Berlin marks 21 years since wall's fall

BERLIN (AP) - Berlin has renamed a public square in honor of events 21 years ago, when the first wave of former East Germans demanded guards let them through to the West, trigging the collapse of the Berlin wall.

Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit on Tuesday opened a new, permanent exhibit of pictures and plaques set against the backdrop of a stretch of the wall that divided Germany's capital for 28 years. The memorial is part of the newly renamed "Nov. 9, 1989 Square."

Dozens of people also laid roses at a different memorial along another stretch of the wall to honor the estimated 136 people who lost their lives trying to cross the barrier.

Separate ceremonies across the country also marked the Nov. 9, 1938 Nazi anti-Jewish pogrom, known as "Kristallnacht" or "Night of the Broken Glass."