U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has met German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas at the former border between East and West Germany ahead of festivities to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The two officials were visiting the village of Moedlareuth, which was divided during the Cold War between East and West Germany.
The border, which was one of the most heavily guarded in the world during the Cold War, came down in a peaceful popular revolution on November 9, 1989.
Pompeo has known about the village of just 50 inhabitants since the time he served as a tank unit commander in West Germany in the 1980s.
"Inspired to be in Moedlareuth, or 'Little Berlin,' a town divided by a wall that straddled East and West during the Cold War," Pompeo tweeted alongside a photograph of himself and Maas.
"Thirty years ago, I served here alongside my German friends. Today, I spoke with students representing a unified Germany; I am confident in their future."
Pompeo, formerly the head of the CIA, landed late on November 6 in Nuremberg and was greeted by the U.S. ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell.
On November 7 he met U.S. troops stationed in the Bavarian towns of Grafenwoehr and Vilseck.
The United States has around 35,000 soldiers remaining in Germany, with 10,000 in Grafenwoehr and Vilseck.
Pompeo is due to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on November 8, along with Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz.