Fall of the Berlin Wall: 20th anniversary celebrations

Fireworks explode over the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Photograph: Markus Schreiber/AP

US President Barack Obama delivers a video message at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Many events are held to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Photograph: Arno Burgi/EPA

Dominoes made from Styrofoam, symbolising of the Berlin Wall, stand infornt of the illuminated Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany on 09 November 2009, during celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall Photograph: Wolfgang Rattay / Pool/EPA

Spectators shield themselves against the rain near the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin during the commemorations of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall Photograph: Markus Schreiber/AP

Fireworks illuminate the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany on 09 November 2009, during celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall Photograph: Wolfgang Rattay / Pool/EPA

A combo of five pictures shows former Polish President Lech Walesa is hit by a camera man on a Segway personal transporter after pushing the first domino block on the corner of the Reichstag Gate in Berlin November 9, 2009, during celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Photograph: Pawel Kopczynski/Reuters

Spectators stand next to toppled dominoes, after they were knocked over in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Photograph: Tobias Schwarz / Pool/EPA

A plaque on the ground marks the original position of the Berlin Wall as domino pieces are lined up in front of the Brandenburg Gate Photograph: Pawel Kopczynski/Reuters

Tourists take photographs of the murals painted onto the section of the Berlin Wall known as the East Side Gallery Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

Painted styrofoam dominoes stand on either side of the Spree canal in Berlin Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

A tourist poses against one of the murals painted onto the section of the wall known as the East Side Gallery in Berlin Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

People gather to see the individually painted dominoes along the former route of the wall in front of the illuminated Brandenburg Gate Photograph: Axel Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images

Miniature replicas of the Berlin Wall are displayed at the Brandenburg Gate to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall Photograph: Carsten Koall/Getty Images

School students sit near their individually painted dominoes in central Berlin Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

Painted dominoes symbolising pieces of the Berlin Wall during a rehearsal at the Brandenburg Gate Photograph: Wolfgang Kumm/EPA

The Brandenburg Gate is surrounded by dominoes, stretching from the gate to Potsdamer Square in Berlin Photograph: Rainer Jensen/EPA

People look at the individually painted dominoes along the former route of the wall in front of the Reichstag in Berlin Photograph: Eric Feferberg/AFP/Getty Images

A rose at a memorial for the victims who died at the Berlin Wall Photograph: Miguel Villagran/Getty Images

Crowds of people wait at a former border crossing station at Bornholm Street in Berlin Photograph: Rainer Jensen/EPA

People walk next to giant domino pieces placed along a stretch of the Berlin Wall's original path Photograph: Christian Charisius/Reuters

People light candles at a memorial in Bernauer Street in Berlin Photograph: Marcel Mettelsiefen/EPA

Men dressed as US and Soviet soldiers wait for tourists to take pictures with them at Checkpoint Charlie, the former allied checkpoint, in Berlin Photograph: Reuters

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev walk across a bridge at Bornholmer Strasse. They visited the bridge and the train station below because it was there in 1989 that guards opened the first border crossing and allowed East Berliners to walk unimpeded into West Berlin Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty Images