The Fall of the Berlin Wall

What does rock megastar Rod Stewart remember most about playing to 4 million people on Copacabana beach on New Year's Eve 1994? Well... it's not nice.Photo: Rod Stewart at the BBC. 

In December 1999 a young Dutch man, Bart Spring in't Veld, won the first ever Big Brother reality TV show. It was to be the start of a global television phenomenon. But for 22-year-old Bart the victory proved to be a mixed blessing.Photo: Big Brother winner Bart Spring in't Veld, ...  Show more

1989 was a seismic year in world history and ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the clearest symbol of the Cold War. But it was a series of events across Europe that added to the momentum. We journey back through Poland, Hungary and East Germany ahead of that historic m ...

In August 1961, communist East Germany began building the Berlin Wall, which divided the city for nearly three decades and became a symbol of the Cold War. We hear the memories of Germans from both sides of the Wall and tales of daring escapes. Plus, what life was like in the ...

How a young West German student helped East Berliners escape communism at the height of the Cold War. Volker Heinz told Robin Lustig how he worked with a Syrian diplomat to smuggle people across the Berlin Wall in the boot of the diplomat's car. From March to September 1966 the p ...  Show more

The East German authorities built the Berlin Wall in 1961 to keep their people in. Thousands had been streaming westwards. But a few people went the other way. Frauke Naumann was one of them. She grew up in West Germany but fell love with her cousin who lived on the other side of ...  Show more