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The
Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate
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More Information
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| In
May 1949 the Federal Republic of Germany was created.
In September the Soviet-supported Republic of Germany
was established in the East. This resolved the issue of
Berlin for the moment. The establishment of NATO and The
Warsaw Pact (military organization) in the same year gave
teeth to this formal division. Europe was now two armed
camps.
In
1961 East Germany built a wall to separate East Berlin
from West Berlin, isolating West Berlin within East Germany.
This wall which divided east and west became the symbol
of the tensions dividing the world during the cold war |
| John
F. Kennedy went to Berlin on June 26, 1963 to show support
for the West Berliners. 
 "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."
...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'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!" |
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Kennedy's
notes from the speech (Kennedy Library) |
- Side
note: There has been some controversy over Kennedy's use of
the phrase - was the use of the article "ein"
incorrect? Was Kennedy saying he was a pastry? This
is a story that just won't die. But it is not true.
There is a grammatical rule in German which prohibits
the use of the article when speaking of origin. However,
that is only a general rule. What Kennedy did is to
use a subtlety of the German language to say what he
meant. In fact Linguist Jürgen Eichhoff, writing
in the academic journal Monatshefte confirms
that using the article is the only was he could say
what he wanted to say, to express a metaphorical identification
with the people of Berlin. In fact if he had said "Ich
bin Berliner" he would have been incorrect, because
he would have been saying that he was a resident of
Berlin. Kennedy went over the phrasing and pronunciation
with a German journalist and even practiced with the
mayor of Berlin before giving the speech. The citizens
of Berlin cheered his speech, clearly understanding
his rather expert use of the language.
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The
Berlin Wall
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"In
the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness,
declining standards... Even today, the Soviet Union cannot
feed itself. The inescapable conclusion is that freedom
is the victor. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek
peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union, if you
seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev,
open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
(Ronald Reagan, Speech at the Brandenburg Gate, 1987)
- Side
note: The famous "tear down this wall"
coming from Reagan's speech writer, actually originated
with someone who was not a part of the White House,
not even an American. It seemed a simple and obvious
statement to Ingeborg Elz, when she suggested it to
the speech writer. Too simple for politics, perhaps. The President's
advisors thought it was too direct an attack on Gorbachev,
who was trying to liberalize the Soviet Union. But Reagan
wanted to keep it in the speech.
Not
long afterward, a surprise to nearly everyone, the wall came down. On the 9th of November, 1989, East Germany
was open to West Germany. Events moved swiftly. Communism
rapidly fell in Eastern Europe, and finally in the Soviet
Union. The Iron Curtain was lifted. |
The
day the wall came down
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