Berlin - Thousands flocked to the centre of Berlin Sunday, ahead of celebrations to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall that divided Germany until 1989 - symbolized Sunday by a row of giant domino stones set up throughout the historic city. The German capital has been gearing up for a fanfare of events marking Monday's anniversary of November 9th, 1989, the day that the Wall separating Germany's communist East from the West was first breached.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in Berlin, where she was due to give a speech later in the day on the legacy of the Berlin Wall and Europe's communist divide.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Premier Gordon Brown and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are to attend events at Berlin's landmark Brandenburg Gate, alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday.
Former Russian president Mikhail Gorbachev, and former Polish opposition leader and president Lech Walesa, are also due to attend the celebrations.
A row of domino stones, 2.5 metres high and decorated by artists and school pupils from Germany and the world, has been set up in the city to be toppled during the celebrations to echo the events which began in Poland in early 1989 and ended with the fall of communism in eastern Europe.
Thousands of Berliners and visitors to the city milled around the domino stones spanning 1.5 kilometres from the Potsdamer Platz to the Reichstag building, despite Sunday's chilling, foggy conditions.
Parents explained Berlin's history to children who had never experienced the Cold War, and many Germans appeared to be rediscovering their own history with confused incredulity.
"This side was the West, and over there was East Berlin, I think," one woman explained to visitors, pointing toward the Brandenburg gate.
"There was no way of getting from one side to the other," another onlooker explained.
Modern-day Berlin bears few reminders of the concrete walls, barbed wire, observation posts and the death strip which ran through its centre until 20 years ago.
The longest remaining stretch of the Wall, known as the East Side Gallery, was officially reopened on Friday after its political artwork spanning 1.3 kilometres was refurbished over the previous months.
On Monday, Merkel - who grew up in East Germany - is to retrace her own steps at the Bornholmer Bridge crossing, where she was amongst the first to enter West Berlin, when the East German authorities unexpectedly, and not quite intentionally, opened the border 20 years ago.
Monday's celebrations include a performance by the Berlin State Orchestra conducted by Israeli Daniel Barenboim, while Jon Bon Jovi and Berlin music producer Paul van Dyk are staging music written for the anniversary. Last week, pop band U2 staged a free concert at the Brandenburg Gate.
Once the domino stones have been toppled, the celebrations will end with a huge firework, recalling the joyous scenes as people partied the night away on top of the defunct Wall 20 years ago.
