JFK Visits The Berlin Wall During His German Visit of 1963
(JFK - Berlin - 1963 - Bringing the message to the worlds largest group of shut-ins)
With the Cuban Missile Crisis a fresh memory only eight months earlier, President Kennedy toured Europe in the summer of 1963 and stopped in Berlin on June 26, 1963 to address a crowd of over 150,000 against the ominous backdrop of the Wall that divided the two Berlins.
"Today the proudest boast is, Ich Bin ein Berliner"
The day before, Kennedy spoke at the Assembly Hall in Frankfurt and offered a similar message.
Kennedy: “For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.”
All in all, JFK did much to bolster the confidence of the German people, in light of the increased Cold War posturing going back and forth in the divided city. Still, it wasn't until 26 years later that the Wall would finally come down.
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