I know that over the years many of you seen the pictures and news clips of the wall that divides Berlin.

But believe me, no American who sees firsthand the concrete and mortar, the guard posts and machine gun towers, the dog runs and the barbed wire can ever again take for granted, his or her freedom or the precious gift that is American.

That gift of freedom is actually the birthright of all humanity and that's why as I stood there I urged the Soviet leader Mr. Gorbachev to send a new sign of openness to the world by tearing down that wall.

The famous words of President Ronald Reagan expressing a sentiment that we're all very familiar with, that the infamous regime in the east should inevitably give way to the freedoms of the west when it came down to it.

When the Berlin Wall was indeed torn down and Germany changed forever, was it that simple to the people most closely touched by it?

What is the legacy of this event in the eyes of those who lived in Germany at the time? We're going to find out. But first we should take a step back and situate ourselves in the confusing twists and turns of Cold War history.

On the 9th of November 1989, just over a month since anti-government protests in the East German cities of Dresden, Lifezig and East Berlin, the Berlin Wall that symbolized the division of East and West,

came crumbling down. Another East German government spokesman had mistakenly announced during a press conference that citizens of the German Democratic Republic, that's East Germany, would be allowed to travel freely without restrictions effective immediately.

As the news spread, crowds of Berliners flocked to the city's major border crossings from both sides. East German border guards were overwhelmed by the unexpected throngs that excite the city's border crossings.

It throngs of excited citizens and for a moment it looked as if things might turn ugly. Fortunately for everyone, the unprepared border guards instead decided to open the gates, allow people to begin what was for many, their first journey out of the GDR.

The iron curtain had been well and truly pulled down.

33 years later, to the day, you can still visit the ruins of parts of the Berlin Wall. The remnant and rubble are the divide between East and West socialism and capitalism.

For this anniversary episode, I've got snapshots into what Life was like on both sides of the Wall and what it meant to people of different backgrounds, professions and world views.

We have a Western diplomatic perspective describing what it was like to be acutely aware that every day peace in Europe was on a knife's edge.

We hear the perspective of a West German, who along with his film crew, was torn between covering events and getting involved.

I stood between those pillars, which were illuminated, and I looked up. And there was the noise and the Maurezwek, the Wall has fallen.

And I suddenly broke into tears.

We have the impressions of an now internationally acclaimed archaeologist, who presents the events of the unfolded issue was then, through the eyes of a young East German teenager.

And the insights of an East German rocker and lead singer, who describes what it was like to pursue a career in music in the GDR and the unified Germany that followed.

You could smell the smell of revolution. It was part of a revolution I could say. And everybody was really excited and a good mood and everyone could feel that something will change.

Listen to Dan Snow's history. You might have noticed that we got a cool new look for the podcast I've been gracefully aged in the portraits.

I'm totally relaxed about that. And today, today folks, we're debuting our new theme music, we're messing about.

...