Brandenburg Gate to Open by Christmas : Reunification: Leaders of East and West Germany meet. Date moved up for clearing symbolic entrance through Berlin Wall.

The Berlin Wall will be opened before Christmas at the Brandenburg Gate, the towering monument viewed by many as a symbol of German unity, East German Premier Hans Modrow said today.

The announcement followed a meeting between Modrow and West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, during which the two leaders discussed the thorny issue of how to bring the long-divided nations closer together.

Since the Berlin Wall started crumbling early last month, Germans in both East and West have demanded an opening at the gate to demonstrate the new era of improved relations between the countries.

Modrow told reporters the new opening for pedestrians will be created before Monday. And the date for visa-free travel by West Germans and West Berliners to East Germany will be moved up from Jan. 1 to Dec. 24, in time for Christmas and New Year’s.

The two-Germanys summit highlighted the debate raging over German reunification, which Kohl supports and Modrow opposes.

Chants of “Helmut! Helmut!” and “Germany, united fatherland!” rose from the crowd of at least 5,000 that lined the streets as Kohl’s motorcade of black Mercedes limousines carried him to the meeting at the Hotel Bellevue.

Workers in hard hats left work to catch a glimpse of the chancellor, and West German flags and banners calling for German unity formed a sea of red, black and gold.

But there were signs of opposition to Kohl’s pro-reunification stance.

“A Fourth Reich--Is that why you stayed behind?” said one poster on a fence in the city center. It referred to those East Germans who have declined to emigrate to wealthy West Germany, choosing instead to stay behind and help rebuild their troubled socialist state.

With the ruins of war-ravaged buildings visible in the distance, Modrow told reporters his first talks with Kohl marked a “new beginning” in relations between the countries. Kohl accepted an offer to start negotiations on a treaty to improve relations, and negotiations will start “immediately,” Modrow said.

Kohl told reporters he hopes such a treaty can be signed by late spring.

He later walked through a crowd of several thousand people. Several signs called for German reunification, with one saying “Helmut and Hans, make us into one Germany.”

At an outdoor rally, Kohl drew wild cheers when he referred to the crowd as “compatriots” and said, “We will not abandon you.”

“The emotions are nice, but we have to see what the reality is,” he said on West Germany’s ZDF television.

Kohl said he and Modrow will meet again at the end of January.