WEST BERLIN -- The leaders of East and West Germany walked side by side through the Brandenburg Gate Friday, proclaiming it a 'gate of peace' and bringing a roar of excitement from thousands of Berliners gathered to witness the reopening of the symbol of the city's division.
Even pouring rain did little to dampen the joy felt by the Berliners as tens of thousands of people -- chanting, cheering and weeping -- streamed through the two 15-foot-wide openings in the Berlin Wall.
'This is where the German Reich went down in flames, lit by German war criminals. Sixteen years later, the wall was built,' East German Prime Minister Hans Modrow said.
'Never again shall the burning smell of war emanate from this gate. It shall, in its new uniting function, be a gate of peace,' Modrow said.
Many people broke down in tears as Modrow and West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl released white peace doves from the 18th century gate, in a gesture underlining the new spirit that has pervaded the city since the first breaching of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 9.
Thousands of jubilant Berliners gathered on either side of the wall and cheered wildly as the two leaders walked side by side under the arch that became known as the 'Gate of German destiny.'
As the official ceremony was still under way, crowds surged through the new pedestrian crossing, walking through the gate for the first time since the Berlin Wall was erected 28 years ago.
'It is one of the happiest moments in my life,' said a beaming Kohl, as the jubilant crowd chanted 'Helmut, Helmut.' Placards calling for German unity and chants of 'Deutschland, Deutschland' could also be heard.
'From here we give the message ... we want peace. We want freedom. We want to contribute to peace in Europe and in the world,' Kohl said from a platform erected at the monument.
The crowd gave Modrow, East Germany's pro-reform prime minister, a thunderous ovation as he expressed his solidarity with 'the Romanian people, who have dumped their dictator and regained their freedom.'
One woman in the crowd, tears streaming down her face, told reporters, 'One must never forget how many had to die here.'
Hans Reichfelt, 76, a retired West Berlin postal worker who stood more than six hours in the rain waiting for the opening said, 'It is natural we are happy about this. But 28 years of our lives have been lost and for that we have to thank the communists.'
Choirs and brass bands and a military band of Britain's Royal Welsh Fusiliers were present at the ceremony, as was former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt, the architect of the 'Ostpolitik' of detente between East and West.
The U.S., British and French military commanders of the city also were in the crowd.
'I was here in 1961 when they sealed it up and I'll be here when they tear down the wall,' said an elderly West Berliner who watched as the first chunk of concrete was torn off shortly after midnight.
Thousands of people had spent the night watching workers drill two holes in the Berlin Wall and the crowds cheered when a small crane removed the first chunk, bearing graffiti that read, 'Every wall has to fall at some stage.'
Early Friday, when the first gap was drilled, two East German border guards popped through the opening to shake hands with their West Berlin counterparts.
The gate, a six-pillared monument within East Berlin's 'security zone,' long has been considered a symbol of the division of Germany and a landmark of the Iron Curtain between Eastern and Western Europe.
Since its erection in 1791, the Brandenburg Gate that leads to East Berlin's famous Unter den Linden boulevard has stood as silent witness to the city's tragic history and has become known as 'the gate of German destiny.'
Napoleon rode through it in 1806 and temporarily seized its crowning statue, a Greek goddess of victory astride a horse-drawn chariot.
In 1919, the Brandenburg Gate became a government stronghold during a left-wing uprising. In 1945, it was a target of Soviet troops assaulting the city in the last days of World War II, 11 years after Nazis marched under it to celebrate the nomination of Adolf Hitler as Germany's chancellor.
The announcement that the 65-foot-high arch would be opened to pedestrian traffic was made Tuesday after Kohl and Modrow met in the East German city of Dresden.
West German government spokesman Hans Klein had described the opening as 'a Christmas celebration' that will mark 'the final end to the barrier between the two Germanys.'
Shortly before midnight, a great roar went up from the crowd when a vintage 1939 limousine, with flowers on the hood and bearing a 'Just Married' sign, drove toward the gate.
Inside was Ron Haddock -- the 24-year-old son of U.S. Maj. Gen. Raymond Haddock, the commander of the city's American sector -- and his bride of a few hours, West German Leila Riedel.
'We were told earlier this evening they were tearing down sections of the wall and thought it would be a shame to miss the action,' said Haddock, a U.S. artillery officer based in the West German town of Kitzingen.
'It's great getting married at such a historic moment,' he said.
The bride said her parents had traveled to West Berlin for her wedding.
'What's happening is a big event for my parents, perhaps even bigger than my wedding,' she said with a laugh.
