Today marks the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and while brave brands attempt to commemorate the beginning of the end of the Cold War through native advertising online, citizens of Berlin gathered along the wall's former path and at Brandenburg Gate to memorialize the historic anniversary.

During a commemorative service at the Wall on Bernauer Strasse on Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the fall of the Wall proves that "we can change things for the better." The BBC reports that the day of memorializing and celebrating was "bitterly cold" and that "hundreds of people stood shivering next to one of the few remaining sections of the wall."

The Associated Press reports that a million people were expected to flood the city of Berlin for the commemorative events.

Via the AP:

"The fall of the Wall has shown us that dreams can come true," said Merkel, who grew up in East Germany. "Nothing has to stay the way it is, however big the hurdles are."

Activists staged a small demonstration during the memorial event, holding up a banner with the words "No wall around Europe" to protest the treatment of refugees trying to reach the continent.

A million people were expected to attend Sunday's festivities in Berlin, which included an open-air party at the city's Brandenburg Gate and the release of hundreds of helium-filled balloon strung along a 15-kilometer (9-mile) stretch of the former border.

The 96-mile wall came down on Nov 9, 1989, and 138 were killed while attempting to flee from East to West Berlin. Roughly two miles of the Wall still remain standing.

[Lead image via AP / Other images by Getty]