Peering through a remnant of the wall at Berlin's Bernauer Strasse. The segment pictured is the inner wall on the eastern side. The metal wall in the background is new - part of a memorial that was inaugurated on Tuesday.

The German parliament, the Bundestag, was packed for a speech by Parliamentary president Wolfgang Thierse, marking the occasion.

Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and his ensemble played two classic pieces by Sergei Prokofiev and Johann Sebastian Bach after the session.

German Reinhard Schamuhn and passers-by celebrate with champagne in front of a table he decorated with souvenirs from the United States, Russia and Germany.

View through the wall at Bernauer Strasse. The western side is seen in the background. Between the walls is the former death strip.

Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl wipes tears from his eyes as he listens to a speech by Rev Joachim Gauck, who administers the former East German secret police (Stasi) files, in the Bundestag.

An unidentified stroller passes a part of the former Berlin Wall, now known as the "East Side Gallery". An East German Trabant car was painted on the wall by an unknown artist in 1990.

Former US President George Bush, left, shakes hands with former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the Bellevue castle in Berlin.

An unidentified man stands next to the Wall Memorial at Berlin's Bernauer Strasse. The inscription reads: Memorial for the victims of World War II and the divided Germany.