GERMANY/DAY OF PROTEST: It seems like a huge contradiction to stage an anti-war demonstration at a monument glorifying war. But that's what happening in Berlin today when some 100,000 Germans opposed to war gather at Siegessäule (Victory Column) near the Brandenburg Gate, writes Derek Scally.
The 60-metre pillar crowned with a golden angel celebrates Prussia's military victories over France and Denmark in the 19th century. However, rather than glorify past wars, the crowd gathered around the monument today will hear speeches about the dangers of war in a city still haunted by the ghosts of the Third Reich.
German opposition to war, driven by the trauma of two world wars, is hard to overstate.
"For us, the word war in German - krieg - has a whole other meaning," said Mr Rainer Wulff (52), a mechanic who is planning to march today. "Besides the literal meaning of bomber planes and tanks, krieg for us means for chaos, disaster, a destroyed society."
For decades, German thinking on war and peace was shaped by the mantra "nie wieder krieg" ("never again war"). Yet Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has opened up public discussion and soul-searching on these attitudes since taking office.
His government sent peacekeepers to Kosovo, Macedonia and Afghanistan, each time risking the collapse of the government because of revolt by pacifist members of the junior coalition partners, the Green Party.
When the World Trade Centre towers collapsed, Mr Schröder promised "unlimited solidarity" with the US, only to change his mind a year later with his successful "No to War in Iraq" re-election campaign.
The strategy has backfired of late. The majority of people still share his Iraq position, but the German leader and his party have never been less popular.
Today's march is not about showing solidarity with the government but of Germans showing solidarity with each other and with demonstrators in many cities around the world.
It could be a mildly embarrassing occasion for Mr Schröder: two Green Party cabinet members have ignored his wishes and will march with other Green Party leaders and party members.
Over 400 special buses are scheduled to arrive in Berlin this morning carrying a staggering cross-section of German life: from union groups and church groups to left-wing anarchists and neo-Nazi skinheads.
Today's march has divided Germany's 40,000-strong Iraqi community. They all share the wish to see Saddam Hussein deposed but disagree over how it should be done. "If the US doesn't attack, the Hussein dynasty will rule for another hundred years," said an Iraqi man from Berlin, who asked not to be named.