This week, Germany marked the 40th anniversary of the Berlin Wall's construction, which began with the sealing of the border between the Communist and Western parts of Berlin on August 13, 1961.

In the end, the wall became a 155km-long barrier of concrete, with an average height of 3.6 meters. It fixed the division of the two Germanys for almost 30 years and claimed the lives of about 250 people who tried to cross it.

Canon Paul Oestreicher, a former chairman of Amnesty International UK, said while the wall was standing the East German churches developed an anti-militarism stance, which the government tacitly recognized by allocating Christian conscripts to non-combatant roles.

"Now that the eastern churches are united with their western counterparts, that distinctive voice has been lost," he said. "The unified church is much more ambiguous about militarism."

Oestreicher, an honorary consultant in international ministry at Coventry Cathedral, said the introduction of a church tax in the former East Germany had damaged the churches there. In the former West Germany people paid the tax "without thinking about it" but in the east it had led to falling church attendance.

This affected both the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches, said Oestreicher, an Anglican priest and former secretary for east/west affairs of the British Council of Churches.

Oestreicher said that by the time free passage across the Berlin Wall was allowed on November 9, 1989, the East German population was restive and wanted reunification with the west.

"People wanted reunification, but what they ...