What German phrase did John F. Kennedy say during his 1963 Berlin speech?

John F. Kennedy said “Ich bin ein Berliner” during his 1963 Berlin speech.

Kennedy delivered the speech on 26 June 1963 outside West Berlin’s Rathaus Schöneberg, the city hall. Speaking soon after the Berlin Wall had been built, he expressed American support for West Berlin and rejected the idea that the city’s isolation represented the success of communism.

The phrase translates literally as “I am a Berliner” and was intended as a declaration of solidarity with Berliners. Kennedy pronounced the sentence in German, including the word “ein,” which became the subject of a later myth claiming that it meant “I am a jelly doughnut.” German usage accepts Kennedy’s wording as a meaningful expression of identification with the city.

The speech took place nearly two years after the Wall’s construction and more than 26 years before its opening. It remains one of the best-known public statements of the Cold War.