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Cold War nations celebrate day the Berlin Wall was toppled 20 years ago
Paul Waugh, Deputy Political Editor9 Nov 2009
Thousands of Germans celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall today as world leaders gathered to mark the event that triggered the end of the Cold War.
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was set to join Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Polish president Lech Walesa in walking through Bornholmer Strasse, the drab corner of East Berlin where the wall first cracked open.
The main celebrations in the city were at the Brandenburg Gate - the symbol of German reunification - and 1,000 giant foam dominoes, painted by young people, were due to topple to represent how Communist governments in Eastern Europe fell one after another in 1989.
President Gorbachev, whose decision not to use force against the protesters 20 years ago was crucial, accompanied Mrs Merkel for the commemoration. They were joined by Gordon Brown, French president Nicolas Sarkozy and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Former Hungarian Prime Minister Miklos Nemeth, whose decision to open his country's borders first allowed East Germans to flee to the West, was also an honoured guest.
Mr Brown was to pay tribute to the Germans who had the courage to challenge the authoritarian regime, as well as the world statesmen who helped trigger the spread of democracy, saying: "The wall that had imprisoned half a city, half a country, half a continent, half a world for nearly a third of a century was swept away by the greatest force of all - the unbreakable spirit of men and women who dared to dream in the darkness."
Mr Brown said that Berlin's "majesty" was summed up by the lack of the Wall: "Its majesty lies not in the presence of a structure, but in its absence. The wall is gone. Two Berlins are one. Two Germanys are one. Two Europes are one." East Germany erected the 96-mile concrete Wall in 1961 to encircle West Berlin, stopping East Germans fleeing into the capitalist enclave. More than 100 people are believed to have been killed at the Wall trying to escape.
But the barrier was unexpectedly opened on 9 November 1989 after weeks of pro-democracy protests.
Mrs Merkel, who was a young East German scientist when the Wall fell, said last week it was "the happiest day in recent German history".
A big concert at the Brandenburg Gate was due to start later in the day. The festivities will be capped with fireworks and performances by musicians from all over the world.
On the eve of the celebrations, Mrs Clinton called for a new push to free those still oppressed. Our history did not end the night the Wall came down," she said. "To expand freedom to more people, we cannot accept that freedom does not belong to all people."
