Dear readers,
When the Freedom Bell sounded for the first time on October 24, 1950 in the tower of the Schöneberg City Hall, it brought confidence and hope to the people of Berlin. It tells the story of how enemies became friends and what it means to show solidarity even in difficult times. To me, it is still a miracle that the Western Allies were able to supply the blocked city of West-Berlin with the help of the Airlift.
The bell with its oath of freedom stands for the fact that the world acknowledged that people wanted to live in freedom and democracy. Ever since I was a child, I have listened to the ringing of the bell and the Vow of Freedom which was broadcasted every day by the radio station RIAS. For me, the words evoking the idea of freedom and speaking out against tyranny were formative, as for many people. Nazi Germany was the starting point of the Second World War and had brought infinite disaster upon the world. The Vow of Freedom for the inviolability and dignity of the individual and signed by more than 16 million Americans was a demand, but also a warning.
The City Hall of Schöneberg, which was the seat of government in West-Berlin during the time of the city‘s separation, the Freedom Scrolls and the Freedom Bell – they stand for the time of separation, which fortunately belong to the past due to glasnost and reunification. To this day, they remain symbols of friendship. I still experience this through conversations with people visiting the Schöneberg City Hall. It is important to them to be in the place where the Freedom Bell continues to toll at noon every day and where the American President John F. Kennedy delivered his famous speech „Ich bin ein Berliner“ in 1963.
For several decades, people have been gathering in the City Hall Schöneberg forecourt on Christmas Eve to ring in the Christmas season with singing and the solemn sound of the Freedom Bell. An event that tells of peace and freedom, two values that the world still urgently needs today.
Yours sincerely,
district mayor
Angelika Schöttler
