Millions Mark Fall of Berlin Wall

Millions of people descended upon Berlin this month to celebrate the anniversary of 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

More than two million tourists, including timeshare owners of German property, visited the capital this week to remember the historical event.

As a result, a new record for tourism in Berlin was broken and on Monday alone hundreds of thousands of people gathered for the anniversary celebrations at the Brandenburg Gate in the German capital.

Burkhard Kieker, chief executive officer of Berlin Tourismus Marketing, said that Berlin has grown in popularity since the fall of the Berlin Wall and has remained an attractive destination for travellers despite the economic crisis.

Images of the celebrations were broadcast around the globe, prompting further interest in the country.

Mr Kieker went on to say that the appeal of Berlin as a site of freedom, a focal point of European history and tolerance will continue to grow in the future.

Figures from VisitBerlin show that around 1,423,537 Europeans visited Berlin from January to August 2009.