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Ich bin ein Berliner

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by ProhibitOnions (talk | contribs) at 21:59, 1 September 2006 (→"Jam doughnut" urban legend: Actually, it's usually "jelly doughnut," this being a primarily US urban legend). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Plaque commemorating Kennedy's speech next to the front entrance of Rathaus Schöneberg

"Ich bin ein Berliner" ("I am a citizen of Berlin") is a famous quotation from a June 26, 1963 speech of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in West Berlin. He was underlining the support of the United States for democratic West Germany shortly after the Soviet-supported Communist state of East Germany erected the Berlin Wall as a barrier to movement between East and West.

The speech is considered one of Kennedy's best, and a notable moment of the Cold War. It was a great morale boost for West Berliners, who lived in an enclave deep inside East Germany and feared a possible East German occupation. Speaking from the balcony of Rathaus Schöneberg, Kennedy said,

"Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was civis romanus sum [I am a Roman citizen]. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is '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!'"


Entry in Berlin's Golden Book
Kennedy's phonetic notes: Ish bin ein Bearleener – kiwis Romanus sum – Lasd z nack Bearleen comen
File:JFK Ich bin ein Berliner - civis Romanus sum 2.png
Part of the speech manuscript

This message of defiance was aimed as much at the Soviets as it was at Berliners, and was a clear statement of U.S. policy in the wake of the construction of the Berlin Wall. However, Kennedy was criticized for making a speech that acknowledged Berlin's status quo as reality. The official status of Berlin at the time was that it was under joint occupation by the four Allied powers, each with primary responsiblity for a certain zone. Up to this point the U.S. had asserted that this was its status, even though the actual situation was far different. Kennedy's speech marked the first instance where the U.S. acknowledged that East Berlin was part of the Soviet bloc along with the rest of East Germany. The critics felt that Kennedy had given up the moral high ground and given in to Soviet pressure and that he needed to be more idealistic, and that the Soviets did not have the power to change the legal situation solely with bulldozers and guns.

There are commemorative sites in Berlin, such as the John F. Kennedy German-American School Berlin, and the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies of the Free University Berlin.

Background

Main article: History of Berlin

Germany's capital, Berlin, was deep within the area controlled after World War II by the Soviet army. Initially governed in four sectors controlled by the United States, United Kingdom, France, and USSR, tensions of the Cold War escalated until the Soviet forces implemented the Berlin Blockade, which the Western allies relieved with the dramatic airlift.

Afterward, the sectors controlled by the NATO Allies became an effective exclave of West Germany, completely surrounded by East Germany. From 1952, the border between East and West was closed everywhere but Berlin. Hundreds of thousands of East Germans defected to the West via West Berlin, a labour drain that threatened East Germany with economic collapse.

In 1961 the East German government under Walter Ulbricht erected a barbed-wire barrier around West Berlin. It was officially called the antifaschistischer Schutzwall (anti-fascist protective barrier), and the East German authorities argued that it was meant to prevent spies and agents of West Germany (which they considered a fascist state) from crossing into the East. However, it was universally known as the Berlin Wall and the majority opinion was that its primary purpose was to keep East German citizens from escaping to the West. Over a period of months the wall was rebuilt using concrete, and buildings were demolished to create a "death zone" in view of East German guards armed with machine guns. In 1962 the first attempted escape leading to a fatal shooting took the life of Peter Fechter.

The West, including the U.S., was accused of failing to respond forcefully to the erection of the Wall. On July 25, 1961, with the April Bay of Pigs fiasco still fresh, President Kennedy broadcast a Presidential address. Kennedy insisted that America would defend West Berlin, asserting its Four-Power rights, while making it clear that challenging the Soviet presence in Germany was not possible.

"Jelly doughnut" urban legend

A Berliner.

A common urban legend asserts that Kennedy made an embarrassing grammatical error by saying "Ich bin ein Berliner," referring to himself not as a citizen of Berlin, but as a common pastry:

Kennedy should have said "Ich bin Berliner" to mean "I am a person from Berlin." By adding the indefinite article ein, his statement implied he was a non-human Berliner, thus "I am a jelly doughnut". The statement was followed by uproarious laughter.

The legend stems from a play on words with Berliner, the name of a doughnut variant filled with jam or plum sauce that is thought to have originated in Berlin. This urban legend is largely unknown in Germany, where Kennedy's speech is considered a landmark in the country's postwar history.

The legend can be deconstructed on a number of points:

  • While there is a "jam doughnut" variant that is common in Berlin, it is only known as Pfannkuchen (pancake) in the city and nearby regions. The name "Berliner" is based on etymologic travel: other parts of Germany picked up the pastry under the name of Berliner Pfannkuchen (= pancake from Berlin), which in turn has been shortened to Berliner. That name has travelled further abroad and is now known in some English-speaking regions. In the 1960s however the term "Berliner" for the pastry sounded strange to people in Berlin.
  • There is no grammatical error in Kennedy's statement; the indefinite article does not change its meaning. In German, the statement of origin "Ich bin ein Brandenburger" (I am from Brandenburg) is more common than "Ich bin Brandenburger", but both are correct. The article "ein" can be used as a form of emphasis: it implies "just one of many." As Kennedy did stress the "ein", the usage was, according to German linguist Jürgen Eichhoff [1], "not only correct, but the one and only correct way of expressing in German what the President intended to say."
  • The telling of laughter may stem from an associated incident based on the simultaneous interpretation of his speech from English to German (which is the reason for the many pauses apparent in the audio recordings even that most tapes do not carry the interpreter's voice). After the president said "Ich bin ein Berliner" the first time, he was applauded, and a few seconds later he added jokingly, "I appreciate my interpreter translating my German!" This statement was followed by laughter and applause. That timeline fact is evident, so there was no laughter connected to the German phrase but to the next English phrase.

The origins of the legend are obscure. One prominent instance of its re-telling was in 1988 when William J. Miller erroneously wrote in an April 30 New York Times article:

What they did not know, but could easily have found out, was that such citizens never refer to themselves as "Berliners." They reserve that term for a favorite confection often munched at breakfast. So, while they understood and appreciated the sentiments behind the President's impassioned declaration, the residents tittered among themselves when he exclaimed, literally, "I am a jelly-filled doughnut."

Although it has no basis in fact, the legend has since been repeated by reputable media, such as the BBC [2], The Guardian [3], a Political Bloopers segment on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann [4], and in several books about Germany written by English-speaking authors. Native speakers will not recognize a grammatical error but they might catch the play on words if they are from a region outside of Berlin.

As for the creation of the speech, it had been reviewed by journalist Robert Lochner, who was educated in Germany, and had been practiced several times in front of numerous Germans, including Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt. As the speech was known to be important, the German parts had been chosen carefully and the many video and audio recordings of the event show only enthusiastic applause following the statement. During the speech Kennedy used the phrase twice. He also used the phrase to end his speech. However, Kennedy did pronounce the sentence with a strong Boston accent, reading from his note "ish bin ein Bearleener," which he had written out phonetically.

Perpetuators of the legend cite a parallel with the word "Hamburger." As "Berliner" may refer either to a doughnut or to a person from Berlin, so "Hamburger" may refer to a beef sandwich or to someone from Hamburg. But the parallel is only superficial because these toponyms have different usage. Only in modern times the citizens of Berlin have recognized that other regions call their "Pfannkuchen" by the name of "Berliner". Common souvenirs in Berlin depicting a doughnut covered with the inscription "Ich bin ein Berliner," which are often thought by American tourists to refer to this legend, represent little more than a contemporary play on words.

  • In the X-Files episode "Schizogeny", Mulder erroneously tells a teen with the poster "Ich bin ein Ausländer" that when Kennedy said "Ich bin ein Berliner" he was saying "I am a cocktail sausage", leading to the response "Who's Kennedy?".
  • The legend also appears in Berlin Game, the first book in Len Deighton's Game, Set, Match trilogy. Deighton describes German cartoonists drawing "talking doughnuts" the next day, but there is no historical evidence for this.
  • The short story Told You So by Esther M. Friesner in the 1992 alternate-history anthology Alternate Kennedys has Kennedy being granted the ability to have his every utterance become reality and being turned into a jelly donut when he says the famous phrase.
  • According to British comedian Alexei Sayle, prior to the speech Kennedy wrapped himself in black plastic. He then entered the podium and proclaimed: "Ich bin ein Binliner".
  • In an episode of Seinfeld, Jerry makes a reference to the "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech when Elaine displays her interest in JFK Jr.
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