The former city hall of West Berlin, now the city hall of the district Schöneberg (Berlin’s city hall has now returned to its original location in the Rote Rathaus after the fall of the wall in 1989). On the June 26, 1963, U.S. president John F. Kennedy held his unforgettable speech at the Schöneberg Rathaus in front of an audience of divided Berliners; as such, the street is named after him.
- John-F.-Kennedy Platz
- 10825 Berlin
- +493075600
- kontakt@ba-ts.verwalt-berlin.de
at Rathaus Schöneberg- Download vCard
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Fit for a President A look back at Berlin's Presidential moments
Ever since John F. Kennedy's legendary 1963 speech in front of the Rathaus Schöneberg, "Ich bin ein Berliner" proved emblematic of not just West and East German reunification but of liberty and freedom for mankind everywhere. With the U.S. at the peak of the Cold War, the democratic President—moved after witnessing the Berlin Wall for the first time—quickly revised his prepared speech. "So let me ask you as I close, to lift your eyes beyond the dangers of today to the hopes of tomorrow, beyond the freedom merely of this city of Berlin, or your country of Germany, to the advance of freedom everywhere, beyond the wall, to the day of peace with justice; beyond yourselves, and ourselves, to all mankind... All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin. Therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words: 'Ich bin ein Berliner!'"
