Parts of the eastern side, to which the East Side Gallery belongs, were painted only after communism collapsed.

Berlin's Mayor Klaus Wowereit illuminated a chain of balloons symbolising the Berlin Wall on Friday.

In a speech to Berliners and tourists, he said Wowereit said the light installation offered "the possibility to tear down the wall for a second time."

"This time people from around the world will send off messages, which are fixed to the balloons, messages for peace and hope that all the walls in the world will fall, concrete walls and the walls in peoples heads," he said.

The 15-kilometre (nine-mile) chain of illuminated balloons along the former path of the Berlin Wall will be released into the air early Sunday evening, around the time on 9 November 1989 when an announcement by a senior communist official set off the chain of events that brought down the Cold War's most potent symbol.

Germany is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, a pivotal moment in the collapse of European communism and the start of the country's emergence as the major power at the heart of a reunited continent.

AP TELEVISION

Berlin - 7 November 2014

1. Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit and other officials switching on light installation

2. Various of balloon chain along the river Spree

3. Balloon chain

4. SOUNDBITE (German) Klaus Wowereit, Berlin mayor:

"The 15 kilometre (nine-mile) light balloons go along the former border and symbolise the wall. This is one thing. But they also offer the possibility to tear down the wall for a second time. This time people from around the world will send off messages, which are fixed at the balloons, messages for peace and hope that all the walls in the world will fall, concrete walls and the walls in peoples heads."

5. Balloon chain

6. Public screen showing GDR police officers arresting people who are fighting the regime

7. Man watching documentary

8. Balloon chain

9. People watching video

10. Various balloon chain

11. Balloon chain in front of German Parliament

SHOTLIST:

1. Close up of allied checkpoint sign, pull out to podium and crowd

2. Mid shot of old sign saying ""Help lift the Iron Curtain everywhere" pan to Jack O. Bennett, pilot who flew the first airlift to West Berlin during the blockade

3. Wide of crowd

4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Charles C. Clay, Grandson of Lucius E. Clay (Military governor of American occupied zone of Berlin in 1947 who also organised the airlifts to West Berlin during the blockade):

"But it is critical. It is so critical that the past be remembered. It is thrilling and it is fantastic to remember and to celebrate the tearing down, the destruction of the wall. But it is equally important that we remember and honour the decades long struggle that resulted in the collapse of not only the wall but a system of government that was based upon the subjugation and brutalisation of its own citizens. The will and strength of the free people survives and won and for this General Clay would indeed be proud. I thank you for him."

5. Mid shot of crowd

6. Wide of Charles Clay and Rainer Hildebrandt, Manager of the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, unveiling a fragment of the Berlin wall which will be sent to Washington

7. Mid shot as Clay holds small piece of wall and smiles

8. Pan from musicians to church congregation during memorial for victims of the wall.

9. Pan from cross to musicians

10. Mid shot of priest speaking

11. Men in suits gathered round

12. SOUNDBITE: (German) German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder:

"I want to clearly show my feelings of solidarity to the people who were victims of the wall. My feelings of solidarity also go to the relatives of the victims who will never forget. And I think that we're also gathered here, as the mayor said, to learn what things can possibly happen in history and that this will never happen again - not in Germany, and not somewhere else in the world."

13. Wide shot of exhibition

14. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder views exhibition

15. Cutaway of cameramen

16. Close up of model and pan to Schroeder leaving

17. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder walks up to wreaths

18. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder adjusts ribbon on wreath

STORYLINE:

Hundreds of invited guests gathered at the former Checkpoint Charlie border crossing, to mark the 40th anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall.

Speaking at the event was Charles C. Clay, Grandson of Lucius E. Clay, the Military governor of American occupied zone of Berlin in 1947.

Together with Rainer Hildebrandt, manager of the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, Clay unveiled a fragment of the Berlin wall which will be sent to Washington.

Earlier on Monday, there was a memorial service for an estimated one thousand people who died trying to flee to the West - 250 of them were killed at the wall itself.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder opened a new exhibition outlining the history of the wall and said "We must learn from history so that such things aren't repeated, not in Germany and not anywhere in the world."

Schroeder also marked the anniversary by laying a wreath at a memorial on Bernauer Strasse, which ran along the wall.

The street gained symbolic importance in the months after the wall went up as people jumped from windows of apartments on the eastern side to the street, which lay in the West.

Eventually, the windows were boarded up, and the buildings torn down.

But Bernauer Strasse continued to be an escape point through tunnels dug secretly beneath it.

SHOTLIST:

1. Close up of allied checkpoint sign, pull out to podium and crowd

2. Mid shot of old sign saying ""Help lift the Iron Curtain everywhere" pan to Jack O. Bennett, pilot who flew the first airlift to West Berlin during the blockade

3. Wide of crowd

4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Charles C. Clay, Grandson of Lucius E. Clay (Military governor of American occupied zone of Berlin in 1947 who also organised the airlifts to West Berlin during the blockade):

"But it is critical. It is so critical that the past be remembered. It is thrilling and it is fantastic to remember and to celebrate the tearing down, the destruction of the wall. But it is equally important that we remember and honour the decades long struggle that resulted in the collapse of not only the wall but a system of government that was based upon the subjugation and brutalisation of its own citizens. The will and strength of the free people survives and won and for this General Clay would indeed be proud. I thank you for him."

5. Mid shot of crowd

6. Wide of Charles Clay and Rainer Hildebrandt, Manager of the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, unveiling a fragment of the Berlin wall which will be sent to Washington

7. Mid shot as Clay holds small piece of wall and smiles

8. Pan from musicians to church congregation during memorial for victims of the wall.

9. Pan from cross to musicians

10. Mid shot of priest speaking

11. Men in suits gathered round

12. SOUNDBITE: (German) German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder:

"I want to clearly show my feelings of solidarity to the people who were victims of the wall. My feelings of solidarity also go to the relatives of the victims who will never forget. And I think that we're also gathered here, as the mayor said, to learn what things can possibly happen in history and that this will never happen again - not in Germany, and not somewhere else in the world."

13. Wide shot of exhibition

14. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder views exhibition

15. Cutaway of cameramen

16. Close up of model and pan to Schroeder leaving

17. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder walks up to wreaths

18. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder adjusts ribbon on wreath

STORYLINE:

Hundreds of invited guests gathered at the former Checkpoint Charlie border crossing, to mark the 40th anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall.

Speaking at the event was Charles C. Clay, Grandson of Lucius E. Clay, the Military governor of American occupied zone of Berlin in 1947.

Together with Rainer Hildebrandt, manager of the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, Clay unveiled a fragment of the Berlin wall which will be sent to Washington.

Earlier on Monday, there was a memorial service for an estimated one thousand people who died trying to flee to the West - 250 of them were killed at the wall itself.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder opened a new exhibition outlining the history of the wall and said "We must learn from history so that such things aren't repeated, not in Germany and not anywhere in the world."

Schroeder also marked the anniversary by laying a wreath at a memorial on Bernauer Strasse, which ran along the wall.

The street gained symbolic importance in the months after the wall went up as people jumped from windows of apartments on the eastern side to the street, which lay in the West.

Eventually, the windows were boarded up, and the buildings torn down.

But Bernauer Strasse continued to be an escape point through tunnels dug secretly beneath it.

SHOTLIST

AP Television

August 13, 2007

1. Pan down of people gathered at the memorial of Bernauer Strasse (which is one of the streets which separates two Berlin's districts: Mitte in the East and Wedding in the West)

2. Close up of memorial wall (part of the original Berlin wall)

3. Wreathes at memorial wall

4. Various of people standing near Berlin wall

5. Close of Berlin wall

6. Marianne Birthler, Head of the Stasi archives speaking with reporters

7. SOUNDBITE (German) Marianne Birthler, Head of the Stasi archives:

"I know from the victims of the GDR (German Democratic Republic) regime that they want to have a clear statement about what was just and unjust. They want people to hear their stories.They want to make clear who carries the political responsibility for this crime. The degree of the penalty does not play such a big role."

8. Wide shot of Berlin wall

9. Various of gaps in the Berlin wall

10. SOUNDBITE (German) Guenter Nooke, German government representative for human rights:

"The document is not new, but I think it's good that people here in Germany are again disgusted about the GDR system. For most of the people it is not normal that the GDR gave orders to kill people, even women and children at the border. And I think it is a positive thing that people in Germany and the world hear this again or some of them for the first time."

11. People gathered around crosses reminding them of the wall victims

12. Close up of visitor

13. Close up cross

14. People paying their respects

15. Wide of crosses near German Parliament

16. SOUNDBITE (German) Richard Buchner, Member of the Association of the Victims of the Communist Regime:

"Twenty years later an order exists to kill women and children (referring to the discovery of the Stasi orders). This is incredible and I think there are legal consequences necessary. And if possible, people who are responsible for it have to be impeached for it. This is the opinion I can represent in the name of two million (m) victims of the SED (East German Socialist Party) regime."

17. Various of Berlin Wall

18. Pan from wall to wooden cross

NATO TV

FILE: 1961

19. Various construction of Berlin Wall (++black and white pictures++)

20. Various soldiers at wall

AP Television

FILE: 1971

21. Various of look out towers and barbed wire

FILE: 1989

22. Pan from Checkpoint Charlie to crowd at crossing point

FILE: November 9, 1989

23. People climbing over the wall

24. Crane beginning to dismantle the wall

25. Man using stone cutter to dismantle the wall

STORYLINE

Germany marked the 46th anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall on Monday- a remembrance given added poignancy by the emergence from the files of East Germany's dreaded secret police of an unusually explicit order to shoot at citizens fleeing the communist country.

Though the official East German border regulations said use of a firearm was to be considered an "extreme measure in the use of force," the October 1,1973 order to border guards from the Ministry for State Security, or Stasi, is much less reserved, Magdeburg's Volksstimme newspaper reported on Saturday.

"Do not hesitate with the use of a firearm, including when the border breakouts involve women and children, which the traitors have already frequently taken advantage of," the order reads.

Marianne Birthler, Head of the Stasi archives said the documents showed a willingness to commit brutality that have rarely been seen otherwise.

She spoke at a memorial service for those who lost their lives as they attempted East Germany after the barrier was erected on August 13, 1961.

"I know from victims of the GDR (German Democratic Republic) regime that they want to have a clear statement about what was just and unjust. They want people to hear their stories.They want to make clear who carries the political responsibility for this crime," Birthler said.

Before the 1990 reunification of Germany, more than one thousand people were killed on the eastern side of the highly fortified border as they tried to escape to the West, including more than 125 at the Berlin Wall.

Some politicians on Monday pointed out that the document had already been published years ago, and criticised the Stasi archives for taking advantage of the Berlin Wall anniversary to call attention to their cause and alleged they were using the documents to justify their work.

However, the German government representative for human rights, Guenter Nooke, applauded the release of the documents saying that is is good to bring the world's attention to the "disgusting" regime of the GDR.

"For most of the people it is not normal that the GDR gave orders to kill people, even women and children at the border. And I think it is a positive thing that people in Germany and the world hear this again or some of them for the first time," he added.

Richard Buchner, Member of the Association of the Victims of the Communist Regime said that the fact that these documents were around 17 years after the fall of the Wall was "incredible" and said that legal action was required.

"If possible, people who are responsible for it have to be impeached for it. This is the opinion I can represent in the name of two million (m) victims of the SED (East German Socialist Party) regime," he told the Associated Press.

Germany had been divided after the end of World War II in 1945 into communist East Germany and democratic West Germany.

The Stasi, founded in the 1950s, had 91,000 full-time employees and 180,000 undercover informers.

They kept the population of 18 (m) million under blanket surveillance while the regime built the Berlin Wall and a border bristling with mines, barbed wire, dogs and self-activating machine guns.

After the Soviet Union collapsed, the border came down, the Stasi was disbanded and East and West Germany were united in 1990.

Hundreds of former East German border guards and officials have since been convicted for border shootings. Most received suspended sentences, though a few former leaders went to jail.

After more than 12 years and four million visitors, the Documentation Centre of the Berlin Wall Memorial closed its doors in October 2013.

Now, four day's ahead of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the wall, it opened again for the media on Wednesday.

The new centre shows 500 exhibits, photographs, video, objects, which illustrate Germany's separation from 1961 until 1989.

Museum director Axel Klausmeier said that the main focus of the exhibition was on the people who lived through that time.

"Here we document Germany's history from its separation and reunification in 1990. We focus on 1961, the year the wall was built and 1989 the fall of the wall. People are in our focus," Klausmeier said.

Visitors can watch historic films or listen to the interviews of eyewitnesses to the events.

The director of the wall museum said that the exhibition was made especially for young people who hadn't experienced the separation of the country.

The reopening of the museum is scheduled for November 9 - the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

AP TELEVISION

1. Open air part of wall museum at Bernauer Strasse

2. People visiting open air wall exhibition at Bernauer Strasse

3. Tilt down from open air wall museum to strip marking former wall

4. Interior new wall museum exhibition

5. Director of wall museum showing first picture taken after the wall was built in 1961

6. Exhibition showing pictures of people celebrating the fall of the wall

7. Exhibition

8. Sign reading: (German/English)"It's high time 1989"

9. Pictures of GDR citizen's queueing in front of a store

10. Exhibition boards

11. SOUNDBITE (German) Axel Klausmeier, Director of the Wall Museum at Bernauer Strasse:

"Here we document Germany's history from its separation and reunification in 1990. We focus on 1961, the year the wall was built and 1989 the fall of the wall. The people are always our focus."

12. Wall pictures at exhibition

13. Wall pictures showing soldiers building the wall

14. Board informing about escaping the GDR

15. SOUNDBITE (German) Axel Klausmeier, Director of the Wall Museum at Bernauer Strasse:

"We want to explain especially to young people why the wall was built, how it was possible to keep a city separated for 28 years and why was it possible that the wall fell and under what circumstances it fell."

16. Various exhibition boards

Philipp Lengsfeld was 16-years-old when his fellow students put him on trial.

On that early autumn day in 1988, pupils stood up to denounce Lengsfeld and seven other troublemakers as "traitors" and "pacifists."

Then the class voted to expel Lengsfeld from the official youth movement, membership of which was compulsory for anyone with ambition in communist East Germany.

Before the mass protests that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall, a group of teenagers dared to challenge the system and paid a hefty price.

Yet they made their mark on history - inspiring many others, including of their parents' generation, to follow their example in questioning authority.

In the Kafka-esque world of East Germany, the students were punished for doing precisely what they were told to do: post their views on the bulletin board of a new "Speakers' Corner", set up near the entrance of the elite Carl-von-Ossietzky high school in east Berlin.

"I think our Speakers' Corner was unique in the GDR (German Democratic Republic, or East Germany). We were told that we could freely express our opinions - like anyone could do at the original place in London," said Lengsfeld.

The current director of the Ossietzky school, Bernd Schonenberger, has spent a lot of time talking to colleagues who taught at the school in 1989.

He recalled that the political school climate was open and progressive in 1988 but not society as a whole.

"Here at this school things were possible to do, things which needed to stay secret. They were the precursors of the revolution in 1989," he told The Associated Press.

"The Speakers' Corner here was officially approved. What the pupils didn't understand at the time was that it had to be secret and couldn't be official. As soon as it went public it was a problem" he added.

The eight students used the bulletin board to praise labour strikes in neighbouring Poland, to call attention to a growing neo-Nazi movement, and to air an ironic poem about an East German soldier's love for his Kalashnikov rifle.

Lengsfeld, and seven others seen as ringleaders, refused to back down their protest, even after authorities gave them a chance to repent.

The mock trials - watched by adults standing silently at the back of the classrooms - had been carefully orchestrated to give the official punishment an air of democratic legitimacy.

Alexander Krohn, one of the few who refused to denounce his fellow pupils, described the proceedings as a "kangaroo court."

Krohn, who was suspended for refusing to take part in denunciations, said it was a matter of honour for him to support his classmates, some of whom also belonged to a loose group of punk music fans.

"We didn't want to say the opposite of what we thought, which for the majority of the other students was normal," he said.

A few days later, the eight students were summoned to an assembly and, one by one, expelled.

"Simply put, it was the end of the world for us - from one day to another. In the morning you are a normal pupil, maybe a bit different from the average pupils but someone who lives a normal life of a high school student," said Lengsfeld.

"And all of a sudden you are confronted with the fact that you have no future in your own country anymore" he added.

But it was also a hard decision for the teachers at the time. Schonenberger, who has run the school since 1991, remembers what his former colleagues told him about the incident.

"The teachers walked unprepared into the conference. They had no chance to talk to each other before they had to vote," he said.

"A lot of things crossed their minds. If I say 'no,' what would the consequences be? Only a few people are courageous enough to vote 'no'. That's how innocent people are turned into perpetrators against their will," he added.

After their expulsion, the eight were treated like outcasts. Four faced a life-long ban from all schools in East Germany.

Their case was initially taken up by East Germany's tiny opposition movement, estimated at the time to number just a few hundred people.

Then it hit West German news broadcasts, bouncing back across the Iron Curtain as many ordinary East Germans tuned in to forbidden western channels.

Anger about the case also fuelled widespread dissatisfaction with the education system and the person who ran it, Margot Honecker, the wife of East German leader Erich Honecker.

She was one of the most hated people in the country for making political propaganda a core part of the curriculum at the expense of more useful lessons.

Historical documents show that Honecker - nicknamed "the purple dragon" and now living out her days in Chile - personally intervened to push for the crackdown on the Ossietzky students, even though many had been promising pupils and none had called outright for the fall of the Wall.

Unaware the Berlin Wall would crumble just a year later, Lengsfeld obtained permission to leave the country and go to England, where his mother lived in exile.

Lengsfeld told The Associated Press that the experience prompted him to go into politics.

The 42-year-old is now a national lawmaker. His office is situated on the same spot where Margot Honecker's Ministry of Education once stood.

"The minister's office was "Unter den Linden 71". Here was her main office where she signed our verdict. Today it belongs to the German Bundestag and my office is in the building. You can say we have come full circle" said Lengsfeld.

AP TELEVISION

Berlin - 4 November, 2014

1. Philipp Lengsfeld, who was expelled from Carl von Ossietzky Gymnasium - a Berlin secondary school - walking along street

2. Pan from cafe on street to close of Lengsfeld

3. Exterior of Carl von Ossietzky Gymnasium, a secondary school in Berlin

4. Close of sign reading (German) "Carl von Ossietzky Gymnasium"

5. Pupils walking towards school entrance

6. Tilt up on column used as Speakers' Corner

7. Tilt up on photograph of Speakers' Corner in 1989

8. Close of photograph showing message posted on column in 1989 reading (German) "Speakers' Corner should be a place to speak freely again"

9. SOUNDBITE (German) Philipp Lengsfeld, former pupil of Carl von Ossietzky Gymnasium, who was expelled from the school:

"I think our Speakers' Corner was unique in the GDR (German Democratic Republic, or East Germany). We were told that we could freely express our opinions - like anyone could do at the original place in London."

10. Tilt down from ceiling to Bernd Schonenberger, Director of Carl von Ossietzky Gymnasium, holding booklet open at photograph of Speakers' Corner

11. SOUNDBITE (German) Bernd Schonenberger, Director of Carl von Ossietzky Gymnasium:

"Here, at this school, it was possible to do things; things which needed to stay secret. They were the precursors of the revolution in 1989. The Speakers' Corner here was officially approved. What the pupils didn't understand at the time was that it had to stay secret and couldn't be official. As soon as it went public it was a problem."

12. Alexander Krohn, former pupil of Carl von Ossietzky Gymnasium, walking down street (walking towards camera)

13. Krohn standing in front of TV tower in Berlin

14. Photograph of Krohn as a teenager

15. SOUNDBITE (German) Alexander Krohn, former pupil of Carl von Ossietzky Gymnasium, who was temporarily suspended from the school:

"We didn't want to say the opposite of what we thought, which for the majority of the other students was normal."

16. Schonenberger opening door into school assembly hall, pan of tables and chairs

17. Low shot of tables and chairs, Schonenberger standing in doorway to assembly hall

18. Copy of relegation paper issued by Margot Honecker, GDR Minister of Education

19. SOUNDBITE (German) Philipp Lengsfeld, former pupil of Carl von Ossietzky Gymnasium, who was expelled from the school:

"Simply put, it was the end of the world for us - from one day to another. In the morning you are a normal pupil, maybe a bit different from the average pupils but someone who lives a normal life of a high school student. And all of a sudden you are confronted with the fact that you have no future in your own country anymore."

20. Print of paper issued by Honecker

21. Schoenenberger explaining what happened at the school assembly hall in 1988

22. SOUNDBITE (German) Bernd Schonenberger, Director of Carl von Ossietzky Gymnasium:

"The teachers walked unprepared into the conference. They had no chance to talk to each other before they had to vote. A lot of things crossed their minds. If I say 'no,' what would the consequences be? Only a few people are courageous enough to vote 'no'. That's how innocent people are turned into perpetrators against their will."

23. Tilt up on Lengsfeld walking towards Brandenburg Gate

24. Zoom into picture of Honecker

25. SOUNDBITE (German) Philipp Lengsfeld, former pupil of Carl von Ossietzky Gymnasium, who was expelled from the school:

"The minister's office was "Unter den Linden 71". Here was her main office where she signed our verdict. Today it belongs to the German Bundestag and my office is in this building. You can say we have come full circle."

26. Tilt down from Berlin TV tower to mural on wall

27. Wide of Berlin street scene

SHOTLIST

NOTE THE SECTION OF WALL SHOWN BEING REMOVED IN THIS PACKAGE IS A PIECE OF A MOCK WALL ERECTED BY THE PROTESTERS

1. Medium protesters in front of wall

2. Close police pushing protesters

3. Pan police to protesters

4. Close police pushing away protesters

5. Medium protesters

6. Medium police setting up barriers

7. Wide wall with protesters in front

8. Close removed wall piece and crane chained on wall piece

9. Pan down crane to protesters

10. SOUNDBITE (German) Robert Muschinsky, protester

"It's a scandal and embarrassing. Today we show the world that we destroy a long lasting part of our history here in favour of the interests of private investors."

11. Close picture of poster showing model of new apartment house with a red cross through it

12. SOUNDBITE (German) Kani Alavi, artist

"With our art we documented the peaceful revolution. It is a document which needs to be saved for later generations. If we destroy it now, we have nothing left to illustrate our past. We have to fight to keep this historic document."

13. Medium builder unchaining crane from wall piece as protesters cheer and whistle

14. Zoom out crane chain moving away AUDIO: applause

15. Various protesters in front of wall

16. Section of mock wall built by protesters to cover the removed section being taken down

17. Various of police carrying mock section of wall away

18. Medium of gap in the real wall

19. Section of mock wall wrapped up on truck

20. Close of gap in the real wall

21. Zoom out from Berlin TV tower to mock wall section on truck

STORYLINE

Construction crews working to remove a section of one of the few remaining stretches of Berlin Wall were disrupted by protesters on Friday

Crews were only able to remove one section from the famous East Side Gallery before about 300 protesters pressed too close for the work to continue.

Demonstrators then managed to erect their own mock section of wall to cover the gap, before police removed it and took it away by truck.

Protesters are angry that such an important part of germany's history is being modified to make way for a condo project.

"With our art we documented the peaceful revolution. It is a document which needs to be saved for later generations. If we destroy it now, we have nothing left to illustrate our past. We have to fight to keep this historic document," said local artist Kani Alavi.

Alavi is one of the artist who's painting is displayed at the wall. Two day's after the wall came down he started painting the faces of people he saw during the night on November 9th 1989.

The East Side Gallery is the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall and is one of the German capital's most popular tourist attractions.

Despite its popularity, local city district chairman Franz Schulz told German newspaper 'Bild' that historical preservation authorities had given a construction firm permission to remove a section to build a road to access a new luxury apartment complex it is building on the nearby banks of the Spree river.

The plan is for an approximately 20-metre (22-yard) stretch of the 1.3 kilometre (3/4 mile) section of wall to be removed and relocated. It's not the first time a section has been removed; a few years ago, a section of wall in front of a new sports and concert arena was taken down.

For Robert Muschinsky it is a scandal. Since years he is fighting for keeping the east side gallery. The wall strip is one of the last reminiscent of a divided Germany during the cold war.

"It's a scandal and embarrassing. Today we show the world that we destroy a long lasted part of our history here in favour of interests of private investors."

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, many visitors have snubbed the German capital's glitzy western districts in favour of the city's hip, exciting east.

But the western side of Berlin is challenging the east's hipster credentials in a major revival.

Nowhere is the change more obvious than in the latest trendy hotel to open its doors in the city: the 25hour Hotel Bikini Berlin.

It has been called Berlin's latest hipster hotel - and the 25hours Hotel Bikini Berlin does tick all the boxes.

From dark hallways illuminated by neon room numbers to the mandatory fixed wheel bike as standard - the Bikini Berlin does a good job of serving the hipster travellers who are so fond of the German capital.

Guests lounge around in hammocks in the rooms and in the lobby, only adding to the hotel's quirky image.

But one thing sets this hotel apart from its rivals.

It is not located in trendy Kreuzberg or Mitte. Not even in Neukoelln or Prenzlauer Berg.

It sits right in the middle of Berlin's City West, the area running along the shopping street Kurfuerstendamm, which used to be the very centre of West Berlin before the fall of the wall in 1989.

The hotel opened its doors in January 2014.

It is located in a listed 1950's office block that was dubbed the Bikini House because of its bikini-like shape.

General Manager Michael Wuensch says the hotel aims to reflect the variety of the city.

"We set ourselves the task to create a hotel that mirrors the diversity of Berlin, the creativity of Berlin and the culture and subculture of Berlin," he says.

Right next to the hotel is the Berlin zoo and some rooms boast a view of the monkey enclosure.

From the roof terrace on the other side, guests can see the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, which was partly destroyed during the Second World War and is now a memorial to peace and reconciliation.

The hotel is located in an area that is rapidly coming back into fashion, according to Burkhard Kieker, head of Visit Berlin.

"Twenty-five years ago, when the wall came down, all the focus was of rebuilding the east of Berlin, which had a very shabby socialistic image, and during that time the showpiece of the free west, West Berlin, was forgotten for 10 to 15 years. This has changed now, now Berlin West, the area around Kurfuerstendamm, is staging a marvellous comeback," he says.

The Berlin hotel is the fifth in the "25hours" hotel chain, with other hotels located in Zurich, Vienna, Hamburg and Frankfurt.

It has 149 rooms, ranging from smaller budget rooms for 115 euros (150 US dollars) per room per night to extra large rooms for 175 euros (229 US dollars) per night.

Wuensch says that the 25hours chain wanted to open a hotel near the Berlin zoo to give the hotel an urban jungle feel.

But once they started investigating the area around Kurfuerstendamm, he said they quickly realised that it was an area on the rise.

"We find the development really exciting. We did not want to open in an area saturated with hotels like in Mitte (central Berlin), where we would just be another cool hotel. Here we can play a part in getting things moving," Wuensch says.

The hotel's guests share his enthusiasm.

Sena Schmidt, who is staying in the hotel for the weekend, is a satisfied customer.

"I really like it. I like the location, the people and the food and breakfast is very good. Very nice," she says.

Simon Hampel, a visitor from Frankfurt, agrees.

"From the room to the restaurant and the whole hotel� It is all unique and beautiful" he says.

AP Television

Berlin - 22 April 2014

1. Pan of exterior of "25hours Hotel Bikini Berlin"

2. Man walking along dark hallway

3. Close of illuminated room numbers

4. Close of Victory Colum in Berlin seen through hotel window, zoom out to man lying in hammock in hotel room

5. Pan of hotel room with bicycle mounted on wall, desk, television and bed

6. Close of bike provided with room

7. Pan of pillows embroided with words (English) "Let's spend the night together" and "Almost home"

8. Pan from sofa to bed

9. Pan of another room

10. Various of lights in room

11. Wide of reception desk

12. Two women in hammock in reception

13. Man lying in hammock

14. Man in hammock in hotel room with view of Berlin zoo

15. Long shot of gorilla in enclosure in zoo, seen from room

16. Michael Wuensch, general manager of 25hours Hotel Bikini Berlin, walking past bar

17. SOUNDBITE: (German) Michael Wuensch, General Manager of 25hours Hotel Bikini Berlin:

"We set ourselves the task to create a hotel that mirrors the diversity of Berlin, the creativity of Berlin and the culture and subculture of Berlin. "

18. Man walking through bar area, opening door and walking out onto terrace

19. Mid of Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church seen from terrace

20. Wide of Kurfuerstendamm shopping street in west Berlin where hotel is located

21. People on Kurfuerstendamm

22. People on square in front of memorial church

23. Wide of memorial church

24. Men drinking beer at outdoor cafe table

AP Television

Berlin - 7 May 2014

25. Chief Executive Officer of Visit Berlin, Burkhard Kieker at his desk

26. Close of Visit Berlin logo on bike in office

27. SOUNDBITE: (English) Burkhard Kieker, Chief Executive Officer of Visit Berlin:

"Twenty-five years ago, when the wall came down, all the focus was of rebuilding the east of Berlin, which had a very shabby socialistic image, and during that time the showpiece of the free west, West Berlin, was forgotten for 10 to 15 years. This has changed now, now Berlin West, the area around Kurfuerstendamm, is staging a marvellous comeback."

AP Television

Berlin - 22 April 2014

28. Illuminated sign reading (English) "Hotel"

29. Pan of restaurant in 25hours Hotel Bikini Berlin

30. People eating

31. Close of food in frying pan

32. People eating

33. SOUNDBITE: (German) Michael Wuensch, General Manager of 25hours Hotel Bikini Berlin:

"We find the development really exciting. We did not want to open in an area saturated with hotels like in Mitte (central Berlin), where we would just be another cool hotel. Here we can play a part in getting things moving."

34. Children in hammocks and on swing in hotel lobby

35. SOUNDBITE: (German) Sena Schmidt, hotel visitor:

"I really like it. I like the location, the people and the food and breakfast is very good. Very nice!"

36. Man locking bike in hotel lobby

37. SOUNDBITE: (German) Simon Hampel, hotel visitor:

"From the room to the restaurant and the whole hotel� It is all unique and beautiful."

38. Close of lamp in hotel

A 15 kilometre (nine-mile) chain of lamps along the former site of the Berlin Wall were being prepared on Thursday to mark the upcoming anniversary of events which brought down the Cold War's most potent symbol.

The lampposts will be topped by illuminated balloons on Sunday.

The balloons will be released into the air early Sunday evening, around the time on November 9, 1989, when a garbled announcement by a senior communist official marked the beginning of the end for the wall.

Moritz van Duelmen, head of light installation project wants to give everyone a sense of how the city used to be.

"We want to show all Berliners but especially young Berliners, who haven't experienced the wall, where the wall was. We also want to give visitors the chance to experience it," he said.

Germany is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the night the Berlin Wall fell, a pivotal moment in the collapse of European communism and the start of the country's emergence as the major power at the heart of a reunited continent.

The opening of East Germany's fortified frontier capped months of ferment that brought Poland's first post-communist prime minister and saw Hungary cut open its border fence.

The hardline leadership in East Berlin faced mounting pressure from huge protests and an exodus of citizens via other communist countries.

AP TELEVISION

Berlin - 6 November 2014

1. Lampposts in front of information display

2. Lampposts

3. Man placing lampposts on line where wall once stood

4. SOUNDBITE (German) Moritz van Duelmen, head of light installation project:

"We are preparing a large light installation simulating the former Berlin wall. This installation divides the city on a path of 15 kilometres. We want to show all Berliners but especially young Berliners, who haven't experienced the wall, where the wall was. We also want to give visitors the chance to experience it"

5. Chain of lamps along river Spree the tops of which will inflate and be released

6. Chain along the river Spree

7. Top of lampposts covered with plastic bags

8. Pan of lamps along river

9. Top of lamppost with German flag in the background

Thousands of people gathered on Sunday evening in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate for an open air event held as part of celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the night the Berlin Wall fell.

Almost 7,000 balloons were released into the sky, many carrying messages of hope.

The balloons were released from poles that formed a line illuminating a 15 kilometre stretch of the former border between East and West Berlin.

The symbolic act recalled the night of November 9, 1989, when thousands of people from the communist East streamed through gaps in the Berlin Wall to celebrate freedom with their brethren in the West.

"Our family was separated. One part was in the former GDR (German Democratic Republic), even imprisoned," said one spectator, Rose Krueger.

Ana Pereira from Portugal said even the intense cold did not spoil her enjoyment of the spectacle.

"I just texted a friend saying I might have lost some toes and something because it is very cold," she said, adding "It was worth it."

And Berlin citizen Christine Belz said she was asleep when the wall fell 25 years ago, "but today, I wanted to be here."

Among the dignitaries attending was Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit.

"Nothing and no one may deny the wish for freedom," he said.

"We hope that all the people who are having to suffer from the walls of our times will experience something like we experienced. New courage, upheaval, change to overcome injustice and suffering," he said.

The night was capped with a huge firework display that lit up the night sky over the Brandenburg Gate.

AP TELEVISION

Berlin, Germany - 9 November 2014

++NIGHT SHOTS++

1. Balloons being released at Brandenburg Gate

2. Crowds waiting for release of balloons on poles at Bernauer Strasse that form a line illuminating a 15 kilometre stretch of the Berlin Wall, the former border between East and West Berlin

3. Balloons being released at Bernauer Strasse

4. SOUNDBITE (German) vox pop, Rose Krueger, Berlin resident:

"Our family was separated. One part was in the former GDR (German Democratic Republic), even imprisoned. Now, for the last 25 years, we have a united Germany and this is the greatest joy for us."

5. People taking photos of balloon chain

6. Balloons being released at Bernauer Strasse

7. SOUNDBITE (English) vox pop, Ana Pereira, tourist from Portugal:

"It was very moving, very touching, and I just texted a friend saying I might have lost some toes and something because it is very cold. But it was worth it. It is a moment in time, you know."

8. People taking photos of light installation

9. Balloons being released at Bernauer Strasse

10. SOUNDBITE (German) vox pop, Christine Belz, Berlin resident:

"It was wonderful today. Twenty-five years ago I missed the fall of the wall because I was asleep but today I wanted to be here."

11. Celebrations at Brandenburg gate

AGENCY POOL - AP CLIENTS ONLY

Berlin, Germany - 9 November 2014

++NIGHT SHOTS++

12. Klaus Wowereit, Mayor of Berlin, addressing crowds in front of Brandenburg Gate

13. SOUNDBITE (German) Klaus Wowereit, Mayor of Berlin:

"Nothing and no one may deny the wish for freedom and self-determination, nowhere. And nothing will protect authoritarian regimes from the call for democracy and justice in the long run. So we hope that all the people who are having to suffer from the walls of our times will experience something like we experienced. New courage, upheaval, change to overcome injustice and suffering. This is the message which we are sending together today from the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin."

14. Various of firework display at Brandenburg Gate

LEAD IN:

An exhibition tracing dissident art created when East Germany was under Soviet rule is opening in Berlin.

The exhibition 'Voices of Dissent: Art in the GDR 1976-1989' traces the subtle - and sometimes obvious - ways artists tried to show their opposition to the Communist state.

STORY-LINE:

It was a time of the Berlin Wall, constant state surveillance and a suffocating lack of democracy.

The German Democratic Republic (GDR) was established in Soviet-occupied parts of Germany after the Second World War and continued until after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Most parts of a citizens' life were controlled by the state and the communist party – and art was no exception.

Artists were required to create works which suited the ideology of the communist system, preferably with motives that showed the heroism of the working class.

But a number of artists in the GDR refused to conform and created pieces which ignored the required propaganda, or was even blatantly opposed to the regime.

An exhibition showcasing the works by leading oppositional artists is now opening in Berlin.

Hans-Hendrik Grimmling is one such dissident artist included in the exhibit.

After refusing to adapt his paintings to state standards and participating in several artist actions, he came to the attention of the secret police - the Stasi.

"I was not allowed to travel, not even in the Eastern Bloc. My exhibitions were closed down," says Grimmling.

"The seal around me was getting very close, very present. The flow of information stopped. I had a lot of invitations to go to France, but I was not allowed. The feeling of tightness was getting very close and schizophrenic. It was like an infection in us all. And as an artist you are always looking for ways the get healthy and whole again."

Art played an important role in the GDR.

Social realist paintings depicting the glory of the state, the heroism of workers and the enlightenment of the leaders hung in every state building.

Many artists made a good living creating such pictures, others stayed apolitical and kept their head down, some challenged the regime and its artistic norms.

"Of course, many of the artists just painted still life pictures and landscapes and stayed out of politics," explains co-curator Christoph Tannert.

"But on the other side, there were the subculture artists that used a very clear language, either against the aesthetic norms of the artists union, with art that used crazy forms and expressive touches or by using realism and depicting themes that were considered taboo."

The German Democratic Republic (GDR) was established in Soviet-occupied parts of Germany in 1959.

The state was modeled on the Soviet Union with an all-powerful politburo and secret police.

Showing signs of dissent was not easy.

Many dissident artists had to spend time in jail, others were forbidden to travel outside their home cities and most were under constant surveillance.

Instead of creating obviously dissenting art, many painted pictures with codes and hints, or focused on the inner life of the citizens, instead of the politics of the state.

"When you walk through the exhibition you will not see many works that are obviously political," says co-curator, Eugen Blume.

"Most of them are using symbolism and are more concerned with existential questions as with the politics of the GDR. That is what distinguishes the quality of this art, that is concerned with the state of the soul."

Grimmling was finally allowed to emigate to West Germany in 1986 under a program where the west paid to have dissidents released and deported.

He says he still carries his time behind the 'Iron Curtain' with him.

"Life continues. Is something wasted in us? Can we use that experience when starting something new today? I think so," says Grimmling.

"I think that even though the time was horrible I cannot pretend it did not happen. I think that I get the force in my pictures from that time."

The 'Voices of Dissent: Art in the GDR 1976-1989', opens 16 July at the Martin Gropius Bau Museum in Berlin and runs till 26 September.

LEAD IN:

An exhibition tracing dissident art created when East Germany was under Soviet rule is opening in Berlin.

The exhibition 'Voices of Dissent: Art in the GDR 1976-1989' traces the subtle - and sometimes obvious - ways artists tried to show their opposition to the Communist state.

STORY-LINE:

It was a time of the Berlin Wall, constant state surveillance and a suffocating lack of democracy.

The German Democratic Republic (GDR) was established in Soviet-occupied parts of Germany after the Second World War and continued until after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Most parts of a citizens' life were controlled by the state and the communist party – and art was no exception.

Artists were required to create works which suited the ideology of the communist system, preferably with motives that showed the heroism of the working class.

But a number of artists in the GDR refused to conform and created pieces which ignored the required propaganda, or was even blatantly opposed to the regime.

An exhibition showcasing the works by leading oppositional artists is now opening in Berlin.

Hans-Hendrik Grimmling is one such dissident artist included in the exhibit.

After refusing to adapt his paintings to state standards and participating in several artist actions, he came to the attention of the secret police - the Stasi.

"I was not allowed to travel, not even in the Eastern Bloc. My exhibitions were closed down," says Grimmling.

"The seal around me was getting very close, very present. The flow of information stopped. I had a lot of invitations to go to France, but I was not allowed. The feeling of tightness was getting very close and schizophrenic. It was like an infection in us all. And as an artist you are always looking for ways the get healthy and whole again."

Art played an important role in the GDR.

Social realist paintings depicting the glory of the state, the heroism of workers and the enlightenment of the leaders hung in every state building.

Many artists made a good living creating such pictures, others stayed apolitical and kept their head down, some challenged the regime and its artistic norms.

"Of course, many of the artists just painted still life pictures and landscapes and stayed out of politics," explains co-curator Christoph Tannert.

"But on the other side, there were the subculture artists that used a very clear language, either against the aesthetic norms of the artists union, with art that used crazy forms and expressive touches or by using realism and depicting themes that were considered taboo."

The German Democratic Republic (GDR) was established in Soviet-occupied parts of Germany in 1959.

The state was modeled on the Soviet Union with an all-powerful politburo and secret police.

Showing signs of dissent was not easy.

Many dissident artists had to spend time in jail, others were forbidden to travel outside their home cities and most were under constant surveillance.

Instead of creating obviously dissenting art, many painted pictures with codes and hints, or focused on the inner life of the citizens, instead of the politics of the state.

"When you walk through the exhibition you will not see many works that are obviously political," says co-curator, Eugen Blume.

"Most of them are using symbolism and are more concerned with existential questions as with the politics of the GDR. That is what distinguishes the quality of this art, that is concerned with the state of the soul."

Grimmling was finally allowed to emigate to West Germany in 1986 under a program where the west paid to have dissidents released and deported.

He says he still carries his time behind the 'Iron Curtain' with him.

"Life continues. Is something wasted in us? Can we use that experience when starting something new today? I think so," says Grimmling.

"I think that even though the time was horrible I cannot pretend it did not happen. I think that I get the force in my pictures from that time."

The 'Voices of Dissent: Art in the GDR 1976-1989', opens 16 July at the Martin Gropius Bau Museum in Berlin and runs till 26 September.

Berlin, Germany - 15 July 2016

1. Wide of "Das Gespraech" (The Talk) by Reinhard Stangl (1987)

2. Various close shots of "Das Gespraech" (The Talk) by Reinhard Stangl (1987)

3. Various wide shots of exhibition

4. Wide of "Figure" by Mark Lammert (1988)

5. Close tilt up of "Figure" by Mark Lammert (1988)

6. Setup shot of Hans-Hendrik Grimmling, Artist featured in exhibition, standing in front of his work "Die umerziehung der voegel" (The Reeducation of the Bird, 1977) ( Editors please note: the plaster is the result of a minor, unrelated accident at home).

7. Close of Grimmling

8. Various close shots of "Die umerziehung der voegel" (The Reeducation of the Bird, 1977)

9. SOUNDBITE (German) Hans-Hendrik Grimmling, Artist featured in exhibition:

"I was not allowed to travel, not even in the Eastern Bloc. My exhibitions were closed down. The seal around me was getting very close, very present. The flow of information stopped. I had a lot of invitations to go to France, but I was not allowed. The feeling of tightness was getting very close and schizophrenic. It was like an infection in us all. And as an artist you are always looking for ways the get healthy and whole again."

Berlin, Germany - 13 August 1976

10. Pan left along metal barrier on top of wall to East Berlin

11. Wide of red writing on wall, reading: "SUPERMACHTE RAUS AUS DEUTSCHLAND"

12. Close of sign, reading: "You are leaving the American sector." pull out

13. Mid of soldiers behind metal fence

14. Pan right from people to wall and barrier

15. Wide of children playing behind wall, pull out

Berlin, Germany - 15 July 2016

16. Various of remnants of the Berlin Wall standing outside the Martin Gropius Bau Museum where exhibit is taking place

17. Wide of "Der Zugriff" (Access) by Helge Leiberg (1990)

18. Various close shots of "Der Zugriff" (Access) by Helge Leiberg (1990)

19. Close tilt down of "Mann mit Koffer" (Man with Suitcase) by Trak Wendisch (1983)

20. SOUNDBITE (German) Christoph Tannert, Co-Curator of Exhibit:

"Of course, many of the artists just painted still life pictures and landscapes and stayed out of politics. But on the other side, there were the subculture artists that used a very clear language, either against the aesthetic norms of the artists union, with art that used crazy forms and expressive touches or by using realism and depicting themes that were considered taboo."

21. Wide of "Der Buerokrat" (The Bureaucrat) by Frank Maasdorf (1980)

22. Close of "Der Buerokrat" (The Bureaucrat) by Frank Maasdorf (1980)

23. Various pan shots of "Der Buerokrat" (The Bureaucrat) by Frank Maasdorf (1980)

24. Wide of "Ohne titel" (No Title) by A.R. Penck (1974)

25. Various close shots of "Ohne titel" (No Title) by A.R. Penck (1974)

26. SOUNDBITE (German) Eugen Blume, Co-Curator of Exhibit:

"When you walk through the exhibition you will not see many works that are obviously political. Most of them are using symbolism and are more concerned with existential questions as with the politics of the GDR. That is what distinguishes the quality of this art, that is concerned with the state of the soul."

27. Wide of woman looking at various paintings

28. Close of "Weisse Bildnis" (White portrait) by Strawlade (1984)

29. Wide of "Animateur - Auch ein Kunstleben - Arschloch" by Hans Scheib (1986)

30. Various of "Animateur - Auch ein Kunstleben - Arschloch" by Hans Scheib (1986)

31. SOUNDBITE (German) Hans-Hendrik Grimmling, Artist featured in exhibition:

"Life continues. Is something wasted in us? Can we use that experience when starting something new today? I think so. I think that even though the time was horrible (Note: Grimmling uses an expletive here) I cannot pretend it did not happen. I think that I get the force in my pictures from that time."

32. Pull out of "Der ewige Soldat" (The Eternal Solider) by Peter Herrmann (1969-1970)

33. Wide of "Der ewige Soldat" (The Eternal Solider) by Peter Herrmann (1969-1970)

34. Close of "Der ewige Soldat" (The Eternal Solider) by Peter Herrmann (1969-1970)

One day ahead of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, German Chancellor Angela Merkel addressed the "Falling Walls Conference", an international historical science conference held in Berlin as a part of the anniversary celebrations.

Merkel stressed that "in the long run, the human urge for freedom cannot be oppressed."

"The human desire to determine one's own fate ended the inhuman division of Europe and the Cold War," she said, reflecting on the historical importance of the November 9th 1989 anniversary.

"Freedom opens up new world. He who can think and research freely is awarded with new perspectives, new ways of thinking and the freedom to break new ground," she told the audience.

Merkel, 60, grew up in East Germany.

Official celebrations to mark the fall of the wall will conclude in Berlin on Sunday.

A 15-kilometre (nine-mile) chain of lighted balloons along the former border will be released into the air early Sunday evening - around the time on November 9, 1989 when a garbled announcement by a senior communist official set off the chain of events that brought down the Cold War's most potent symbol.

AGENCY POOL

Berlin - 8 November 2014

1. Zoom out of German Chancellor Angela Merkel greeting science conference hosts

2. Merkel and her husband Joachim Sauer (on her left) speaking to conference host

3. Tracking shot of Merkel walking up to podium as audience applauds

4. SOUNDBITE (German) Angela Merkel, German Chancellor:

"Tomorrow, we will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the wall. This day clearly shows us that in the long run, the human urge for freedom cannot be oppressed."

5. Audience listening

6. SOUNDBITE (German) Angela Merkel, German Chancellor:

"Unlike in 1953 (the East German uprising which was violently struck down), 1956 in Hungary, 1968 in Czechoslovakia or 1981 in Poland with Solidarnosc (Polish trade union) , the longing for freedom and self-determination could not be crushed. Neither in East Germany nor elsewhere. The human desire to determine one's own fate ended the inhumane division of Europe and the Cold War."

7. Merkel speaking

8. SOUNDBITE (German) Angela Merkel, German Chancellor:

"Freedom is a necessary premise and an engine, so to speak. Freedom opens up new world. He who can think and research freely is awarded with new perspectives, new ways of thinking and the freedom to break new ground."

9. Merkel receiving award, holding piece of the Berlin Wall

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and former French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas warned of the threat of a new Cold War during speeches at an event on Saturday to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

"Bloodshed in Europe and the Middle East against the backdrop of a breakdown in dialogue between major powers is of enormous concern right now," Gorbachev said.

He also called for renewed trust to be built through dialogue with Moscow, and suggested the West should lift sanctions imposed against senior Russian officials over its actions in eastern Ukraine.

Dumas stressed the importance of peace, respect and "a strong and brave disarmament policy", without which, he said, "everything could start over again tomorrow."

Meanwhile, preparations for the anniversary celebration were in full swing.

Choir rehearsals were taking place and workers were setting up cables for a live transmission of the event near the city's Brandenburg Gate.

A 15 kilometre (9.5 mile) chain of light balloons was set along the former wall path near the German parliament and river Spree.

The balloons will be released into the air early Sunday evening, around the same time that, on 9 November 1989, an announcement by a senior government official set off the chain of events that brought down the Berlin Wall.

AP TELEVISION

Berlin, Germany - 8 November 2014

1. Various of choir rehearsal on stage Brandenburg gate

2. Staff talking on stage

3. Zoom out of light balloon installation

4. Man preparing light balloon

5. Balloon installation, crowd watching

6. Various of staff setting up stage

7. Various of newsgathering satellite vans

8. Former French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas (standing up with walking stick) and former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev (seated) attending symposium

9. Cameraman

10. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Mikhail Gorbachev, Former Russian President:

"Bloodshed in Europe and the Middle East against the backdrop of a breakdown in dialogue between major powers is of enormous concern right now."

11. Cutaway of people attending symposium

12. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Mikhail Gorbachev, Former Russian President:

"The world is on the brink of a new Cold War. Some people are even saying that it's already begun."

13. Dumas and Gorbachev at symposium

14. SOUNDBITE (French) Roland Dumas, Former French Foreign Minister:

"I tell you, my friends, without peace, without respect between nations, and without a strong and brave disarmament policy, everything could start over again tomorrow. Even everything we used to know, and what we named 'Cold War'."

15. Various of balloon installation close to German parliament

16. Various of people at memorial for victims of Berlin Wall

17. Various of balloon installation at river Spree marking former wall path along German parliament and river Spree

T/I 10:00:10

WALL BABIES CELEBRATE 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF WALL'S FALL

Berlin, Germany Natsot Duration: 1.43"

Sixty German children born on November 9th, 1989 -- the day when the Berlin wall came down -- have gone to the city's Town Hall to mark the fifth anniversary of its fall. Hosted by the city's mayor, Eberhard Diepgen, the event was sponsored by the car manufacturer, Volkswagen-Audi; the car company which has adopted the role of "godfather" for each of the children. November 9th, 1989 was a landmark in German history, as Berliners from east and west came together to drink champagne, embrace and dance on the wall that divided their city for 28 years.

SHOWS:

(BERLIN, GERMANY 9/11) Exterior city hall. Two girls. PAN to birthday cake. Children at party. Diegpen cutting the cake. Diegpen handing out the cake. Small boy running around with balloon. Group of kids. More balloons and kids. WS table as cake is handed out. VS cake. Small boy. WS of event.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said on Friday the collapse of the Berlin Wall demonstrated how important good relations between Germany and Russia were for the entire world.

Gorbachev spoke to a crowd at the former site of Berlin's famous Checkpoint Charlie crossing point, two days before the 25th anniversary of the Wall's fall.

He was honoured by Cinema of Peace Foundation for his role in bringing down the Iron Curtain between East and West Europe.

The elder statesman, who kept Soviet troops stationed in East Germany in their barracks the night of 9 November 1989, said "as long as Russians and Germans understand each other, as long as our relationship is good, then everyone benefits."

Ties between Berlin and Moscow have been strained recently by the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

AP TELEVISION

++NIGHT SHOTS++

Berlin (at former site of Checkpoint Charlie) - 7 November 2014

1. Crowd at former border crossing known as Checkpoint Charlie

2. Original piece of the Berlin Wall being transported for official ceremony by Cinema for Peace for former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev

3. Plaque with inscription reading (English) "25 Years of the Fall of the Berlin Wall Hero of Peace Mikhail Gorbachew"

4. Plaque with people in the background

5. Gorbachev arriving for ceremony

6. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Mikhail Gorbachev, Former Soviet Union President:

"We must always remember the lessons of the past and we must learn from the past and we have learnt from the past that as long as the Russians and Germans understand each other, as long as our relationship is good, then everyone benefits. This means we have to make sure that it stays so. I wish you all happiness, health and success and I am proud that I helped in some way, so that we can live the way we live today and that our relations are how they are. I wish you all well."

7. Cutaway of journalists

8. Gorbachev placing hands on part of the original Berlin Wall to create hand print

9. Close-up of Gorbachev's hands

10. Gorbachev leaving ceremony

11. Gorbachev's hand print on plaque

12. Hand print plaque surrounded by journalists

13. White balloons marking the place where the Berlin Wall formerly stood

14. Balloon structures