Solidarity icon Lech Walesa will tip the first of a thousand of dominoes later today, lined up to symbolize the Berlin Wall.

The collapse of the 1,5 km-long row of tiles will be the highlight of today’s commemorations of the peaceful revolution of 1989.

Before leaving for Berlin the former head of state said the idea of marking the anniversary with such an event appealed to him as it was more spectacular than traditional ceremonies.

Lech Walesa is to deliver a short speech where he will recount the protests staged by shipyard workers in August 1980 and the agreement with the communist authorities that followed in their wake and paved the way to democracy.

“The first victory was at the Gdansk shipyard, and then all those victories that followed stemmed from that one triumph. The first wall was torn down in Gdansk, whereas the collapse of the Berlin Wall was one of the final victories.”

The Berlin commemorations will be attended by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. (ab)