BERLIN – Tens of thousands of people celebrated fall of the Berlin Wall 35 years ago in the German capital on Saturday with open-air concerts, art installations and official events commemorating one of the country’s most historic days November 9, 1989.

It was “a lucky day for which we Germans are still grateful today,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.

Built in 1961, the Berlin Wall was the front line of the Cold War between the Americans and the Soviets for 28 years. It was built by the communists to cut off East Germans from the so-called ideological contamination of the West and to stem the flow of people fleeing East Germany.

It had carved a 156.4-kilometer (97.2-mile) swath through the heart of Berlin and the surrounding countryside, and through hearts of many of its inhabitants. However, when the border was opened 35 years ago, it took less than a year before the country was reunified on October 3, 1990.

Today, only a few sections of the wall remain, mainly intended for tourism.

For the anniversary celebrations on Saturday, event organizers created a temporary wall of 5,000 posters designed by children and adults under the motto “We Defend Freedom,” which attracted a steady stream of visitors, including many foreign tourists. It stands along a four-kilometer stretch of the former Berlin Wall in downtown Berlin.

The posters combine the demands of East German demonstrators against the communist authorities in the fall of 1989, such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of travel, with current wishes and were created as part of workshops in schools, parishes, local communities. artistic groups and cultural projects.

“Defend freedom, because without freedom everything else is nothing,” said Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner during an official birthday event with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the Berlin Wall Memorial.

“Freedom and democracy have never been a given,” the mayor said, warning that both were currently under attack from all sides.

On Saturday evening, 700 professional and amateur musicians were expected to synchronously play songs on different stages along the path of the ancient wall.

Among other songs, they planned to perform David Bowie’s “Heroes” and German rockstar Marius Müller-Westernhagen’s “Freiheit,” or Freedom. The lyrics will be broadcast on screens so the audience can sing along.

The Russian dissident group “Pussy Riot” is expected to occur on Sunday as the culmination and conclusion of the anniversary celebrations.