Berlin’s Historic Brandenburg Gate Reopens : Germany: Rain fails to dampen the crowd’s enthusiasm as the symbol of a divided land gets two new border openings.

WEST BERLIN —  The Brandenburg Gate, the Cold War symbol of a divided Berlin, a divided Germany and a divided Europe, was reopened Friday afternoon amid joyous scenes undampened by gray skies, relentless rain and the quickly gathering darkness.

The historic, six-columned Grecian-style monument in the heart of the sprawling former capital of the German Empire was overwhelmed by East and West Berliners who swarmed around it, reveling in this long-awaited Christmas gift.

The Berlin Wall was breached in two places at either side of the Brandenburg Gate, leaving a staunch, thick portion of the wall in place. But the wall itself seemed almost superfluous, as young people climbed over it, posing for pictures and waving champagne bottles, then jumped down on the other side.

The two new border crossings, which had been prepared by East German engineers all night Thursday, were formally opened at 3 p.m. Friday by West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and East German Prime Minister Hans Modrow on the east side of the wall.

As Kohl and Modrow walked through the central arch of the 200-year-old gate, originally built to separate old Berlin from the fields to the west, Modrow declared: “This is where the German Reich went down in flames lit by German war criminals. The burning stench of war must never again be smelled here. It must be a gate of peace.”

As he spoke, many East Germans in the crowd chanted: “Helmut, Helmut!”

Kohl seemed purposely to avoid sounding the German reunification issue in his brief speech when he said: “Let us be patient and prudent in the steps we have to take to walk forward into our common future.”

But a banner said it for Kohl in English: “Berlin Is One Town--Germany Is One Nation.”

West Berlin Mayor Walter Momper told the crowd: “Berlin is still divided but the people are no longer separated.”

East and West Berlin police officers made no attempt to interfere with celebrants atop the wall, nor with others who for the first time began banging away at the wall from the east side to chip off pieces.

As the wine corks popped, the British Royal Welch Fusiliers band--the gate stands in the British sector of West Berlin--played marches, but then broke, incongruously, into “Deep in the Heart of Texas.”

Inspired by a trumpet player standing with thousands of other revelers on top of the wall, the crowd sang everything from “Amazing Grace” to “Such a Day as Wonderful as Today,” an old Berlin folk favorite.

Fireworks lent the occasion a festive atmosphere.

The Berlin Wall has been opened at various checkpoints since Nov. 9, but the Brandenburg Gate had never served as a border crossing since the wall went up in 1961.

Before the wall was erected, the gate had been the entryway between the two sides of the divided city. Under it passed the Unter Den Linden, once the most famous and elegant thoroughfare in Germany.

In earlier times, the gate was the center arch for promenades by Prussian aristocrats, Nazi parades with Hitler in an open car and, in the end, for Soviet tanks marauding through it during the apocalyptic Battle for Berlin in 1945.

So for many Germans, the Brandenburg Gate’s opening Friday has been the ultimate test of the East German government’s decision to liberalize relations between East and West Berlin--and the two Germanys.

As Franz Bertele, West Germany’s chief emissary to East Germany, put it as he wandered on the east side: “It’s a great feeling to be able to walk under the gate after 28 years. We never thought we would live long enough to see this day.

“My only problem is that I lost my wife in all the excitement. I’m trying to find her.”

One couple who were married in East Berlin on Friday decided to come through the new Brandenburg opening to have a ceremonial dinner in West Berlin. Dietrich and Sybile Schumann, she wearing a white hat and veil and carrying a bouquet of flowers, both said “ wunderbar “ -- wonderful.

“My own parents met at the Brandenburg Gate in 1958,” said Sybile. “So walking through on my wedding day is lovely--even though it is raining.”

And under the tall columns, three generations of one East Berlin family were heading west--for the moment.

Grandfather Willi Szeszrat, son Juergen, and 8-year-old grandson, Mario, walked together toward the new opening.

“We just wanted to be part of it all,” said Juergen.