To express support for West Germany, which was then completely surrounded by Soviet-controlled East Germany and to convey a impassioned message of defiance against a Soviet takeover, President Kennedy addressed a huge crowd in Berlin on June 26, 1963. 22 months earlier, East Germany erected the famous Berlin Wall to isolate Germans from West Germany. To show solidarity with West Germans, Kennedy famously announced “Ich bin ein Berliner”, or I am a Berliner (…or I am a jelly doughnut: the line is probably even more famous for its grammatical error–a Berliner meaning jelly doughnut in German)
A memorable moment of the Cold War, it gave West Germans a crucial morale boost, and is remembered as one of Kennedy’s most famous speeches.
In his speech, Kennedy assured West Germans that free nations still stood by the people of the democratically controlled sectors of Berlin who had lived within the hostile borders of East Germany since the end of World War 2 Immediately after the war, the city of Berlin was divided into West Berlin, comprised of American, British and French-administered democratic enclaves, and East Berlin, an East German communist-controlled area. In an early confrontation of the Cold War, West Berliners had endured a Soviet-imposed blockade of their part of the city between June 1948 and May 1949 that cut off their food and energy supplies. In response, the Allied Military Air Transport Service had flown food, coal and school supplies into the city in an unprecedented logistical feat known as "Operation Vittles" or the "Berlin Airfit".
President Kennedy did the speech to show his support towards the citizens of West Berlin after the erection of the Berlin wall. After the speech, the mayor of West Berlin, Willi Brandt, spoke out for the citizens of East Germany, saying they would be brought out in a few days to greet the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, whether they wanted to or not. His words were followed by the tolling of the Freedom Bell from the belfry of the Rathaus in remembrance of those in East Germany. It was one of President Kennedys most memorable and aslo due to the grammatic error hilarious speeches ever.
