JFK's historic âIch bin ein Berlinerâ speech revisited
John F. Kennedy visiting West Berlin in June 1963 and delivering his âIch bin ein Berlinerâ (âI Am a Berlinerâ) speech.
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
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Transcript
NARRATOR: June 26, 1963 - West Berlin awaits the U.S. president. John F. Kennedy - for many the 45-year-old embodies a new generation of politician.
ULRICH SCHĂRMANN: "We had the feeling we were being ruled by our grandparents, and here was this guy as fresh and young as we were, like one of us.
NARRATOR: The Berliners also expect a statement about the future of Berlin as a divided city. The western part of the city has been surrounded by a wall for 22 months. Moscow and East Berlin want to stop the stream of GDR refugees. The murderous structure divides friends and families. The Soviet Union repeatedly questions the status of West Berlin and there are tense moments between the two former allies.
EGON BAHR: "We were quiet as mice in the Schöneberg City Hall like everyone else in the rest of Germany. We were trembling and physically felt how dependent we were."
NARRATOR: Two years after the wall is built more than 400,000 citizens wait in front of the Schöneberg City Hall for the address of John F. Kennedy.
SCHĂRMANN: "No pop star could have gathered such a huge crowd at this time in Berlin."
NARRATOR: It is the first visit of a U.S. president to Berlin since the end of the war. What message will he bring?
TED SORENSEN: "It was if they were in an explosive mood ready to act. If he had said let us march, they might have marched on the wall and torn it down."
NARRATOR: But Kennedy said something else.
JOHN F. KENNEDY: "All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the wordsâIch bin ein Berliner!"
EDITH HANCKE: "And as he said that famous sentence, there was no stopping us. We started yelling like crazy."
NARRATOR: The crowds feel protected by Kennedy.
SCHĂRMANN: "Unbelievable rejoicing, people had tears in their eyes. It was like a liberation."
NARRATOR: The president's speech was well prepared. He just had to work on the accent.
BAHR: "We sat together with him in the room of the governing mayor, and he practiced how he should say it with our head translator: 'Ich bin ein Berliner.'"
NARRATOR: It is an uplifting moment for Kennedy, too.
SORENSEN: "When we departed he said 'Phew! We'll never have another day like this as long as we live.'"
NARRATOR: Kennedy's message is a free West Berlin is inseparable from the freedom of the West.
ULRICH SCHĂRMANN: "We had the feeling we were being ruled by our grandparents, and here was this guy as fresh and young as we were, like one of us.
NARRATOR: The Berliners also expect a statement about the future of Berlin as a divided city. The western part of the city has been surrounded by a wall for 22 months. Moscow and East Berlin want to stop the stream of GDR refugees. The murderous structure divides friends and families. The Soviet Union repeatedly questions the status of West Berlin and there are tense moments between the two former allies.
EGON BAHR: "We were quiet as mice in the Schöneberg City Hall like everyone else in the rest of Germany. We were trembling and physically felt how dependent we were."
NARRATOR: Two years after the wall is built more than 400,000 citizens wait in front of the Schöneberg City Hall for the address of John F. Kennedy.
SCHĂRMANN: "No pop star could have gathered such a huge crowd at this time in Berlin."
NARRATOR: It is the first visit of a U.S. president to Berlin since the end of the war. What message will he bring?
TED SORENSEN: "It was if they were in an explosive mood ready to act. If he had said let us march, they might have marched on the wall and torn it down."
NARRATOR: But Kennedy said something else.
JOHN F. KENNEDY: "All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the wordsâIch bin ein Berliner!"
EDITH HANCKE: "And as he said that famous sentence, there was no stopping us. We started yelling like crazy."
NARRATOR: The crowds feel protected by Kennedy.
SCHĂRMANN: "Unbelievable rejoicing, people had tears in their eyes. It was like a liberation."
NARRATOR: The president's speech was well prepared. He just had to work on the accent.
BAHR: "We sat together with him in the room of the governing mayor, and he practiced how he should say it with our head translator: 'Ich bin ein Berliner.'"
NARRATOR: It is an uplifting moment for Kennedy, too.
SORENSEN: "When we departed he said 'Phew! We'll never have another day like this as long as we live.'"
NARRATOR: Kennedy's message is a free West Berlin is inseparable from the freedom of the West.
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