BERLIN - WORLD leaders past and present gathered in the German capital yesterday to join in the prayers, music and pomp marking the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Berlin Wall's fall, which led to German reunification and hastened the demise of the Soviet Union.
Images of the historic night of Nov 9, 1989, when East Berliners trapped behind the 3.6m high concrete barrier rushed checkpoints to force it open, had dominated German television and newspaper coverage for the past week.
Chancellor Angela Merkel - reunited Germany's first leader who had grown up in the communist East - started the day with President Horst Koehler and other leaders at a prayer service in a former East Berlin church that was a rallying point for opposition activists in 1989.
'The night of Nov 9, 1989 was the fulfilment of a dream,' Dr Merkel said in a speech in Berlin. 'Many played a role. But it would not have been possible without the courage of the people in the former East Germany.'
Dr Merkel hosted dozens of world leaders to commemorate the wall's fall.
As part of the celebrations, she joined former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, ex-Polish president Lech Walesa and former dissidents in walking through a former border crossing in Berlin, where thousands of tourists had gathered to be a part of the celebrations.
REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Read the full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.
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