CHANCELLOR Angela Merkel and other leaders hailed the human courage that toppled the Berlin Wall, saying the historic events of 20 years ago showed that the world could tackle new challenges, from poverty to climate change.

Merkel and fellow leaders from Britain, France and Russia spoke to tens of thousands gathered at the Brandenburg Gate to celebrate the anniversary of the collapse of the Wall, which ended the Cold War and paved the way for German reunification.

“Together we brought down the Iron Curtain and I am convinced this can give us the strength for the 21st century,” said Merkel, who grew up behind the Wall herself in communist East Germany.

“Our good fortune obliges us to take on the challenges of our time,” she said, mentioning security, economic wellbeing and protection of the environment as key tasks confronting the modern world.

The spirit of celebration was dampened somewhat yesterday by a steady downpour, which forced spectators gathered around the illuminated Brandenburg Gate to cover themselves with plastic raincoats and umbrellas.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the fall of the Wall was a liberation, but also a call to nations to “fight against repression, to fight against the walls that still exist in our world and which still divide cities, regions and nations”.

His Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev ,said the confrontation of the Cold War was in the past and urged the building of a “new, better world” and a common battle against economic crisis, crime, terrorism and poverty.

In a video message, US President Barack Obama said November 9, 1989 would always be remembered and cherished in the United States.

“This anniversary is a reminder that human destiny will be what we make of it. Even in the face of tyranny, people insisted that the world could change. Human destiny is what human beings make up.

“Let us never forget the sacrifices that made it possible.”

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown thanked the people of Berlin “for showing that in a troubled world, with an Africa in poverty and a Darfur in agony, a Zimbabwe in tears and a Burma in chains, individuals even when in pain need not suffer forever without hope”.

After the leaders spoke, they watched the symbolic toppling of a chain of giant brightly coloured dominoes set up along a 1,5km stretch where the Wall once stood and where Berliners from East and West celebrated on November 9, 1989.

Backed by the Soviet Union, the East German government began erecting its “anti-fascist protection barrier” in the early hours of August 13, 1961, to end a mass flight of its citizens into democratic West Berlin.

Initially a makeshift fence of barbed wire, it was gradually built up into an imposing 156km barrier that encircled the three Western-controlled sectors of the city and patrolled by guards who were ordered to shoot anyone who tried to escape.

According to a study published this year, at least 136 people were killed at the Berlin Wall between 1961 and 198 while trying to flee to the West.

But not a single shot was fired when the Wall was breached and the historic night turned into a giant city- wide party with residents from both sides of the Wall embracing impulsively. – Reuters