60 years after the famous speech by the then US President John F. Kennedy, the world-famous quote “I am a Berliner” was once again celebrated in Berlin. “This sentence showed the determination of the Americans to defend the freedom of Berlin,” said Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) on Saturday at a festival in front of Schöneberg Town Hall. 60 years ago Kennedy gave his speech right here – on June 26, 1963 tens of thousands came, on Saturday there were hundreds.
Kennedy came to West Berlin exactly 15 years after the start of the airlift. From the end of June 1948, this was used to supply the western part of the city with food and coal, among other things, for a period of ten months, mainly by American pilots. Two years before his visit, the GDR had built the Wall across Berlin, the west of the city was an island within the GDR.
“A life in freedom is not easy, and democracy is not perfect. But we never had to build a wall to keep our people with us and prevent them from going elsewhere,” Kennedy called out to West Berliners to. He ended his speech with the sentence: “All free people, wherever they may live, are citizens of this city of Berlin, and therefore, as a free man, I am proud to be able to say: I am a Berliner.”
With burgers, fries, hot dogs and beer, this moment, which shaped Berlin, was commemorated. In his speech, Wegner reported on his father, who witnessed Kennedy’s appearance there at the time. Like many people, he was afraid of what would become of West Berlin. “My father left this place full of hope,” Wegner said.
He also recalled another passage from Kennedy’s speech: “Liberty is indivisible, and if one is enslaved, not all are free.” This thought must currently be the yardstick for Western support for Ukraine. “We stand by Kiev’s side,” emphasized the CDU politician.
Kennedy’s nephew, Timothy Shriver, was also a guest. The 63-year-old is committed to helping people with disabilities and was in the capital for the Special Olympics.
Information on the Airlift and Kennedy’s visit to Berlin
