About Wal Berlin
TV presenter and producer Ifor ap Glyn tells the story of the Wall, from the end of the Second World War and the formation of East and West Germany in 1949, right up to the present day in Berlin, restored capital of a unified Germany. The main emphasis is on the impact the Wall had on people's lives from its erection in August 1961 until its fall in 1989.
Recording the event
When the writing was on the Wall for the 'Berliner Mauer', Welsh photographer Pete Telfer flew to Berlin to capture the final hours on film. The Wall has been an all-consuming hobby for Malcolm Phylip-Jones since 1961 when he first read about it in newspapers whilst in a TB hospital. He felt compelled to be there in '89 to get his own concrete piece of history.
Ifor ap Glyn adds: "It's an incredible story. I hope it shows how the Wall has left an indelible mark on certain people in Germany and beyond and how it remains important in Europe's political life even today, 20 years after its fall."
Complex history
Ifor says: "The fall of the Berlin Wall is seen as a victory for the West over the East, but having met Germans from both sides of the divide, I wanted to hear both sets of voices and approach the story from several angles"
Between 1961 and 1989, 87 people were killed trying to escape to the West over the Berlin Wall and Ifor meets Jürgen Litfin, brother of the first person to be killed by East Germany's state border guards whilst trying to escape.
Ifor also interviews a Welsh-speaking Berliner. Sabine Heinz from East Berlin learned Welsh as a student at Humboldt University, which has been a centre for Celtic studies in Berlin since the 19th century.
Jina Gwyrfai, now of Waunfawr, Gwynedd is another Welsh speaker with strong German connections. Both her father and her former husband hailed from the East and she visited her relations there regularly during the time of the Wall.
Berliners Gero Will and Belinda Albrecht lived on opposite sides of the Wall, and they contrast their memories of life during and since German unification.
The Berlin Wall has played a huge part in the lives of two of the other programme contributors. Alexandra Hildebrandt and her late husband, Dr Rainer, opened the Checkpoint Charlie Museum in 1962, while French-born artist Thierry Noir made his name as one of the Wall's many graffiti artists.