Friday June 27
Ich bin ein Berliner
"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."
Yesterday marked 40 years since Pres. John F. Kennedy's famous speech at the Rudolph Wilde Platz in West Berlin, in which he declared before 500,00 people that "all free men" are Berliners. Kennedy's speech was an emotional high point of U.S. support during the Cold War with its ringing defense of freedom after communist East Germany built the Berlin Wall less than two years earlier. Jubilant crowds lined the streets and people tore up telephone books to shower him with confetti during a 33-mile tour through the city in an open convertible. Political times have changed since then, but the boldness, vision and humanity of that legendary old Cold Warrior can still stir one's heart.
At the German National Museum of Contemporary History in Bonn, the most famous excerpt of Kennedy's speech is displayed on a television monitor, and there is a copy of the piece of paper JFK held in his hand when delivering his speech, complete with the lines "Ich bin ein Berliner" and "Let them come to Berlin" scrawled in his own hand-writing. Herman Schafer, a custodian at the museum, says the document still elicits a deep response today. Sadly, 40 years after Kennedy made his famous declaration of solidarity with West Berliners on June 26, nobody expects U.S. President George W. Bush to ride through the German capital in an open-topped limousine cheered on by flower-throwing crowds. Yes, the times certainly have changed.
Posted by glenn at