The BBC's Janet Barrie in Celle: Today Germany mourns its dead. Tomorrow the enquiry continues.

The accident in northern Germany just over two weeks ago killed 100 people and seriously injured 88 others.

The memorial service in the town of Celle was attended by 250 relatives of the dead and thousands of mourners from all over Germany.

The one-and-a-half-hour church service was relayed over screens in the town centre and in the neighbouring village of Eschede.

The German rail network also called on all passengers for a minute's silence.

President Roman Herzog: Crash 'a modern nightmare'

President Herzog expressed his deep shock and sorrow at the accident, which he described as "a modern nightmare".

He said Eschede may now be a place that is associated with catastrophe, but he said it was a place that would be associated with humanity in the future, because of the willingness of its residents to help in the aftermath of the crash.

In a wreath-laying after the service, the president offered his thanks to the villagers of Eschede and members of the emergency services, many of whom are still receiving counselling.

Unanswered questions

The accident was the worst train crash in 50 years.

In an interim report to the German parliament last week, the German rail watchdog concluded the most likely cause of the crash was a broken wheel.

That caused the partial derailment of one carriage which then led it to crash against a bridge and the bridge to collapse.

The BBC's Janet Barrie in Celle: "Bells rang out to mark the start of the service."

According to the BBC Berlin correspondent, the first generation of inter-city express trains has been withdrawn from service for safety checks on three occasions.

German Rail has also started replacing the wheels of 59 trains.

It has stressed the Eschede disaster was an aberration in an otherwise exemplary safety record, but criticism of German Rail is growing.