enlarge The Associated Press

Fireworks explode Monday over the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, during events commemorating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

enlarge The Associated Press

Dominoes begin tumbling after being pushed at the site of the former border separating East Berlin and West Berlin. Participants included Jerzy Buzek, president of the European Parliament, second from right, and Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, third from right.

BERLIN WALL DIVIDED DEMOCRATIC WEST, COMMUNIST EAST

The Berlin Wall was a massive, concrete barrier that completely enclosed the city of West Berlin, separating it from East Germany and East Berlin.

Built by the former German Democratic Republic in 1961, the Wall included guard towers that circumscribed a wide corridor later known as the “death strip.”

Its purpose was to keep citizens of communist East Germany from fleeing to the West. Unrestricted emigration had become a problem for the communist government of East Germany after Russia and the Allies divided Europe at the close of World War II.

BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev crossed a former fortified border on Monday to cheers of "Gorby! Gorby!" as a throng of grateful Germans recalled the night 20 years ago that the Berlin Wall gave way to their desire for freedom and unity.

Within hours of a confused announcement on Nov. 9, 1989, that East Germany was lifting travel restrictions, hundreds of people streamed into the enclave that was West Berlin, marking a pivotal moment in the collapse of communism in Europe.

Merkel, who grew up in East Germany and was one of thousands to cross that night, recalled that "before the joy of freedom came, many people suffered."

She lauded Gorbachev, with whom she shared an umbrella amid a crush of hundreds, eager for a glimpse of the man many still consider a hero for his role in pushing reform in the Soviet Union.

"We always knew that something had to happen there so that more could change here," she said.

"You made this possible – you courageously let things happen, and that was much more than we could expect," she told Gorbachev in front of several hundred people gathered in light drizzle on the bridge over railway lines.

Hours later in a symbolic gesture, former 1980s pro-democracy leader Lech Welesa helped initiate a chain reaction that led to the toppling of 1,000 massive foam dominoes placed along the route of the now vanished wall. With Walesa was Miklos Meneth, Hungary's last prime minister before communism collapsed.

The organizer of the dominoes, Moritz van Duelmen, director of Kulturprojekte Berlin, said the idea was to "make history according to the domino theory."

Despite the passage of time, the day was filled with emotion.

Tears sprang to the eyes of Uwe Kross, a 65-year-old retiree, who recalled seeing the start of the drama from his home, a block away from the bridge.

"That night, you couldn't stop people," Kross said. "They lifted the barrier and everyone poured through.

"We saw it first on TV, normally it was very quiet up here, but that night we could hear the footsteps of those crossing, tap, tap, tap."

Kross was among those who crossed early on – so early that nobody was yet waiting on the other side when they reached the West. He recalled hopping on the first subway to then-West Berlin's main boulevard, the Kurfuerstendamm.

"All hell was breaking loose there," Kross said.