A display of "Christian hope and perseverance" is how one ecumenical leader describes the fall of the Berlin wall, an event that celebrated its 20th anniversary on Monday.

"A movement that started with prayers and candle light vigils in the Saint Nicolas Church in the centre of Leipzig spread all over East Germany and inspired and encouraged people to confront the power of police and secret service in a very effective and peaceful way," said Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia, secretary general for the World Council of Churches in a statement.

"When we celebrate today twenty years of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which marked the end of the cold war era, let us remember the faith and the courage of all those people who gathered in the churches and became the nucleus for the movement of change," he continued.

Speaking at an ecumenical worship service at Gethsemane Church in Berlin, just a short distance from the site of the fallen wall, head of the German Bishop's Conference Archbishop Robert Zollitsch gave comments saying, "We still feel today the gratitude and joyful amazement for this happening. What even only shortly before had seemed unthinkable became a reality."

"The memory of Nov. 9, 1989 and no less the memory of the terrible events of the Night of Broken Glass on Nov. 9 (1938, against the Jews), teach us unequivocally: walls – whether real or in people's heads – do not solve any problems," Zollitsch said. "On the contrary, they create problems. They obstruct the future."

Also speaking at the service, which was attended by German President Horst Köhler, was Berlin's Protestant Bishop Wolfgang Huber, who commented, "People had read the signs of the times; they showed civil courage and resisted intimidation, and did so without violence, but with candles and prayers."

National celebrations were held for the historic event at Brandenburg Gate, where world leaders including UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and U.S. Secretar of State Hilary Clinton were in attendance.