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

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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.

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The story behind John F. Kennedy's iconic 'Ich bin ein Berliner'

During the Cold War, 60 years ago, John F. Kennedy sparked hope with a legendary speech given in West Berlin, after the Berlin Wall came up.

The June 1963 visit to West Germany by then-US president John F. Kennedy was eagerly awaited. Diplomatic relations between the two countries had been somewhat strained since his inauguration in 1961, especially due to his administration's decision to show restraint towards the Soviet Union. West Germany, especially the city of West Berlin, felt that political decision very directly.

Nevertheless, the crowds were huge when Kennedy arrived in West Berlin on the fourth day of his trip, after visits to the then-capital Bonn, and to Cologne, Frankfurt am Main and Wiesbaden.

More than a million people welcomed the US president on the streets of West Berlin on June 26, 1963.

Hope and gratitude for the Allies' Berlin Airlift

Kennedy was a beacon of hope, and his state visit also coincided with the 15th anniversary of the start of the Berlin Airlift — a rescue mission for which the people of West Berlin once again showed their gratitude on this day.

With the Berlin Blockade, the Soviet Union had cut off the supply routes over land and water to West Berlin from June 24, 1948 until May 12, 1949.

By doing so, the Soviet Union hoped to gain power over the part of the city occupied by the Western Allies after World War II.

The Western Allies, led by the United States, immediately responded to the blockade with the Berlin Airlift : The Allied forces used military aircraft to deliver food and other necessities to the more than two million residents of the isolated city.

The Berliners started referring to the aircraft used as " Rosinenbomber " (raisin bombers), after some pilots started throwing down little packets of sweets, chewing gum and raisins to children before landing.

JFK's state visit to Germany: Two years after the Berlin Wall came up

By the time of Kennedy's trip, the political situation had taken a previously unanticipated turn: West Berlin was surrounded by a wall . So many residents of the city hoped that the US president's visit would mean freedom for them and an end to the division separating family members and friends. For them, the visit was a sign that the US would not give up on West Berlin.

And there had been some doubts about that. The newly elected President Kennedy did not intervene in August 1961 when the Soviet Union began building the Berlin Wall . Historians now believe Kennedy was concerned about the threat of a nuclear war, and that he considered Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to be unpredictable.

Ahead of giving his speech at Schöneberg city hall, which served as the office of West Berlin mayor Willy Brandt , Kennedy experienced a triumphal motorcade through the city. The open-topped car carrying him, Brandt, and West German chancellor Konrad Adenauer traveled past throngs of cheering people.

After stops at the Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie , where US and Soviet tanks faced off in the Autumn of 1961, the motorcade reached Schöneberg city hall at around 1 p.m.

A podium had been set up at the entrance to the building, from where Kennedy first thanked Adenauer and Brandt, and then the US Army general Lucius D. Clay, who, as military governor of the United States Zone in West Berlin, had organized the Berlin Airlift — which the crowd enthusiastically applauded.

Inspiration from ancient Rome

Then the US president spoke the words that would go down in history: "Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is: 'Ich bin ein Berliner.'"

The crowd cheered and responded with chants of "Kennedy, Kennedy." A banner held up read, "When will the Wall fall?"

Kennedy's now legendary sentence was a reference to a quote by the Roman philosopher and politician Marcus Cicero, "civis romanus sum," or "I am a Roman citizen." What during the Roman era was intended to express that all residents of the Roman Empire, even those outside the city, enjoyed special rights, was now re-interpreted to express unreserved solidarity with the people of West Berlin.

The idea for the sentence, at that point still in English, is said to have come to Kennedy at the White House, a few days before his trip. It did not make it into his speechwriter's manuscript, but on the way to Berlin, Kennedy wrote it himself, phonetically: "Ish bin ein Bearleener."

In his speech, Kennedy bolstered West Berlin as a strong-willed island of freedom. He said that those claiming that it was possible to work with the Communists, or even that communism would be the political system 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, to prevent them from leaving us."

An indeed, the construction of the Berlin Wall was the Soviet Union's reaction to the mass exodus of East Germans to the West. Some 2.8 million people are estimated to have left East Germany for West Germany between 1949 and 1961, fleeing either political persecution or economic hardship.

Kennedy's speech also paid tribute to the personal fates of family members separated by the Wall, and then concluded with the now famous words, "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.'"

It was another 26 years before the Berlin Wall finally fell. And a few months after his visit to West Berlin, on November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas . The true motivation behind the act remains unclear.

This article was originally written in German

Author: Torsten Landsberg

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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.

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John F. Kennedy at Freie Universität Berlin

John f. kennedy at freie universität, "the free university must be interested in turning out citizens of the world".

1963 during the Cold War the President of the United States gave a programmatic speech in Dahlem

It is 3:20 p.m. on June 26. A crowd of nearly 20,000 gathers on the campus of Freie Universität, in Berlin’s Dahlem district. They have come to hear the man who is driving up to the Henry Ford Building right now, in a Lincoln Continental convertible with Washington license plates.

And they won’t be disappointed: A few minutes later the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, starts his highly acclaimed speech at Freie Universität Berlin.

50th Anniversary Program : With several lectures, an official ceremony, and a symposium Freie Universität was drawing attention to the significance of the American President's visit in Berlin as well as to the speech he gave at the university in Dahlem.

John F. Kennedy Visits Dahlem

A Triumphal Visit to the Free University

All lthe tickets were gone within a very short time, and hours before the President's speech, the atmosphere in Dahlem was euphoric. This was the 26th of June, 1963, in Dahlem.

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Everything from the grandstand seating plan to thus far unpublished photographs and an audio file of President Kennedy's speech: here you will find a variety of documents related to President Kennedy's visit to Freie Universität Berlin.

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When J.F. Kennedy traveled to Berlin, he brought a special gift with him: 2,500 slides and a book about American art. Both are still treasures of the library. After his assassination in Dallas, the institute was renamed in his honor: John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies (JFKI).

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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”.

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State Visit to Europe

"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

About the Exhibit

Ten days after announcing a potential breakthrough in American-Soviet efforts to negotiate a groundbreaking nuclear test ban treaty, President Kennedy departed for Europe with stops in West Germany, Ireland, Great Britain, and Italy. His speeches had been carefully crafted to reassure America's European allies of continued U.S. support against Soviet aggression, while avoiding any provocation that would upset the delicate negotiations with the Soviets. Highlights of this exhibit gallery include film footage, photographs, and artifacts from Ireland that bring President Kennedy's state visits to life.

JFK was not prepared for the overwhelmingly emotional reception he received in West Germany and West Berlin. Throughout his presidency, Kennedy had stayed true to his word to protect West Berlin, and during his visit there, he was hailed as a hero. On June 26, with throngs of cheering people lining the streets, the President toured the city in an open car during which he had his first view of the Berlin Wall. The adoration of the crowds and the desolation of the Wall - and those who lived on the other side - affected him visibly. The visit marked a high point of his presidency and his leadership on the world stage.

From West Germany, the President flew to Ireland. For four days, he traveled the country where he was hailed, honored, and feted, immersed in the historical and literary heritage of Ireland that had helped form him. On his departure, JFK said, "I want to thank you for a visit that has been one of the most moving experiences of my life."

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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."

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