BERLIN - Germans marked a subdued 15th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall today, with high unemployment in the formerly communist east and a sense in people's hearts that the nation has not yet fully reunited.

No big celebrations, parades or fireworks recalled Nov. 9, 1989, the day East Germany's communist regime opened the wall almost by accident and set off national euphoria that peaked with German reunification 11 months later.

At a preserved section of the wall in central Berlin, Mayor Klaus Wowereit laid a wreath for the more than 200 East Germans killed while trying to escape to the West during the barrier's 28-year existence.

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder issued a statement hailing Nov. 9 as "a day of the triumph of freedom and democracy," and praised East Germans for overthrowing communist rule peacefully.

But a former East German pro-democracy activist captured much of the eastern mood, saying he was "not so happy" because of the region's mass unemployment.

"Many people no longer value the wonderful gift of freedom because they say: What use is freedom if they are shut out from jobs?" Friedrich Schorlemmer, a Protestant minister, said on WDR radio.

As time has passed, Germans have focused on the staggering cost of rebuilding the east, not the peaceful revolution that toppled the wall and the Stalinist rulers who built it.

Architects of reunification, led by former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, urged Germans to take pride in their achievements anyway.

But critics often cite Kohl's 1990 promise of flowering landscapes for the east as a reason for the disillusionment that followed when West German capitalism swept away eastern industry and several million jobs.

The east's jobless rate - 17.5 percent - is more than twice that of the west.

Kohl conceded that after 40 years apart at Europe's Cold War front line, Germany's division "ran much deeper than I thought."

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he east's economic problems and up to $1.9 trillion in government subsidies to the region have fueled resentment on both sides. And clashing experiences under communism and capitalism still have Germans talking about a lingering "wall in the heads."

"Once upon a time, we hugged each other with tears in our eyes. That wouldn't happen anymore now," East German-born entertainer Achim Mentzel recently said.