BERLIN – Tens of thousands of people celebrated the fall of the Berlin Wall 35 years ago in the German capital on Saturday, with outdoor 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 stood for 28 years on the front line of the Cold War between the Americans and the Soviets. It was built by the communists to cut off East Germans from the supposed ideological contamination of the West and to stem the tide of people fleeing East Germany.

It carved a 156.4 kilometer (97.2 mi) strip through the heart of Berlin and the surrounding countryside and through hearts of many of his people. However, when the border was opened 35 years ago, it took less than a year for the country to reunify on October 3, 1990.

Today only a few sections of the wall remain, mostly as a tourist attraction.

For Saturday’s anniversary celebrations, event organizers created a temporary wall of 5,000 posters designed by children and adults under the motto “We Support Freedom,” which attracted a steady stream of visitors, including many foreign tourists. It lies along a four kilometer (2.5 mi) stretch of the former wall in central Berlin.

The posters combine the demands of the East German protesters against the communist authorities in the fall of 1989, such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of travel, with current desires and were created in workshops in schools, parishes, locales. art groups and cultural projects.

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

“Freedom and democracy have never been a normal matter,” the mayor said, warning that both are currently under attack from many sides.

For Saturday evening, 700 professional and amateur musicians were expected to sing songs in sync on various stages along the former wall road.

Among other songs, they planned to play “Heroes” by David Bowie and “Freiheit”, or freedom, by German rock star Marius Müller-Westernhagen. The lyrics will be displayed on the screens so the audience can sing along.

Russian dissident band “Pussy Revolt” is expected to evolve on Sunday as the climax and conclusion of the anniversary celebration.