: Hundreds of thousands of fans greet the World Cup champions at Berlin's Brandenburg GateTens of thousands of German football fans are giving a hero's welcome to the World Cup-winning team in Berlin.The main celebrations are at the Brandenburg Gate, where players displayed the cup on a large stage while performing an impromptu dance.
Many had gathered since dawn to welcome the players who touched down from Brazil on Tuesday morning. Huge crowds lined their bus route into the capital.
It was the fourth German cup win and the first since reunification in 1990.
Berlin transformed
The team's 1-0 victory over Argentina in Sunday's final sparked delirious scenes across Germany which are culminating in Tuesday's celebrations in the centre of Berlin as the team arrived in an open-top bus emblazoned with the years they have won the competition - 1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014.
The BBC's Lucy Hockings in Berlin says there is a carnival atmosphere in the city, with thousands taking the day off to witness the spectacle even though Tuesday is not officially a holiday.
Players performed an impromptu dance in front of thousands of fans to celebrate their victory
Many waited since dawn to see coach Joachim Loew's team arrive in central Berlin with the much coveted trophy
The team bus had to meander its way through thousands of adoring supporters
The German team showed no signs of jet-lag as they greeted adoring fans
Players disembarked form their plane with the World Cup prominently on display
The winning team's Boeing 747 landed at Tegel airport after flying a lap of honour over the "fan mile" in front of the landmark Brandenburg Gate
Earlier fans gathered on a viewing stage at Tegel airport to witness the arrival of the plane, a Lufthansa jet rebranded "Fanhansa" for the team.
"This is a historic event," 34-year-old bus driver Bernd Hesse told the AFP news agency.
He said that fans of the team had waited 24 years for a German World Cup victory.
"It's not every day that you get to see something like this," Mr Hesse said.
Demand for replica World Cup shirts - especially those with four stars on to mark the country's fourth title - has reached an all-time high
The cup win has been celebrated by a wide cross-section of German society, especially younger people who have been out on the streets in force to celebrate
Those members of the team that play for Bayern Munich will also get a separate welcome parade in Munich later.
The BBC's Steve Evans in Berlin says that the city has been transformed for the arrival, with the old sponsors' logos for the tournament torn down and new ones for the home-coming put up.
Commercial opportunities are being maximised, our correspondent says.
It is not clear if Chancellor Angela Merkel will appear during the celebrations. She was photographed with the team shortly after the final whistle at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
The German victory in Brazil was the first time the competition had been won in South America by a European nation.
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