BERLIN -- More than two million people cheered in the new millennium at one of the biggest parties in German history that stretched from the centre of west Berlin into the middle of the formerly communist east.

A deafening festival of fireworks, lights and cheers erupted in the middle of Germany's largest city at midnight when the crowd that nearly doubled the city's population celebrated the new year on the Berlin's main east-west boulevard.

The crowd gathered on the street running through the Brandenburg Gate, an 18th century landmark that was once blocked off by the Berlin Wall and has become a symbol for the city's unification since the collapse of communism in 1989.

Powerful floodlights illuminated the imposing Brandenburg Gate and other monuments such as the Reichstag building near the five-km (three-mile) long open-air party while fireworks exploding above lit up the sky in a dizzying array of colours.

The celebration closed a turbulent century for Germany, which was defeated in two world wars and divided for 40 years by the Cold War.

Costing more than 40 million marks ($20 million), the gigantic festival included 10 stages, 60 bands, five huge video screens and two massive ferris wheels.

To meet the demands of the revellers, who braved sub-freezing temperatures and tight security checks, organisers had more than 300,000 bottles of champagne, two million litres of beer and a million sausages ready for consumption.