kennedy berlin visit

"There are some who say that Communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to Berlin." --President John F. Kennedy, Berlin, Germany, June 26, 1963

You can hear a selection from John F. Kennedy's speech: AU Format (297K) WAV Format, Windows (297K) AIFF Format, MacIntosh (297K)

The speech was peppered with German and one sentence in Latin, written phonetically on one of the speech cards here. National Archives, John F. Kennedy Library, Boston, Massachusetts

UEFA EURO 2024

All about the European Football Championship in Berlin

• Menu Berlin Welcome Card
• Menu Event calendar
• Menu Newsletter
• Contrast Contrast

Museum The Kennedys

A piece of America in the Scheunenviertel area

The museum The Kennedys tells visitors about the life and history of America's famous family including the circumstances of JFK's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech.

Meanwhile closed!

John F. Kennedy has been a legend in the German capital since he spoke the words "Ich bin ein Berliner" in a speech in 1963. The Kennedys takes a very personal look at America's 35th President. The main display is of photographs, but you will also find documents and personal items such as his suit and briefcase. This exhibition also covers other members of the family: his wife and First Lady Jackie and his brother, Robert, who was also assassinated. Museum The Kennedys explores political success and the President's private life, following the American Dream through to the presidential election and his assassination.

Discover the Kennedys in the former Jewish Girls' School building

The organisation behind The Kennedys is CAMERA WORK, a group which in 2004 puts on their first exhibition about the Kennedys to positive acclaim. CAMERA WORK goes on to open a permanent display about the family in Pariser Platz, and in 2012 the museum moves into part of the former Jewish Girls' School . Explore the long, white and light-flooded corridors of the school, and experience the displays in the former classrooms where the walls are decorated with photographs. The main theme is John F. Kennedy's visit to Germany, but the museum also covers the myth of the American Dream and his presidential election campaign. Alongside the photographs sit some political and more mundane objects: historic books and original documents are displayed in glass cabinets. Some more personal objects include JFK's trademark handmade designer suits and bags. Film footage is projected onto the wall on an endless loop. The museum's collection also covers other members of the Kennedy family; JFK's wife Jackie, his younger brother, Robert, and the rest of the First Family. Find out about their life in the spotlight.

Museum highlights

• John F. Kennedy's black Hermès briefcase
• JFK's documents, including his Harvard thesis titled "Why England Slept"
• 1960s film footage which is projected onto the walls
• Private and professional photographs of the Kennedy family
• Campaigning posters from the Presidential election

Berlin's Mitte art gallery

Alongside the museum The Kennedys, CAMERA WORK runs another gallery in the school building. The CWC Gallery has a regularly changing programme of exhibitions of contemporary art featuring sculpture, photography and paintings in a minimalist and elegant space. Temporary exhibitions showcase the best of contemporary art, for example, the close-up star portraits by Martin Schoeller or Marc Sijan's sculptures. The Collectors Room also looks at the very cutting edge of the contemporary art world. It has a glass facade and contains several exhibition rooms, a café and shop. Take a look at quality work from various different artistic collections. In the "Chamber of Wonders" look at a collection of art, scientific instruments and bizarre or exciting items from the Renaissance and Baroque periods such as a coconut cup belonging to Alexander von Humboldt and a taxidermy Nile crocodile.

Our tips for your visit to museum The Kennedys

Take the S-Bahn line S1, S2 or S25 or Oranienburger Strasse, and from there it's just seconds to the Kennedys exhibition. Alternatively, take the U6 underground line to Oranienburger Tor. If you have a Berlin WelcomeCard, you will get 30% off the admission price. For groups, guided tours can be arranged and a reduced price applies for groups over 10 people. Workshops are also run for school groups, details of which can be found on the museum website.

Opening hours

• Share on Facebook Share on Facebook
• Share on X Share on X
• Share by email Share by email
• Print page Print page

Auguststraße 11-13 10117   Berlin

Tel.: +49 (0)30 - 20 65 35 70

You might find this also interesting

A new home for art

me Collectors Room Berlin

Please note: me Collectors Room is permanently closed since 2020

Show details

Discover the works of Helmut Newton in Berlin

Museum für Fotografie - Helmut Newton Stiftung / Sammlung Fotografie der Kunstbibliothek

The Museum of Photography presents the photographic work of Helmut Newton and temporary exhibitions with a wide variety of themes.

From silent film to digital movies

Deutsche Kinemathek - Museum für Film und Fernsehen

Explore the history of German cinema, from its beginnings to present day, and the story of icon Marlene Dietrich at the Museum für Film und

• History Classics
• Your Profile
• Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window)
• This Day In History
• History Podcasts
• History Vault

When JFK Told West Berliners That He Was One of Them

By: Jesse Greenspan

Updated: April 26, 2023 | Original: June 26, 2013

In June 1963, as the Cold War raged, President John F. Kennedy traveled to Germany to denounce communism and express U.S. support for the people there, whose country had been divvied up after World War II . His address in West Berlin, where he declared "Ich bin ein Berliner," struck a chord with the massive crowd, making it one of his most-remembered speeches.

After World War II , the victorious Allied powers divided Germany into four zones. Three of those—controlled by the United States, the United Kingdom and France, respectively—became democratic West Germany, whereas the one controlled by the Soviet Union became communist East Germany.

Berlin, the former capital, was similarly split despite being located squarely within East Germany’s borders, a situation that rankled the Soviet Union. In June 1948, the USSR cut off all land and water routes between West Berlin and the rest of West Germany in an attempt to gain control over the city. But the United States and its allies were able to overcome this 11-month blockade by airlifting in over 2.3 million tons of food and supplies.

Berlin remained a point of contention between the United States and the Soviet Union when Kennedy took office in January 1961. At a summit that June in Austria, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev threatened the sovereignty of West Berlin and ratcheted up the rhetoric, warning that it was “…up to the U.S. to decide whether there will be war or peace” between the two nations and insisting that as the Cold War heated up, “Force will be met by force.”

“Worst thing in my life,” Kennedy told a New York Times reporter afterwards. “He savaged me.”

Khrushchev then approved the construction of the Berlin Wall in order to prevent any more East Germans from fleeing to the West (an estimated 3.5 million had already done so). Barbed wire went up on August 13, 1961; concrete blocks later replaced it. More turmoil came in October, when Soviet and U.S. tanks rolled to within a few hundred feet of each other at Checkpoint Charlie , the crossing point for diplomats and other non-Germans. The 16-hour standoff, which precipitated worries about a World War III, ended without any shots being fired.

On June 23, 1963, Kennedy returned to Europe for the first time since sparring with Khrushchev in Austria. He visited Bonn, Cologne and Frankfurt in West Germany, where big crowds chanted his name and waved U.S. flags, before flying into West Berlin on the morning of June 26. On the way over he showed General James H. Polk, the U.S. commandant in Berlin, a draft of the speech he planned to give later that day. “This is terrible, Mr. President,” Polk reportedly said.

Kennedy agreed and began working out a more forceful version in his head as he toured Checkpoint Charlie and other locations around the city. He also inserted a little German, which he wrote phonetically on note cards. Meanwhile, at least 120,000 West Berliners—some estimates place the total as high as 450,000—had gathered in the plaza outside city hall to hear Kennedy speak.

Early in his address, the foreign language-challenged president broke out four German words he had supposedly been practicing for days. “Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was ‘civis Romanus sum,’” Kennedy said. “Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is ‘Ich bin ein Berliner.’” Legend holds that by including the article “ein,” Kennedy had called himself a jelly doughnut. But although speechwriter Ted Sorensen blamed himself for the alleged mistake in a memoir, German linguists maintain that the president used acceptable grammar.

Kennedy went on to lambaste the failures of communism , saying anyone who thought it was the wave of the future should come to Berlin. “Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in,” JFK stated. After praising the people of West Berlin for being at the front lines of the Cold War , he finished up by repeating his soon-to-be famous phrase. “All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words “Ich bin ein Berliner!’” he exclaimed.

The whole speech lasted only nine minutes. Kennedy then gave another address at the Free University of Berlin before flying to Ireland that evening. “We’ll never have another day like this one, as long as we live,” he reportedly said in reference to the enthusiastic crowds.

Although Kennedy was assassinated that November, his wish for the city to “be joined as one” came true when the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989. To this day he remains an admired figure in Berlin, which is hosting a series of lectures, films and exhibitions coinciding with the 50th anniversary of his visit.

HISTORY Vault: U.S. Presidents

Stream U.S. Presidents documentaries and your favorite HISTORY series, commercial-free

Sign up for Inside History

Get HISTORY’s most fascinating stories delivered to your inbox three times a week.

By submitting your information, you agree to receive emails from HISTORY and A+E Networks. You can opt out at any time. You must be 16 years or older and a resident of the United States.

More details : Privacy Notice | Terms of Use | Contact Us

The Real Meaning of Ich Bin ein Berliner

In West Berlin in 1963, President Kennedy delivered his most eloquent speech on the world stage. The director of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum tells the evocative story behind JFK’s words.

Other than ask not , they were the most-famous words he ever spoke. They drew the world’s attention to what he considered the hottest spot in the Cold War. Added at the last moment and scribbled in his own hand, they were not, like the oratory in most of his other addresses, chosen by talented speechwriters. And for a man notoriously tongue-tied when it came to foreign languages, the four words weren't even in English.

Ich bin ein Berliner.

These words, delivered on June 26, 1963, against the geopolitical backdrop of the Berlin Wall, endure because of the pairing of the man and the moment. John F. Kennedy’s defiant defense of democracy and self-government stand out as a high point of his presidency.

To appreciate their impact, one must understand the history. After World WarII, the capital of Hitler’s Third Reich was divided, like Germany itself, between the communist East and the democratic West. The Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev described West Berlin, surrounded on all sides by East Germany, as “a bone in my throat” and vowed to “eradicate this splinter from the heart of Europe.” Kennedy feared that any future European conflict, with the potential for nuclear war, would be sparked by Berlin.

At their summit meeting in Vienna in the spring of 1961, Khrushchev warned Kennedy that he would sign a treaty with East Germany restricting Western access to West Berlin. In response, Kennedy announced a major military buildup. In a television address to the nation on July 25, 1961, he described the embattled city as “the great testing place of Western courage and will” and declared that any attack on West Berlin would be viewed as an attack on the United States.

The speech had its desired effect. Khrushchev backed down from signing the treaty, even as thousands of East Germans continued crossing into West Berlin in search of freedom. In the early morning of August 13, 1961, the East German government, with Soviet support, sought to put this problem to rest, by building a wall of barbed wire across the heart of Berlin.

Tensions had abated slightly by the time Kennedy arrived for a state visit almost two years later. But the wall, an aesthetic and moral monstrosity now made mainly of concrete, remained. Deeply moved by the crowds that had welcomed him in Bonn and Frankfurt, JFK was overwhelmed by the throngs of West Berliners, who put a human face on an issue he had previously seen only in strategic terms. When he viewed the wall itself, and the barrenness of East Berlin on the other side, his expression turned grim.

Kennedy’s speechwriters had worked hard preparing a text for his speech, to be delivered in front of city hall. They sought to express solidarity with West Berlin’s plight without offending the Soviets, but striking that balance proved impossible. JFK was disappointed in the draft he was given. The American commandant in Berlin called the text “terrible,” and the president agreed.

So he fashioned a new speech on his own. Previously, Kennedy had said that in Roman times, no claim was grander than “I am a citizen of Rome.” For his Berlin speech, he had considered using the German equivalent, “I am a Berliner.”

Moments before taking the stage, during a respite in West Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt’s office, JFK jotted down a few words in Latin and—with a translator’s help—the German version, written phonetically: Ish bin ein Bearleener .

Afterward it would be suggested that Kennedy had got the translation wrong—that by using the article ein before the word Berliner , he had mistakenly called himself a jelly doughnut. In fact, Kennedy was correct. To state Ich bin Berliner would have suggested being born in Berlin, whereas adding the word ein implied being a Berliner in spirit. His audience understood that he meant to show his solidarity.

Emboldened by the moment and buoyed by the adoring crowd, he delivered one of the most inspiring speeches of his presidency. “Two thousand years ago, the proudest boast was ‘Civis Romanus sum,’ ” he proclaimed. “Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is ‘ Ich bin ein Berliner !’ ”

With a masterly cadence, he presented a series of devastating critiques of life under communism:

There are many people in the world who really don’t understand, or say they don’t, what is the great issue between the free world and the communist world. Let them come to Berlin … There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to Berlin … And there are even a few who say that it’s true that communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress. Lasst sie nach Berlin kommen — let them come to Berlin!

Kennedy cast a spotlight on West Berlin as an outpost of freedom and on the Berlin Wall as the communist world’s mark of evil. “Freedom has many difficulties, and democracy is not perfect,” he stated, “but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in.” He confidently predicted that, in time, the wall would fall, Germany would reunite, and democracy would spread throughout Eastern Europe.

The words rang true not only for the hundreds of thousands of people who were there but also for the millions around the world who saw the speech captured on film. Viewing the video today, one still sees a young statesman—in the prime of his life and his presidency—expressing an essential truth that runs throughout human history: the desire for liberty and self-government.

At the climax of his speech, the American leader identified himself with the inhabitants of the besieged city:

Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one and this country and this great continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe.

His conclusion linked him eternally to his listeners and to their cause: “All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words Ich bin ein Berliner .”

• great leaders

JFK in Germany, 1963: Rare and Classic Photos

F irst off, let’s get the whole jelly-doughnut fiction out of the way. For decades, people have been chuckling over the oft-repeated “fact” that when he delivered his now-famous speech at Berlin’s Schöneberg city hall in June 1963, John F. Kennedy flubbed the oration’s critical line. Instead of declaring his solidarity with the German people with a rousing, “I am a Berliner!” ( Ich bin Berliner ) — so the story goes — Kennedy instead proclaimed, “I am a jelly doughnut!” ( Ich bin ein Berliner ).

It’s a pretty good story, and it’s even more comical when it’s repeated, as it has been countless times in the subsequent decades, in JFK’s distinctive Boston accent and with his unique cadence. Alas, for comedians and for cocktail-party trivia experts everywhere, Kennedy’s assertion was not only perfectly comprehensible, but positively stirring, to the thousands of Germans who saw his speech live and to the millions of others who heard it on the radio or saw it on TV.

“I am a Berliner!” It might not be as hilarious as the apocryphal jelly-doughnut line — but five decades on, JFK’s simple declaration still feels inspiring.

Here, more than 50 years after Kennedy’s June 1963 speech in Berlin, LIFE.com recalls not only that one historic moment, but the look and the feel — the unprecedented energy — of his trip to Germany. Kennedy drew boisterous and, for the most part, adoring crowds wherever he traveled, and less than two decades after the end of World War II, in a West Germany that was now an American ally, was received as something of a rock star by young and old alike.

[MORE: See the gallery, “Rare Photos From JFK’s 1960 Campaign”]

Staged less than five months before his assassination would stun the world, in a nation ripped apart by competing ideologies and by the brute, concrete symbol of the Cold War — the Berlin Wall — JFK’s triumphant German tour was one of the earliest and most poignant watersheds of the 1960s. As America moved deeper into the decade, and as violence seemed to erupt from every seam in the culture — the terrorist church bombing in Birmingham mere months later; the assassinations of Malcolm X, Dr. King and Robert Kennedy; the war in Vietnam; the Mansons; Altamont and on and on — the promise of a new, re-imagined and perhaps even morally ascendant United States flickered, and faded.

Ben Cosgrove is the Editor of LIFE.com

More Must-Reads from TIME

• How Joe Biden Leads
• TIME100 Most Influential Companies 2024
• Javier Milei’s Radical Plan to Transform Argentina
• How Private Donors Shape Birth-Control Choices
• What Sealed Trump’s Fate : Column
• Are Walking Pads Worth It?
• 15 LGBTQ+ Books to Read for Pride
• Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time

Contact us at [email protected]

Go to Germany, A Nation Welcomes President John F. Kennedy

This West German documentary covers President John F. Kennedy’s June 1963 visit to several German cities, culminating in his “Ich bin ein Be… read more

This West German documentary covers President John F. Kennedy’s June 1963 visit to several German cities, culminating in his “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech. President Kennedy’s motorcades are viewed by thousands as he visits Cologne, Bonn, Frankfurt, and Berlin. This is a Deutsche Wochenschau (West German state newsreel) production, shown courtesy of the German Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv). The Federal Republic of Germany owns the rights to this film directed by Manfred Purzer and narrated in English by W. Esterer. close

Javascript must be enabled in order to access C-SPAN videos.

• Text type Text Graphical Timeline
• Search this text

*This text was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.

Hosting Organization

• Federal Republic of Germany Federal Republic of Germany
• American History TV
• Reel America

Airing Details

• Jun 22, 2021 | 8:00pm EDT | C-SPAN 3
• Jun 23, 2021 | 1:41am EDT | C-SPAN 3
• Jun 23, 2021 | 7:20am EDT | C-SPAN 3
• Jun 26, 2021 | 10:00pm EDT | C-SPAN 3
• Jun 27, 2021 | 4:00pm EDT | C-SPAN 3
• Jun 28, 2021 | 2:00am EDT | C-SPAN 3
• Jul 03, 2021 | 8:01am EDT | C-SPAN 3

Related Video

The Five Cities of June

This 1963 United States Information Agency film documents events in five cities: the election and coronation of Pope Pau…

President Kennedy in Berlin

Newsreel footage was shown of President Kennedy visiting West Berlin and speaking to a crowd. A segment of the footage s…

The Last Two Days

The film The Last Two Days documented President Kennedy’s final hours as he traveled to Texas and visited San Antonio, H…

Jacqueline Kennedy's Asian Journey

This United States Information Agency film covers Jacqueline Kennedy’s visit to India and Pakistan in March of 1962. Acc…

The Museum will close early on Sunday, June 9, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. and will reopen for regular admission on Monday, June 10, 2024 at 10:00 a.m.

Historic Speeches

Remarks at the rudolph wilde platz, berlin.

Transcripts: [[selectable_languages.length]] Languages

Downloading Tip: Hold the "Alt" or "Option" key when clicking on the link, or right-click and select "Save Link As" to download this file.

About Historic Speech

Accession Number:  USG:2B-1 (excerpt)

Digital Identifier:  USG-2B-1

Title:  Excerpt from "One Day in Berlin"

Date(s) of Materials:  26 June 1963

Description:  Motion picture covering President John F. Kennedy's visit to Berlin, Germany. President Kennedy arrives at Tegel Airport in Berlin and delivers remarks in a welcome ceremony presided over by Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Konrad Adenauer and Mayor of West Berlin Willy Brandt. President Kennedy visits the site of the Brandenburg Gate, looks over the Berlin Wall, and then visits Checkpoint Charlie. President Kennedy delivers an address upon signing the Golden Book at the Rathaus Schöneberg on Rudolph Wilde Platz. In his speech President Kennedy discusses his hopes for the reunification of Germany, and emphasizes the philosophical differences between capitalism and communism, noting, "Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free." In his remarks President Kennedy famously proclaims, "Ich bin ein Berliner." Afterward President Kennedy attends a ceremony at Berlin Free University and addresses the crowd, and finally delivers farewell remarks and departs Berlin. Produced by Sgt Bill Bailey, Special Events Department of AFTV (Air Force Television). Edited by Sgt James Connelly. Narrated by A1C Al Baker.

Copyright Status:  Public Domain

Physical Description:  1 film reel (black-and-white; sound; 16 mm; 35 minutes)

[[selectable_languages.length]] Languages

Historic Documents

Kennedy's "ich bin ein berliner" speech.

I am proud to come to this city as the guest of your distinguished Mayor, who has symbolized throughout the world the fighting spirit of West Berlin. And I am proud to visit the Federal Republic with your distinguished Chancellor who for so many years has committed Germany to democracy and freedom and progress, and to come here in the company of my fellow American, General Clay, who has been in this city during its great moments of crisis and will come again if ever needed.

Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was "civis Romanus sum." Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is "Ich bin ein Berliner."

I appreciate my interpreter translating my German!

There are many people in the world who really don't understand, or say they don't, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world. Let them come to Berlin. There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to Berlin. And there are some who say in Europe and elsewhere we can work with the Communists. Let them come to Berlin. And there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress. Lass' sie nach Berlin kommen. Let them come to Berlin.

Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leaving us. I want to say, on behalf of my countrymen, who live many miles away on the other side of the Atlantic, who are far distant from you, that they take the greatest pride that they have been able to share with you, even from a distance, the story of the last 18 years. I know of no town, no city, that has been besieged for 18 years that still lives with the vitality and the force, and the hope and the determination of the city of West Berlin. While the wall is the most obvious and vivid demonstration of the failures of the Communist system, for all the world to see, we take no satisfaction in it, for it is, as your Mayor has said, an offense not only against history but an offense against humanity, separating families, dividing husbands and wives and brothers and sisters, and dividing a people who wish to be joined together.

What is true of this city is true of Germany--real, lasting peace in Europe can never be assured as long as one German out of four is denied the elementary right of free men, and that is to make a free choice. In 18 years of peace and good faith, this generation of Germans has earned the right to be free, including the right to unite their families and their nation in lasting peace, with good will to all people. You live in a defended island of freedom, but your life is part of the main. So let me ask you as I close, to lift your eyes beyond the dangers of today, to the hopes of tomorrow, beyond the freedom merely of this city of Berlin, or your country of Germany, to the advance of freedom everywhere, beyond the wall to the day of peace with justice, beyond yourselves and ourselves to all mankind.

Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one and this country and this great Continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe. When that day finally comes, as it will, the people of West Berlin can take sober satisfaction in the fact that they were in the front lines for almost two decades.

All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words "Ich bin ein Berliner."

• Daniel Webster's "Seventh of March" Speech
• FDR's Infamy Speech
• "Ich bin ein Berliner"

This public-domain content provided by the Independence Hall Association , a nonprofit organization in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1942. Publishing electronically as ushistory.org. On the Internet since July 4, 1995.

Schoolshistory.org.uk

History resources, stories and news. Author: Dan Moorhouse

Kennedy visit to Berlin

Kennedy’s visit to Berlin, 1963. The ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ speech

Source 1: John F Kennedy, Berlin, 1963

There are many people in the world who really don’t understand, or say they don’t, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world – let them come to Berlin.

Source 2: John F Kennedy, Berlin, 1963

Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was “civis Romanus sum”. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is “Ich bin ein Berliner”.

Source 3: John F Kennedy, Berlin, 1963

I want to say, on behalf of my countrymen, who live many miles away on the other side of the Atlantic, who are far distant from you, that they take the greatest pride that they have been able to share with you, even from a distance, the story of the last 18 years.

I know of no town, no city, that has been besieged for 18 years that still lives with the vitality and the force, and the hope and the determination of the city of West Berlin.

Source 4: John F Kennedy, Berlin, 1963

Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free.

When all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one and this country and this great continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe.

When that day finally comes, as it will, the people of West Berlin can take sober satisfaction in the fact that they were in the front lines for almost two decades.

All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words “Ich bin ein Berliner”.

• 37607 Share on Facebook
• 2417 Share on Twitter
• 6960 Share on Pinterest
• 3023 Share on LinkedIn
• 5558 Share on Email

Subscribe to our Free Newsletter, Complete with Exclusive History Content

Thanks, I’m not interested

Museum the Kennedys

US president John F Kennedy has held a special place in German hearts since his defiant ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!’ ('I am a Berliner') solidarity speech in 1963. This private exhibit addresses the president's continued mystique as well as such topics as the Berlin visit and his assassination in Dallas through photographs, documents, video footage and memorabilia.

Among the standout relics are JFK's reading glasses and crocodile-leather briefcase, Jackie's Persian-lamb pillbox hat and a hilarious Superman comic book starring the president. Temporary presentations, including an inaugural photo exhibit of former President Obama, supplement the permanent galleries.

Auguststrasse 11-13

Get In Touch

030-2065 3570

https://​www​.thekennedys​.de​/

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Museumsinsel

Walk through ancient Babylon, meet an Egyptian queen, clamber up a Greek altar or be mesmerized by Monet's ethereal landscapes. Welcome to Museumsinsel …

Neues Museum

For over 60 years, not a soul was able to visit Berlin’s Neues Museum – in fact, it sat in ruins. But today it’s one of the city’s most celebrated…

Pergamonmuseum

The Pergamonmuseum is one of Berlin’s most visited historical gems and perhaps also its most controversial. This museum offers an archaeological time-warp…

East Side Gallery

The East Side Gallery is the embodiment of Berlin’s grit and guts.

Fernsehturm

Germany's tallest structure, the TV Tower is a Berlin icon.

Topographie des Terrors

This compelling exhibit tells stories of terror and persecution in Nazi Germany.

Schloss & Park Sanssouci

17.54 MILES

This glorious park and palace ensemble is what happens when a king has good taste, plenty of cash and access to the finest architects and artists of the…

Schloss Sanssouci

17.25 MILES

Frederick the Great's famous summer palace, this rococo gem was designed by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff in 1747 and sits daintily above vine-draped…

Nearby Berlin attractions

1 . Jüdische Mädchenschule

This 1920s former Jewish girls' school, which was forcibly closed by the Nazis in 1942, was injected with new life as a cultural and culinary hub in 2012…

2 . KW Institute for Contemporary Art

Founded in the early 1990s in an old margarine factory, nonprofit KW played a key role in turning the Scheunenviertel into Berlin’s first major post-Wall…

3 . me Collectors Room

Founded by private art collector Thomas Olbricht, this modern, non-elitist space presents curated highlights from his own collection and also serves as a…

4 . Heckmann-Höfe

For a retreat from the urban frenzy, skip on over to this idyllic 19th-century courtyard complex linking Oranienburger Strasse with Auguststrasse. Aside…

5 . Neue Synagoge

The gleaming gold dome of the Neue Synagoge is the most visible symbol of Berlin’s revitalised Jewish community. The 1866 original was Germany's largest…

6 . Sammlung Hoffmann

Blink and you’ll miss the doorway leading to the Sophie-Gips-Höfe, a trio of courtyards linking Sophienstrasse and Gipsstrasse. The former sewing-machine…

7 . Friedhof Grosse Hamburger Strasse

What looks like a small park was in fact Berlin’s first Jewish cemetery, destroyed by the Nazis in 1943. Some 2700 people were buried here between 1672…

8 . Bode-Museum

On the northern tip of Museumsinsel, this palatial edifice houses a comprehensive collection of European sculpture from the early Middle Ages to the 18th…

• Calendar / Application Forms

• The Relations
• America House
• Conferences
• Youth Alliance

• The Marshall Plan
• The Berlin Airlift
• John F. Kennedy Visit to Berlin
• Ronald Reagan Visit to Berlin
• Bill Clinton Visit to Berlin
• Barack Obama Visit to Berlin
• Famous German-Americans

Academy for Cultural Diplomacy

The transatlantic relationship.

The US President, John F Kennedy, made a ground-breaking speech in Berlin offering American solidarity to the citizens of West Germany. A crowd of 120,000 Berliners gathered in front of the Schöneberg Rathaus (City Hall) to hear President Kennedy speak. They began gathering in the square long before he was due to arrive, and when he finally appeared on the podium they gave him an ovation of several minutes.

In an impassioned speech, the president told them West Berlin was a symbol of freedom in a world threatened by the Cold War. His speech was punctuated throughout by rapturous cheers of approval. He ended on the theme he had begun with:

"All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words, 'Ich bin ein Berliner.'"

Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech was seen as a turning point in the Cold War. It was a major morale booster for West Germans, alarmed by the recently-built Berlin Wall. It also gave a strongly defiant message to the Soviet Union and effectively put down Moscow's hopes of driving the Allies out of West Berlin. Two months later, President Kennedy negotiated the first nuclear test ban treaty with the Soviet Union, in what was seen as a first step towards ending the Cold War.

delivered 26 June 1963, West Berlin The full text of Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech

I am proud to come to this city as the guest of your distinguished Mayor, who has symbolized throughout the world the fighting spirit of West Berlin. And I am proud -- And I am proud to visit the Federal Republic with your distinguished Chancellor who for so many years has committed Germany to democracy and freedom and progress, and to come here in the company of my fellow American, General Clay, who who has been in this city during its great moments of crisis and will come again if ever needed.

Two thousand years ago -- Two thousand years ago, the proudest boast was "civis Romanus sum." Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is "Ich bin ein Berliner."

(I appreciate my interpreter translating my German.)

There are many people in the world who really don't understand, or say they don't, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world.

Let them come to Berlin.

There are some who say -- There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future.

And there are some who say, in Europe and elsewhere, we can work with the Communists.

And there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress.

Lass' sie nach Berlin kommen.

Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect. But we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in -- to prevent them from leaving us. I want to say on behalf of my countrymen who live many miles away on the other side of the Atlantic, who are far distant from you, that they take the greatest pride, that they have been able to share with you, even from a distance, the story of the last 18 years. I know of no town, no city, that has been besieged for 18 years that still lives with the vitality and the force, and the hope, and the determination of the city of West Berlin.

While the wall is the most obvious and vivid demonstration of the failures of the Communist system -- for all the world to see -- we take no satisfaction in it; for it is, as your Mayor has said, an offense not only against history but an offense against humanity, separating families, dividing husbands and wives and brothers and sisters, and dividing a people who wish to be joined together.

What is -- What is true of this city is true of Germany: Real, lasting peace in Europe can never be assured as long as one German out of four is denied the elementary right of free men, and that is to make a free choice. In 18 years of peace and good faith, this generation of Germans has earned the right to be free, including the right to unite their families and their nation in lasting peace, with good will to all people.

You live in a defended island of freedom, but your life is part of the main. So let me ask you, as I close, to lift your eyes beyond the dangers of today, to the hopes of tomorrow, beyond the freedom merely of this city of Berlin, or your country of Germany, to the advance of freedom everywhere, beyond the wall to the day of peace with justice, beyond yourselves and ourselves to all mankind.

Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When all are free, then we look -- can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one and this country and this great Continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe. When that day finally comes, as it will, the people of West Berlin can take sober satisfaction in the fact that they were in the front lines for almost two decades.

All -- All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin.

And, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words "Ich bin ein Berliner."

Our Partner Institutions:

• Furtwangen University (HFU), Germany
• The University Of Bucharest, Romania
• Center for Cultural Diplomacy Studies (CCDS)
• Center for Global Health Studies (CGHS)

Our Programs:

• MA & PhD

Our Projects »

• World Forum On Democracy & Peace 2022-27
• Inter Parliamentary Alliance Since 2008
• Icd House Of Arts & Culture Since 2008
• Youth Education & Development Since 2004
• Berlin Global : Cd News

Our Programs »

• Cultural Diplomacy Studies
• Cultural Diplomacy Research
• Human Rights & Peace Building
• Cultural Diplomacy Thematic Programs
• Internationational Conferences

© Institute for Cultural Diplomacy Inc. - All rights reserved | Contact | Imprint | Privacy Policy

SchoolTube: Kennedy’s Historic Berlin Visit in the Cold War

SchoolTube: John F. Kennedy’s Historic Visit to Berlin During the Cold War

Introduction.

In the midst of the Cold War, U.S. President John F. Kennedy made a historic visit to West Berlin on June 26, 1963. This momentous event showcased Kennedy’s solidarity with the people of the divided city and remains etched in the annals of history. Join us as we delve into this iconic episode of History Stories and explore the significance of Kennedy’s Berlin visit during the tense geopolitical climate of the Cold War.

The Divided City: A Symbol of Cold War Tensions

Berlin, once a thriving metropolis, found itself at the heart of the Cold War division. The city was physically and ideologically split between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, creating a palpable sense of tension and uncertainty. Kennedy’s visit to West Berlin aimed to reaffirm the United States’ commitment to supporting its allies and defending democratic values against the encroaching influence of communism.

The Iconic “Ich bin ein Berliner” Speech

One of the most memorable moments of Kennedy’s Berlin visit was his powerful speech delivered in front of the Rathaus Schöneberg. In a symbolic gesture of solidarity, Kennedy declared, “Ich bin ein Berliner” (I am a Berliner), expressing his deep connection with the people of Berlin and their struggle for freedom. This simple yet profound statement resonated with the crowd and became an enduring symbol of American support for West Berlin.

A Turning Point in the Cold War

Kennedy’s visit to Berlin served as a turning point in the Cold War. It demonstrated the United States’ unwavering commitment to its allies and its willingness to stand up to Soviet aggression. The visit boosted the morale of West Berliners and sent a clear message to the Soviet Union that the Western Allies would not tolerate any attempts to undermine the freedom and sovereignty of West Berlin.

Legacy and Impact

Kennedy’s historic visit to Berlin left a lasting legacy on the Cold War and beyond. It strengthened the resolve of the Western Allies and inspired the people of West Berlin to remain steadfast in their pursuit of freedom and democracy. The visit also contributed to the eventual fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, marking the end of the Cold War and the reunification of Germany.

John F. Kennedy’s visit to Berlin during the Cold War stands as a testament to the power of leadership, solidarity, and the unwavering pursuit of freedom. His iconic “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech continues to resonate as a symbol of hope and unity, reminding us of the importance of standing together in the face of adversity. Kennedy’s visit left an indelible mark on history and serves as a valuable lesson in the enduring struggle for peace and democracy.

• World History
• John F. Kennedy

High School

Selected Code

Selected category.

© 2024 by SchoolTube

Username or Email Address

Remember Me

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Privacy policy.

To use social login you have to agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website. Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

Public collection title

Private collection title

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.