Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel marked Armistice Day alongside French President Nicolas Sarkozy at Paris’s Arc de Triomphe in a ceremony that both leaders said underlined their two countries’ reconciliation.

In the first appearance by a German leader at the ceremony held at the time of Germany’s First World War surrender on Nov. 11, 1918, Merkel noted that today’s event followed by two days the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the division of Europe.

“It’s based on our friendship that we will be able to deepen our partnership in Europe and on both sides of the Atlantic,” Merkel said in a nine-minute speech. “It’s together that we will get to tackle today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.”

France invited Merkel to the 91st anniversary of the end of hostilities in 1918 “to honor the memory of the combatants and to celebrate peace,” Sarkozy’s office said in a statement.

The chancellor’s presence was “a strong symbol of Franco- German reconciliation in the service of European construction,” the Elysee Palace said.

The visit by Merkel follows other efforts by France to involve German leaders in ceremonies that were once restricted to the allied victors of the 20th century’s two world wars.

In 2004, then Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder attended the 60th anniversary of the June 6, 1944, Second World War landings in Normandy. In September 1984, Chancellor Helmut Kohl and French President Francois Mitterrand linked hands at a ceremony marking the First World War Battle of Verdun in 1916, in which 250,000 French and German soldiers died.

Among participants in today’s ceremony were veterans from World War II and France’s postwar conflicts such as Indochina and Algeria. Until 2007, they also included soldiers from the First World War. France’s last veteran from the 1914-18 war died in March 2008.

To contact the reporter on this story: Fabio Benedetti-Valentini in Paris at fabiobv@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 11, 2009 07:36 EST