German leaders have gathered at a church in the former East Berlin for a prayer service marking the 20th anniversary of the day the Berlin Wall was opened.Monday's service at the Gethsemane Church, a rallying point for opposition activists in 1989, was attended by Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Horst Koehler among others.
It kicked off a day of events featuring current and former European, U.S. and Russian leaders.
Merkel _ reunited Germany's first leader who grew up in the communist east _ recalled that people were "speechless and happy" at the news that the border was opening.
The Berlin Wall's opening on Nov. 9, 1989 followed a confused announcement by a senior communist official that East Germany was lifting travel restrictions.
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