Berlin remembers 20th anniversary of wall's fall
- 00:01:36
- ITN
Berlin remembers 20th anniversary of wall's fall
Germany has marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall with prayers, music and pomp. It was on the evening of November 9, 1989, 20 years ago that East Germans flooded the west and set in motion events that soon led to the country's reunification. Chancellor Angela Merkel, the reunited Germany's first leader to grow up in the communist east, started the day with President Horst Koehler and other leaders at a prayer service at a former East Berlin church that was a rallying point for opposition activists back in 1989. Earlier, she had met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. East Germany's fortified border crumbled on the evening of November 9, 1989 after 28 years holding in the country's citizens, a pivotal moment in the collapse of communism in Europe that followed a confused announcement by a senior official. Merkel - like many others - said she was among the East Germans who crossed the border that night. Memorials are also planned to the 136 people killed trying to cross the border with candles set to be lit and 1,000 towering plastic foam dominoes placed along the wall's route to be tipped over. Also expected in Berlin for the ceremonies are the leaders of all 27 European Union countries and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. Thousands are expected to gather later in front of the Brandenburg Gate - the symbol of Germany's division and then of its reunification, which for nearly three decades stood just behind the wall in no man's land. Music and fireworks will hark back to the night of November 9, 1989, when people danced atop the Berlin Wall in front of the gate.
ITN | November 9, 2009
