Thousands mark 20th anniversary of Berlin Wall fall

Thousands of people gathered on Monday to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall that led to Germany's unification.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in Berlin to join other leaders for the ceremony.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, German President Horst Koehler and Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit (from left to right).

"Here in Berlin, all of us hope that the period of confrontation has gone. The transition to the new, multipolar world today is very important for the majority of countries," the Russian president said.

"We are brothers, we are Berliners," said French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Some 1,000 plastic foam dominoes were set up where the Berlin Wall once stood.

The 2.3-meter high blocks, stretching for 1.5 km near the Brandenburg Gate and the German parliament, were painted by schoolchildren

The dominoes fell one by one as a metaphor for the collapse of communism in eastern Europe.