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Photocopy of the speech copy which Ronald Reagan utilized when he spoke at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate in June 1987. Speech is known for the quote, "Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."
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198491
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Remarks at Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, Germany [President's Speaking Copy]
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198491
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document
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Remarks at Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, Germany [President's Speaking Copy]
description
Photocopy of the speech copy which Ronald Reagan utilized when he spoke at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate in June 1987. Speech is known for the quote, "Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."
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White House Office of Records Management File Systems (White House Central Files)
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198491
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Portions of the original of this document have been displayed in the National Archives' "Tokens and Treasures" exhibit.
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12
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1987-06-12
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6
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1987
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(ROBINSON)
JUNE 12, 1987
50196455.
Presidential
1120
REMARKS AT BRANDENBURG GATE
SP1150
BERLIN, GERMANY
TR180
PY C0054-02
CHANCELLOR KOHL GOVERNING MAYOR
C0165
ND018
DIEPGEN
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
TWENTY-FOUR
FGD38
YEARS AGO, PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY VISITED
BERLIN SPEAKING TO THE PEOPLE OF THIS CITY
AND THE WORLD AT THE CITY HALL.
SINCE THEN,
TWO OTHER PRESIDENTS HAVE COME,
EACH IN HIS
TURN
TO BERLIN.
TODAY I MYSELF MAKE MY
SECOND VISIT TO YOUR CITY.
WE COME TO BERLIN, WE AMERICAN
PRESIDENTS BECAUSE IT IS OUR DUTY TO SPEAK,
IN THIS PLACE, OF FREEDOM.
BUT I MUST
CONFESS WE ARE DRAWN HERE BY OTHER THINGS
AS WELL
BY THE FEELING OF HISTORY IN THIS
CITY MORE THAN 500 YEARS OLDER THAN OUR OWN
NATION.
BY THE BEAUTY OF THE GRUNEWALD AND
THE TIERGARTEN.
MOST OF ALL BY YOUR
COURAGE AND DETERMINATION.
NSC 8403933 d 8704266
- 2 -
PERHAPS THE COMPOSER PAUL LINCKE
UNDERSTOOD SOMETHING ABOUT AMERICAN
PRESIDENTS.
YOU SEE, LIKE SO MANY
PRESIDENTS BEFORE ME / COME HERE TODAY
BECAUSE WHEREVER I GO, WHATEVER I DO
/
("ISH HOB KNOCK I-NEN COFFER IN
BER-LEEN, ")
OUR GATHERING TODAY IS BEING BROADCAST
THROUGHOUT WESTERN EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA.
I UNDERSTAND THAT IT IS BEING SEEN AND HEARD
AS WELL IN THE EAST.
TO THOSE LISTENING THROUGHOUT EASTERN
EUROPE / I EXTEND MY WARMEST GREETINGS AND
THE GOODWILL OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
TO THOSE LISTENING IN EAST BERLIN, A SPECIAL
WORD.
ALTHOUGH I CANNOT BE WITH YOU
I ADDRESS MY REMARKS TO YOU JUST AS SURELY
AS TO THOSE STANDING HERE BEFORE ME.
- 3 - -
FOR I JOIN YOU AS I JOIN YOUR FELLOW
COUNTRYMEN IN THE WEST IN THIS FIRM, THIS
UNALTERABLE BELIEF / (s GIPPT NOR INE
BER-LEEN. )
BEHIND ME STANDS A WALL THAT ENCIRCLES
THE FREE SECTORS OF THIS CITY/F PART OF A
VAST SYSTEM OF BARRIERS THAT DIVIDES THE
ENTIRE CONTINENT OF EUROPE.
FROM THE BALTIC
SOUTH, THOSE BARRIERS CUT ACROSS GERMANY IN
A GASH OF BARBED WIRE / CONCRETE ! DOG RUNS
AND GUARD TOWERS.
FARTHER SOUTH, THERE MAY
BE NO VISIBLE, NO OBVIOUS WALL, BUT THERE
REMAIN ARMED GUARDS AND CHECKPOINTS ALL THE
SAME
/- STILL A RESTRICTION ON THE RIGHT
TO TRAVEL / STILL AN INSTRUMENT TO IMPOSE
UPON ORDINARY MEN AND WOMEN THE WILL OF
A TOTALITARIAN STATE,
- 4 -
YET IT IS HERE IN BERLIN WHERE THE WALL
EMERGES MOST CLEARLY of HERE, CUTTING ACROSS
YOUR CITY WHERE THE NEWSPHOTO AND THE
TELEVISION SCREEN HAVE IMPRINTED THIS BRUTAL
DIVISION OF A CONTINENT UPON THE MIND OF THE
WORLD.
STANDING BEFORE THE BRANDENBURG
GATE EVERY MAN IS A GERMAN,/SEPARATED FROM
HIS FELLOW MEN.
EVERY MAN IS A BERLINER
/
FORCED TO LOOK UPON A SCAR.
PRESIDENT FUN VITES-ECKER HAS SAID
:/
THE GERMAN QUESTION IS OPEN AS LONG AS THE
BRANDENBURG GATE IS CLOSED,
TODAY I SAY /
AS LONG AS THIS GATE IS CLOSED ,/ AS LONG AS
THIS SCAR OF A WALL IS PERMITTED TO STAND
/
IT IS NOT THE GERMAN QUESTION ALONE THAT
REMAINS OPEN t BUT THE QUESTION OF FREEDOM
FOR ALL MANKIND.
YET I DO NOT COME HERE TO LAMENT.
FOR I FIND IN BERLIN A MESSAGE OF HOPE
/-
EVEN, IN THE SHADOW OF THIS WALL A MESSAGE
OF TRIUMPH.
- 5 -
IN THIS SEASON OF SPRING IN 1945 / THE
PEOPLE OF BERLIN EMERGED FROM THEIR AIR-RAID
SHELTERS TO FIND DEVASTATION. THOUSANDS OF
MILES AWAY, THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES
REACHED OUT TO HELP / AND IN 1947, SECRETARY
OF STATE GEORGE MARSHALL ANNOUNCED THE
CREATION OF WHAT WOULD BECOME KNOWN AS THE
MARSHALL PLAN. / SPEAKING PRECISELY 40 YEARS
AGO THIS MONTH, HE SAID / OUR POLICY IS
DIRECTED NOT AGAINST ANY COUNTRY OR DOCTRINE
BUT AGAINST HUNGER, POVERTY, DESPERATION,
AND CHAOS
IN THE REICHSTAG A FEW MOMENTS AGO,
I SAW A DISPLAY COMMEMORATING THIS
40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MARSHALL PLAN.
I WAS STRUCK BY THE SIGN ON A BURNT-OUT,
GUTTED STRUCTURE THAT WAS BEING REBUILT,
I UNDERSTAND THAT BERLINERS OF MY OWN
GENERATION CAN REMEMBER SEEING SIGNS LIKE IT
DOTTED THROUGHOUT THE WESTERN SECTORS OF THE
CITY,
- 6 -
THE SIGN READ SIMPLY / "THE MARSHALL PLAN IS
HELPING HERE.
TO STRENGTHEN THE FREE
WORLD
A STRONG, FREE WORLD / IN THE WEST,
THAT DREAM BECAME REAL.
JAPAN ROSE FROM
RUIN TO BECOME AN ECONOMIC GIANT
ITALY,
FRANCE, BELGIUM
VIRTUALLY EVERY NATION IN
WESTERN EUROPE SAW POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
REBIRTH.
THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY WAS
FOUNDED.
IN WEST GERMANY AND HERE IN BERLIN,
THERE TOOK PLACE AN ECONOMIC MIRACLE / THE
(VIRT-SHOFTS-VUN-DER.) ADENAUER, ERHARD,
REUTER, AND OTHER LEADERS UNDERSTOOD THE
PRACTICAL IMPORTANCE OF LIBERTY /- THAT JUST
AS TRUTH CAN FLOURISH ONLY WHEN THE
JOURNALIST IS GIVEN FREEDOM OF SPEECH
SO PROSPERITY CAN COME ABOUT ONLY WHEN THE
FARMER AND BUSINESSMAN ENJOY ECONOMIC
FREEDOM.
- 7 -
THE GERMAN LEADERS REDUCED TARIFFS, EXPANDED
FREE TRADE, LOWERED TAXES.
FROM 1950 TO
1960 ALONE, THE STANDARD OF LIVING IN WEST
GERMANY AND BERLIN DOUBLED.
WHERE FOUR DECADES AGO THERE WAS
RUBBLE/ TODAY IN WEST BERLIN THERE IS THE
GREATEST INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT OF ANY CITY IN
GERMANY/1 BUSY OFFICE BLOCKS/ FINE HOMES AND
APARTMENTS/PROUD AVENUES AND THE SPREADING
LAWNS OF PARKLAND. WHERE A CITY's CULTURE
SEEMED TO HAVE BEEN DESTROYED/TODAY THERE
ARE TWO GREAT UNIVERSITIES/ORCHESTRAS ORCHESTRAS AND
AN OPERA/COUNTLESS THEATERS AND MUSEUMS.
WHERE THERE WAS WANT/TODAY THERE IS
ABUNDANCE/-- FOOD, CLOTHING, AUTOMOBILES /
THE WONDERFUL GOODS OF THE (KOO-DAMN.)
FROM DEVASTATION --(FROM FROM UTTER RUIN )-
YOU BERLINERS HAVE IN FREEDOM REBUILT A CITY
THAT ONCE AGAIN RANKS AS ONE OF THE GREATEST
ON EARTH.
- 8 -
THE SOVIETS MAY HAVE HAD OTHER PLANS,
BUT, MY FRIENDS, THERE WERE A FEW THINGS THE
SOVIETS DIDN'T COUNT ON
/
BER-LEENER HAIRTZ ) BER-LEENER WHO-MORE )
YA, OND BER-LEENER SH-NOW-SIR.
IN THE 1950's, KHRUSHCHEV PREDICTED:
WE WILL BURY YOU
BUT IN THE WEST TODAY
/
WE SEE A FREE WORLD THAT HAS ACHIEVED
A LEVEL OF PROSPERITY AND WELL-BEING
UNPRECEDENTED IN ALL HUMAN HISTORY.
IN THE COMMUNIST WORLD, WE SEE FAILURE,
TECHNOLOGICAL BACKWARDNESS.
DECLINING
STANDARDS OF HEALTH. EVEN WANT OF THE MOST
BASIC KIND f TOO LITTLE FOOD.
EVEN TODAY,
THE SOVIET UNION STILL CANNOT FEED ITSELF,
AFTER THESE FOUR DECADES, THEN, THERE
STANDS BEFORE THE ENTIRE WORLD ONE GREAT AND
INESCAPABLE CONCLUSION. FREEDOM LEADS TO
PROSPERITY.
FREEDOM REPLACES THE ANCIENT
HATREDS AMONG THE NATIONS WITH COMITY AND
PEACE,
- 9 -
FREEDOM IS THE VICTOR.
NOW THE SOVIETS THEMSELVES MAY IN A
LIMITED WAY BE COMING TO UNDERSTAND THE
IMPORTANCE OF FREEDOM. WE HEAR MUCH FROM
MOSCOW ABOUT A NEW POLICY OF REFORM AND
OPENNESS.
SOME POLITICAL PRISONERS HAVE
BEEN RELEASED. CERTAIN FOREIGN NEWS
BROADCASTS ARE NO LONGER BEING JAMMED.
SOME ECONOMIC ENTERPRISES HAVE BEEN
PERMITTED TO OPERATE WITH GREATER FREEDOM
FROM STATE CONTROL.
ARE THESE THE BEGINNINGS OF PROFOUND
CHANGES IN THE SOVIET STATE?
OR ARE THEY
TOKEN GESTURES./INTENDED TO RAISE FALSE
HOPES IN THE WEST/OR TO STRENGTHEN THE
SOVIET SYSTEM WITHOUT CHANGING IT?
WE WELCOME CHANGE AND OPENNESS.
FOR WE
BELIEVE FREEDOM AND SECURITY GO TOGETHER
/-
THAT THE ADVANCE OF HUMAN LIBERTY CAN ONLY
STRENGTHEN THE CAUSE OF WORLD PEACE.
- 10 -
THERE IS ONE SIGN THE SOVIETS CAN MAKE THAT
WOULD BE UNMISTAKABLE./THAT WOULD ADVANCE
DRAMATICALLY THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM AND PEACE.
GENERAL SECRETARY GORBACHEV, IF YOU
SEEK PEACE f- IF YOU SEEK PROSPERITY FOR
THE SOVIET UNION AND EASTERN EUROPE /-
IF YOU SEEK LIBERALIZATION: COME HERE,
TO THIS GATE.
MR. GORBACHEV, OPEN THIS GATE.
MR. GORBACHEV, TEAR DOWN THIS WALL.
I UNDERSTAND THE FEAR OF WAR AND THE
PAIN OF DIVISION THAT AFFLICT THIS
CONTINENT /- AND I PLEDGE TO YOU MY
COUNTRY's EFFORTS TO HELP OVERCOME THESE
BURDENS,
TO BE SURE, WE IN THE WEST MUST
RESIST SOVIET EXPANSION.
SO WE MUST
MAINTAIN DEFENSES OF UNASSAILABLE STRENGTH.
YET WE SEEK PEACE. SO WE MUST STRIVE TO
REDUCE ARMS ON BOTH SIDES.
- 11 -
BEGINNING 10 YEARS AGO, THE SOVIETS
CHALLENGED THE WESTERN ALLIANCE WITH A GRAVE
NEW THREAT / HUNDREDS OF NEW AND MORE DEADLY
SS-20 NUCLEAR MISSILES, CAPABLE OF STRIKING
EVERY CAPITAL IN EUROPE,
THE WESTERN
ALLIANCE RESPONDED BY COMMITTING ITSELF
TO A COUNTER-DEPLOYMENT/UNLESS THE SOVIETS
AGREED TO NEGOTIATE A BETTER SOLUTION /-
NAMELY, THE ELIMINATION OF SUCH WEAPONS ON
BOTH SIDES.
FOR MANY MONTHS, THE SOVIETS
REFUSED TO BARGAIN IN EARNESTNESS.
AS THE
ALLIANCE IN TURN PREPARED TO GO FORWARD WITH
ITS COUNTER-DEPLOYMENT/THERE WERE DIFFICULT
DAYS/-- DAYS OF PROTESTS LIKE THOSE DURING
MY 1982 VISIT TO THIS CITY /- AND THE
SOVIETS LATER WALKED AWAY FROM THE TABLE,
BUT THROUGH IT ALL, THE ALLIANCE HELD
FIRM.
AND I INVITE THOSE WHO PROTESTED
THEN /- I INVITE THOSE WHO PROTEST TODAY /-
TO MARK THIS FACT/ BECAUSE WE REMAINED
STRONG, THE SOVIETS CAME BACK TO THE TABLE.
- 12 -
BECAUSE WE REMAINED STRONG TODAY WE HAVE
WITHIN REACH THE POSSIBILITY NOT MERELY OF
LIMITING THE GROWTH OF ARMS BUT OF
ELIMINATING, FOR THE FIRST TIME / AN ENTIRE
CLASS OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS FROM THE FACE OF
THE EARTH,
AS I SPEAK, NATO MINISTERS ARE MEETING
IN ICELAND TO REVIEW THE PROGRESS OF OUR
PROPOSALS FOR ELIMINATING THESE WEAPONS.
AT THE TALKS IN GENEVA,/WE HAVE ALSO
PROPOSED DEEP CUTS IN STRATEGIC OFFENSIVE
WEAPONS,
AND THE WESTERN ALLIES HAVE
LIKEWISE MADE FAR-REACHING PROPOSALS TO
REDUCE THE DANGER OF CONVENTIONAL WAR / AND
TO PLACE A TOTAL BAN ON CHEMICAL WEAPONS,
WHILE WE PURSUE THESE ARMS REDUCTIONS
/
I PLEDGE TO YOU THAT WE WILL MAINTAIN THE
CAPACITY TO DETER SOVIET AGGRESSION AT ANY
LEVEL AT WHICH IT MIGHT OCCUR.
- 13 -
AND IN COOPERATION WITH MANY OF OUR ALLIES
/
THE UNITED STATES IS PURSUING THE STRATEGIC
DEFENSE INITIATIVE /- RESEARCH TO BASE
DETERRENCE NOT ON THE THREAT OF OFFENSIVE
RETALIATION, BUT ON DEFENSES THAT TRULY
DEFEND / ON SYSTEMS IN SHORT THAT WILL NOT
TARGET POPULATIONS BUT SHIELD THEM.
BY THESE MEANS WE SEEK TO INCREASE THE
SAFETY OF EUROPE AND ALL THE WORLD,
BUT WE
MUST REMEMBER A CRUCIAL FACT / EAST AND WEST
DO NOT MISTRUST EACH OTHER BECAUSE WE ARE
ARMED.
WE ARE ARMED BECAUSE WE MISTRUST
EACH OTHER, AND OUR DIFFERENCES ARE NOT
ABOUT WEAPONS, BUT ABOUT LIBERTY, WHEN
PRESIDENT KENNEDY SPOKE AT THE CITY HALL
THOSE 24 YEARS AGO / FREEDOM WAS ENCIRCLED
/
BERLIN WAS UNDER SIEGE, / TODAY, DESPITE ALL
THE PRESSURES UPON THIS CITY /BERLIN STANDS
SECURE IN ITS LIBERTY. / AND FREEDOM ITSELF
IS TRANSFORMING THE GLOBE.
- 14 -
IN THE PHILIPPINES, IN SOUTH AND
CENTRAL AMERICA, DEMOCRACY HAS BEEN GIVEN
A REBIRTH.
THROUGHOUT THE PACIFIC, FREE
MARKETS ARE WORKING MIRACLE AFTER MIRACLE OF
ECONOMIC GROWTH.
IN THE INDUSTRIALIZED
NATIONS, A TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION IS
TAKING PLACE /- A REVOLUTION MARKED BY
RAPID, DRAMATIC ADVANCES IN COMPUTERS AND
TELECOMMUNICATIONS.
IN EUROPE, ONLY ONE NATION AND THOSE IT
CONTROLS REFUSE TO JOIN THE COMMUNITY OF
FREEDOM. YET IN THIS AGE OF REDOUBLED
ECONOMIC GROWTH OF INFORMATION AND
INNOVATION / THE SOVIET UNION FACES A CHOICE,
IT MUST MAKE FUNDAMENTAL CHANGES, OR IT
WILL BECOME OBSOLETE.
TODAY THUS REPRESENTS A MOMENT OF HOPE.
WE IN THE WEST STAND READY TO COOPERATE WITH
THE EAST TO PROMOTE TRUE OPENNESS f-
TO BREAK DOWN THE BARRIERS THAT SEPARATE
PEOPLE/ TO CREATE A SAFER, FREER WORLD.
= 15 -
AND SURELY THERE IS NO BETTER PLACE THAN
BERLIN THE MEETINGPLACE OF EAST AND WEST
TO MAKE A START.
FREE PEOPLE OF BERLIN TODAY, AS IN
THE PAST,/THE UNITED STATES STANDS FOR THE
STRICT OBSERVANCE AND FULL IMPLEMENTATION OF
ALL PARTS OF THE FOUR-POWER AGREEMENT OF
1971. LET US USE THIS OCCASION, THE 750TH
ANNIVERSARY OF THIS CITY) TO USHER IN A NEW
ERA t- TO SEEK A STILL FULLER, RICHER LIFE
FOR THE BERLIN OF THE FUTURE, TOGETHER,
LET US MAINTAIN AND DEVELOP THE TIES BETWEEN
THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC AND THE WESTERN SECTORS
OF BERLIN/WHICH IS PERMITTED BY THE 1971
AGREEMENT.
AND I INVITE MR. GORBACHEV; LET US
WORK TO BRING THE EASTERN AND WESTERN PARTS
OF THE CITY CLOSER TOGETHER / SO THAT ALL THE
INHABITANTS OF ALL BERLIN CAN ENJOY THE
BENEFITS THAT SHOULD COME WITH LIFE IN ONE
OF THE GREAT CITIES OF THE WORLD,
- 16 -
TO OPEN BERLIN STILL FURTHER TO ALL
EUROPE, EAST AND WEST LET US EXPAND THE
VITAL AIR ACCESS TO THIS CITY / FINDING WAYS
OF MAKING COMMERCIAL AIR SERVICE TO BERLIN
MORE CONVENIENT MORE COMFORTABLE
AND
MORE ECONOMICAL.
WE LOOK TO THE DAY WHEN
WEST BERLIN CAN BECOME ONE OF THE CHIEF
AVIATION HUBS IN ALL CENTRAL EUROPE.
WITH OUR FRENCH AND BRITISH PARTNERS
THE UNITED STATES IS PREPARED TO HELP BRING
INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS TO BERLIN.
IT WOULD
BE ONLY FITTING FOR BERLIN TO SERVE AS THE
SITE OF UNITED NATIONS MEETINGS / OR WORLD
CONFERENCES ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND ARMS CONTROL
OR OTHER ISSUES THAT CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL
COOPERATION.
- 17 -
THERE IS NO BETTER WAY TO ESTABLISH
HOPE FOR THE FUTURE THAN TO ENLIGHTEN YOUNG
MINDS / AND WE WOULD BE HONORED TO SPONSOR
SUMMER YOUTH EXCHANGES / CULTURAL EVENTS / AND
OTHER PROGRAMS FOR YOUNG BERLINERS FROM THE
EAST.
OUR FRENCH AND BRITISH FRIENDS,
I AM CERTAIN, WILL DO THE SAME.
AND IT IS
MY HOPE THAT AN AUTHORITY CAN BE FOUND IN
EAST BERLIN TO SPONSOR VISITS FROM YOUNG
PEOPLE OF THE WESTERN SECTORS,
ONE FINAL PROPOSAL ONE CLOSE TO MY
HEART ) SPORT REPRESENTS A SOURCE OF
ENJOYMENT AND ENNOBLEMENT / AND YOU MAY HAVE
NOTED THAT THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA ÷ SOUTH
KOREA 7- HAS OFFERED TO PERMIT CERTAIN
EVENTS OF THE 1988 OLYMPICS TO TAKE PLACE IN
THE NORTH.
INTERNATIONAL SPORTS
COMPETITIONS OF ALL KINDS COULD TAKE PLACE
IN BOTH PARTS OF THIS CITY.
= - 18 -
AND WHAT BETTER WAY TO DEMONSTRATE TO THE
WORLD THE OPENNESS OF THIS CITY /- THAN TO
OFFER IN SOME FUTURE YEAR TO HOLD THE
OLYMPIC GAMES HERE IN BERLIN, EAST AND WEST?
IN THESE FOUR DECADES, (AS I HAVE SAID .)
YOU BERLINERS HAVE REBUILT A GREAT CITY.
YOU HAVE DONE SO IN SPITE OF THREATS
THE
SOVIET ATTEMPTS TO IMPOSE THE EAST-MARK
/
THE BLOCKADE.
TODAY THE CITY THRIVES IN
SPITE OF THE CHALLENGES IMPLICIT IN THE VERY
PRESENCE OF THIS WALL.
WHAT KEEPS YOU HERE?
CERTAINLY THERE IS A GREAT DEAL TO BE
SAID FOR YOUR FORTITUDE FOR YOUR DEFIANT
COURAGE. BUT I BELIEVE THAT THERE IS
SOMETHING DEEPER. SOMETHING THAT INVOLVES
BERLIN's WHOLE LOOK AND FEEL AND WAY
OF LIFE.
NOT MERE SENTIMENT -- NO ONE COULD
LIVE LONG IN BERLIN WITHOUT BEING COMPLETELY
DISABUSED OF ILLUSIONS.
- 19 -
SOMETHING INSTEAD THAT HAS SEEN THE
DIFFICULTIES OF LIFE IN BERLIN BUT CHOSE TO
ACCEPT THEM.
THAT CONTINUES TO BUILD THIS
GOOD AND PROUD CITY IN CONTRAST TO A
SURROUNDING TOTALITARIAN PRESENCE THAT
REFUSES TO RELEASE HUMAN ENERGIES OR
ASPIRATIONS.
SOMETHING THAT SPEAKS WITH
A POWERFUL VOICE OF AFFIRMATION /- THAT SAYS
YES TO THIS CITY/YES TO THE FUTURE YES TO
FREEDOM,
IN A WORD, I WOULD SUBMIT THAT
WHAT KEEPS YOU IN BERLIN IS LOVE /- LOVE
BOTH PROFOUND AND ABIDING.
PERHAPS THIS GETS TO THE ROOT OF THE
MATTER./TO THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL DISTINCTION
OF ALL BETWEEN EAST AND WEST.
THE
TOTALITARIAN WORLD PRODUCES BACKWARDNESS
BECAUSE IT DOES SUCH VIOLENCE TO THE SPIRIT /
THWARTING THE HUMAN IMPULSE TO CREATE,
TO ENJOY, TO WORSHIP.
- 20 -
THE TOTALITARIAN WORLD FINDS EVEN
SYMBOLS OF LOVE AND OF WORSHIP AN AFFRONT.
YEARS AGO, BEFORE THE EAST GERMANS
BEGAN REBUILDING THEIR CHURCHES
/
THEY ERECTED A SECULAR STRUCTURE
/
THE TELEVISION TOWER AT ALEXANDER PLATZ.
VIRTUALLY EVER SINCE / THE AUTHORITIES HAVE
BEEN WORKING TO CORRECT WHAT THEY VIEW AS
THE TOWER's ONE MAJOR FLAW
/
TREATING THE
GLASS SPHERE AT THE TOP WITH PAINTS AND
CHEMICALS OF EVERY KIND.
YET EVEN TODAY
WHEN THE SUN STRIKES THAT SPHERE
/-
THAT SPHERE THAT TOWERS OVER ALL BERLIN
/-
THE LIGHT MAKES THE SIGN OF THE CROSS.
THERE IN BERLIN, LIKE THE CITY ITSELF,
SYMBOLS OF LOVE, SYMBOLS OF WORSHIP, CANNOT
BE SUPPRESSED.
-. 21 -
AS I LOOKED OUT A MOMENT AGO FROM THE
REICHSTAG --(THAT EMBODIMENT OF GERMAN
UNITY )- I NOTICED WORDS CRUDELY
SPRAY-PAINTED UPON THE WALL f- PERHAPS BY
A YOUNG BERLINER /- WORDS THAT ANSWER THE
GERMAN QUESTION.
THIS WALL WILL FALL.
BELIEFS BECOME REALITY.
YES, ACROSS EUROPE, THIS WALL WILL
FALL.
FOR IT CANNOT WITHSTAND FAITH,
IT CANNOT WITHSTAND TRUTH,
THE WALL CANNOT WITHSTAND FREEDOM.
THANK YOU. GOD BLESS YOU ALL.
###