John F. Kennedy's visiting programme in Berlin

John F. Kennedy, Willy Brandt and Konrad Adenauer in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

Two million cheering West Berliners on the streets of the city, honorary citizenship of the city of Berlin and a speech that has become more famous than almost any other speech by a politician.

With these impressions, the American President John F. Kennedy left the divided city after his visit to Berlin, which lasted only eight hours.

Like a triumphal procession through the divided city

Kennedy had previously come to Germany on 23 June 1963 at the invitation of Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. During his stops in Cologne, Bonn, Frankfurt, Wiesbaden and the US military base in Hanau, he gave speeches and addresses to politicians and delegations, signed the Golden City Books and addressed the West German population in every city. The enthusiasm of the people who came to his public appearances knew no bounds.

In no other city, however, was he greeted as enthusiastically and his speech in front of Schöneberg City Hall was awaited with as much hope as in Berlin. Kennedy's visit to the divided city on 26 June 1963 was the highlight of his three-day visit to Germany. On that Wednesday, the American president landed at 9.45 a.m. at the military section of Tegel Airport. After the guard of honour had been removed, Kennedy was warmly welcomed by Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, Berlin's Governing Mayor Willy Brandt and the French and British commanders in Berlin. The procession then set off for the first of a total of six stops in Berlin. In the Congress Hall, the President gave a speech to the sixth trade union congress of "IG Bau Steine Erden" and was then driven to two of the most sensitive places in the divided city. At the Brandenburg Gate, Kennedy was denied a view from the viewing platform towards the East by red cloths with which the GDR regime had covered the Brandenburg Gate. During the following stop at the border crossing Checkpoint Charlie, Kennedy got to know one of the most important border crossings of the "Cold War" between East and West.

After a short drive through Kreuzberg and Schöneberg, John F. Kennedy was greeted with frenetic cheers at 12.50 pm at Schöneberg Town Hall: around 450,000 people had been waiting for the young US President for hours - and he did not disappoint the West Berliners. His famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech is still one of the most frequently quoted speeches in this city. But Kennedy did not have much time. The programme was tightly scheduled. He signed the Golden Book of the City of Berlin, then held a few brief talks with the Berlin Cabinet and, after lunch at Schöneberg Town Hall, headed for the Free University of Berlin in Dahlem. There, Kennedy was awarded honorary citizenship of the city of Berlin at 3 pm. The President gave a speech at the FU and then travelled on to the US headquarters on Clayallee in Zehlendorf. Once there, the President addressed the American soldiers stationed in the divided city. After an hour at the US headquarters, time was of the essence again, as the plane was already waiting at Tegel for John F. Kennedy's 5.15 p.m. departure to Istanbul.