Berlin Wall collapse celebrated
Celebrations have enveloped Germany on the 20th anniversary of the night the Berlin Wall came down - signalling the beginning of the end of communism in Europe.
Led by Chancellor Angela Merkel and featuring a panoply of European, US and Russian leaders -- current and former -- Germany and its citizens were set to celebrate the historical watershed with concerts by Bon Jovi and Beethoven.
There will also be memorials to the 136 lives lost of those who tried to cross the nearly 100-mile long barrier that cut Berlin in two and stood as the most visible reminder of what was then an intractable, seemingly endless Cold War between the West and East.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that "the ideals that drove Berliners to tear down that wall are no less relevant today. The freedoms championed then are no less precious".
Several leaders were arriving in Berlin to take part in ceremonies, including the heads of state of all 27 EU members, Russian president Dmitri Medvedev.
An estimated 100,000 people were expected to gather in front of the Brandenburg Gate, the iconic gateway that once stood in the midst of no man's land, surrounded by the wall, barbed wire and machine guns.
Instead of border guards and tense emotion, the gate will be the site of music, speeches and fireworks, harkening back to the night of November 9, 1989, when people danced atop the Berlin Wall, feet thudding on the cold concrete, arms raised in victory, hands clasped in friendship and giddy hope.
On that cold night, years of separation and anxiety melted into the unbelievable reality of freedom and a future without border guards, secret police, informers and rigid communist control.
In an interview in Moscow former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said the collapse was a catalyst for peace.
"No matter how hard it was, we worked, we found mutual understanding and we moved forward. We started cutting down nuclear weapons, scaling down the armed forces in Europe and resolving other issues," he said.
