Berlin - Hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world are descending on Berlin for Germany's biggest New Year celebrations.

Some 1 million people are expected to attend the all-night street party around the landmark Brandenburg Gate. The triumphal arch, erected by the kings of Prussia, faces broad lawns and avenues that are the scene every year of gigantic New Year festivities.

This year's party begins at 6 pm on Wednesday with live music from German and Dutch pop groups performing on stages along a 2-kilometre improvised dance floor stretching to another victory column.

The highlight is a 10-minute firework display from the stroke of midnight. Afterwards revellers can let in the New Year at an open air disco until the early hours of 2009.

Meteorologists predict a dry but frosty night for the 20th time the once-divided city has celebrated together since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Some 700 policemen will be on duty to ensure things don't get out of hand. The Berlin fire department has 1,500 firefighters on alert to deal with injuries and blazes caused by careless use of fireworks.

Each New Year Germans let off 100-million-euros (140 million dollars) worth of fireworks. In Berlin alone, around 500 people end up in hospital casualty departments as a result of accidents with fireworks.

Fireworks have been on sale at shops and supermarkets since Monday. This year a popular attraction is multi-shot battery fireworks with names such as "Flight of the Titans," "High Speed Bombs" or "Sound Attack."