Though only very few pieces remain standing, the Wall and several museums dedicated to it remain tourist attractions.
To help keep memories of the Wall's victims alive, German lawmakers on Monday launched a proposal to build a new, centrally located memorial at the Brandenburg Gate.
Germany's troubled 20th-century history makes Nov. 9 a sensitive memorial day. It's also the anniversary of the Nazis' 1938 Kristallnacht pogrom, or Night of Broken Glass, when synagogues and Jewish businesses across Germany were attacked.
About 100 Jews were killed and thousands deported to concentration camps in a prelude to the Holocaust.
"It is a day of joy, but it is also a day of shame and reflection," Schroeder said.
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