Merkel, Sarkozy in first joint Armistice ceremony

To the sound of the national anthems of the two former enemies, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy laid down a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

It was the first time a German leader had attended France's Armistice Day, marking the end of World War One hostilities on the Western Front on November 11, 1918.

"We gather this November to commemorate not the victory of one people over another, but hardship that was as terrible for one side as it was for the other," Sarkozy said in a speech.

"German orphans cried over the death of their fathers in combat just as French orphans did," he added.

Germany's suffering was long a taboo, given that it started both world wars. It has only in recent years become the subject of public discussion, as a new generation finds its own way of remembering the brutality and loss of millions of lives.

A visibly moved Merkel shook the hands of frail, grey-haired veterans of World War Two.

Born after the war, she and Sarkozy bear none of the personal scars that marked previous French-German gestures -- most notably the 1984 visit by President Francois Mitterrand and Chancellor Helmut Kohl to the French battle site of Verdun.

Mitterrand was injured in World War Two in Verdun, while Kohl's father fought in the area in World War One.

At the encounter between Merkel and Sarkozy, flag-waving bystanders and chattering schoolchildren lent a note of cheerfulness to the sombre ceremony.