Max Pearson

But Kohl himself isn't here.

He's on an official visit to Poland.

And there's a frantic few hours as his team try to reach him.

Returning to West Berlin the following evening, Kohl sets out his vision for the future of Germany.

He's telling the world we are one nation and we belong together.

By 1989, hopes were fading on both sides of the wall that their countries would ever be unified again, resigning themselves to two separate states after East and West Germany were split in 1949.

Helmut Kohl had never given up on his dream of a united Germany, but what people didn't know was that just months earlier he'd raised the issue with the Soviet president, Mikhail Gorbachev.

For the moment, it's like a flood, it's going on, but there will be moments where we will have to reflect and to reflect about European unity and German unity.

It will happen.

The only question is when.

In the background are immense fears that an enlarged Germany could again destabilise Europe.

But on 9 November, Kohl spots a window of opportunity and seizes on his chance to redraw the map of Europe.

Three weeks later, Helmut Kohl sets out his route map for a united Germany.

That apprehension is also growing amongst the World War II allies.

The 1945 Potsdam Agreement says the US, the UK, France and the Soviet Union must give consent for a united Germany.

The USA is quick to support reunification, and Kohl offers concessions to France, reassuring President Mitterrand that reunification would not pose a threat.

But by December 1989, Europe is split.

with opposition not just from the UK, but the Netherlands and Italy too.

After democratic elections in East Germany in March 1990, the Soviet Union's Mikhail Gorbachev finally accepts a unified Germany is inevitable.

Kohl's careful diplomacy overcomes European opposition, with only the UK holding out.