WEST BERLIN -- Outside the heavily guarded Brandenberg prison, East Berlin's Spree River flows silently past bullet-riddled walls -- a reminder of World War II's bloody end.

About a 20-minute subway ride from the fortress, former East German soldier Peter Hemmann sits safely behind his desk at a West Berlin youth hotel.

"That's where I was kept for two years," he said excitedly, pointing to a photograph of a Brandenberg maximum security isolation cell. He stretched his face to imitate what he looked like -- malnourished and broken -- after his second unsuccessful attempt to escape over the Berlin wall.

Six years ago the West German government purchased Hemmann's freedom for about $35,000, he said.

And today, in light of reforms and sweeping change that many Berliners say come just short of a miracle, the border between East and West has almost completely opened.

But, while younger Germans have crossed over in droves, many older citizens, scarred by years of Cold War hatred, distance themselves from the hype and watch in disbelief.

As the new year approached last month, East German guards exchanged friendly conversation, cigarettes and candy with West Berliners through new openings in the wall. Some older soldiers said it reminded them of the days before the wall replaced coiled barbed wire across the divided city.

Berliners were given an early Christmas present when officials opened the Brandenberg Gate on Dec 23.

Professor Friederman Buettner, chairman of the political science department at the Free University of Berlin, said opening the Gate -- one of the most poignant symbols of German division -- was a major step in the reform movement.

"It is very symbolic because it shows that what came on the whim of the moment (on Nov. 9) is now a serious process," he said.

Throughout that week an almost carnival-like atmosphere bloomed on the West side of the eroding wall, at times like a giant party on a New York subway platform alongside a beautifully decorated train.

Into the morning hours, families clustered around gas lamps and flashlights on the chipped and weathered west side of the wall to hammer away small flecks of paint and mortar.

Today, blue "Entrance" and "'Exit" signs on the wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate show the way to and from East Germany.

Frank Raudenberg, one of thousands of East Germans who made their first crossing through the gate last month, recalled sadly two close friends shot dead while attempting to run to the West.

Raudenberg said he had contemplated escape only months earlier while West Berlin celebrated the anniversary of the 1956 revolt. But thoughts of leaving behind his wife and children kept him from taking the risk.

"I can't understand why they had to die for their freedom and to come and see West Germany," he said of his friends as he drank cheap wine and champagne. "Now we're here and we'll wake Hitler up."

Marko Zickmick was another who came through the Brandenberg Gate to explore West Berlin. He was armed with a free map of the city donated by a local bank.

"I find it good that the two Germany's have come together," he said. "But at the same time everything has happened too quickly."

While the atmosphere in West Berlin bordered on euphoria in anticipation of the new year, tension pervaded around the border.

A day after slabs of the wall were removed near the Brandenberg Gate, a handful of West German police officers rushed a boisterous crowd gathered around three youths smashing the wall with large metal poles.

"Leave them alone!" chanted the crowd, as the police shoved their way toward the offenders.

A struggle broke out as one of the officers grabbed a youth and attempted to take him away. Overpowered by the crowd, the police retreated. The group cheered and continued to smash at the wall with hammers.