Crosses form shadows on a replica of the Berlin Wall in Berlin, Sunday, Nov. 7, 2004. 1,065 crosses commemorate those who died while trying to escape from East Germany. Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2004 is the 15th anniversary of the night the Wall fell in 1989. (AP)

Ceremonies to mark the 15th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall was held in the German capital on Nov. 9th.

The city's mayor laid a wreath, while the chancellor when the wall fell, Helmut Kohl, took part in a public debate.

The barrier was constructed by the East German authorities in 1961, in response to the growing numbers of citizens fleeing into West Berlin.

Fifteen years on, memories are dimming of a cold November night when the impossible happened.

East Berliners were suddenly free to cross into the West - and they did so in their thousands.

For decades the Berlin Wall was the most tangible symbol of the Cold War.

In the Soviet Union the leader at the time, Mikhail Gorbachev, was pursuing Glasnost, or ‘openness'. The hardline leadership in East Berlin was powerless to stop the first mass demonstrations in decades.

Opening the wall was a moment of history that finally led to German re-unification.

But it is an uneasy unity today, with the former east still lagging behind the west economically, despite receiving huge subsidies over the last 15 years.

The situation is causing simmering resentment in both halves of Germany.

(Agencies)