"Berlin Wall" Speech - President Reagan's Address at the Brandenburg Gate - 6/12/87

thank you thank you very much Chancellor Kohl governing mayor deacon ladies and gentlemen 24 years ago President John F Kennedy visited Berlin speaking to the people of this city and the world at the city hall or since then two other presidents have come each in his turn to Berlin today I myself make my second visit to your city we come to Berlin we American presidents because it's our duty to speak in this place of freedom but I must confess we're drawn here by other things as well by the feeling of history in this city more than 500 years older than our own nation by the beauty of the Grunewald and the tear garden most of all by your courage and determination perhaps the composer Paul linky understood something about American presidents you see like so many presidents before me I come here today because wherever I go whatever I do ich hab noch einen coffer in Berlin our gathering today is being broadcast throughout Western Europe and North America I understand that it is being seen and heard as well in the East to those listening throughout Eastern Europe I extend my warmest greetings and the goodwill of the American people to those listening in East Berlin a special word although I cannot be with you I address my remarks to you just as surely as to those standing here before me for I join you as I join your fellow countrymen in the West in this firm this unalterable belief as kippot Nora in Berlin behind me stands a wall that encircles the free sectors of this city part of a vast system of barriers that divides the entire continent of Europe from the Baltic South those barriers cut across Germany in a gash of barbed wire concrete dog runs and guard towers farther south there may be no visible no obvious wall but the remain armed guards and checkpoints all the same still a restriction on the right to travel still an instrument to impose upon ordinary men and women the will of a totalitarian state yet it is here in Berlin where the wall emerges most clearly here cutting across your city where the news photo on the television screen have imprinted this brutal division of a continent upon the mind of the world standing before the Brandenburg Gate every man is a German separated from his fellow men every man is a Berliner forced to look upon a scar president von weizsäcker has said the German question is open as long as the brandenburg gate is closed today the day I say as long as this gate is closed as long as this scar of a wall is permitted to stand it is not the German question alone that remains open but the question of freedom for all mankind yet I do not come here to lament what I find in Berlin a message of hope even in the shadow of this wall a message of triumph in this season of spring in 1945 the people of Berlin emerged from their air-raid shelters to find devastation thousands of miles away the people of the United States reached out to help and in 1947 Secretary of State as you've been told George Marshall announced the creation of what would become known as the Marshall Plan speaking precisely 40 years ago this month he said our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger poverty desperation and chaos in the reichstag a few moments ago I saw a display commemorating this 40th anniversary of the Marshall Plan I was struck by a sign a sign on a burnt-out gutted structure that was being rebuilt I understand that Berliners of my own generation can remember seeing signs like it dotted throughout the Western sectors of the city the sign read simply the Marshall Plan is helping here to strengthen the free world a strong free world in the West that dream became real Japan rose from ruin to become an economic giant Italy France Belgium virtually every nation in Western Europe saw political and economic rebirth the European community was founded in West Germany and here in Berlin there took place at economic miracle the virtual spawn dear Adenauer her Earhart's writer and other leaders understood the practical importance of Liberty that just as truth can flourish only when the journalist is given freedom of speech so prosperity can come about only when the farmer and businessmen enjoy economic freedom the German leaders the German leaders reduced tariffs expanded free trade lowered taxes from 1950 to 1960 alone the standard of living in West Germany and Berlin doubled we're four decades ago there was rubble today in West Berlin there is the greatest industrial output of any city in Germany busy office blocks fine homes and apartments proud avenues and the spreading lawns of parkland where a city's culture seemed to have been destroyed today there are two great universities orchestras and an opera countless theaters in museums where there was one today there's abundance food clothing automobiles the wonderful goods of the khuddam from devastation from utter ruin you Berliners have in freedom rebuild a city that once again ranks as one of the greatest on earth and the Soviets may have had other plans but my friends there were a few things the Soviets didn't count on the leaner helots barely know who more yah one Berliner schnauzer in the 1950s in the 1950s Khrushchev predicted we will bury you but in the West today we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being unprecedented in all human history in the Communist world we see failure technological backwardness declining standards of health even one and now now the Soviets themselves may in a limited way be coming to understand the importance of freedom we hear much from Moscow about a new policy of reform and openness some political prisoners have been released certain foreign news broadcasts are no longer being jammed some economic enterprises have been permitted to operate with greater freedom from state control are these the beginnings of profound changes in the Soviet state or are they token gestures intended to raise false hopes in the West or to strengthen the Soviet system without changing it we welcome change and openness for we believe that freedom and security go together that the advance of human Liberty the advance of human Liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace there is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable that would advance dramatically dramatically the cause of freedom and peace general secretary Gorbachev if you seek peace if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe if you seek liberalization come here to this gate mr. Gorbachev open this gate mr. Gorbachev mr. Gorbachev tear down this war I understand the fear of war and the pain of division that afflict this continent and I pledge to you my country's efforts to help overcome these burdens to be sure we in the West must priests Soviet expansion so we must maintain defenses of unassailable strength yet we seek peace so we must strive to reduce arms on both sides beginning ten years ago the Soviets challenged the Western alliance with a grave new threat hundreds of new and more deadly ss-20 nuclear missiles capable of striking every capital in Europe the Western alliance responded by committing itself to a counter deployment unless the Soviets agreed to negotiate a better solution namely the elimination of such weapons on both sides for many months the Soviets refused to bargain in earnestness as the Alliance in turn retook prepared to go forward with its counter deployment there were difficult days days of protests like those during my 1982 visit to this city and the Soviets later walked away from the table but through it all the Alliance held firm and I invite those who protested then I invite those who protest today to mark this fact because we remain strong the Soviets came back to the table because we remain strong today we have within reach the possibility not merely of limiting the growth of arms but of eliminating for the first time an entire class of nuclear weapons from the face of the earth as I speak NATO ministers are meeting in Iceland to review the progress of our proposals for eliminating these weapons at the talks in Geneva we have also proposed deep cuts in strategic offensive weapons and the Western Allies have likewise made far-reaching proposals to reduce the danger of conventional war and to place a total ban on chemical weapons while we pursue these arms reductions I pledge to you that we will maintain the capacity to deter Soviet aggression at any level at which it might occur and in cooperation with many of our allies the United States is pursuing the Strategic Defense Initiative research to base deterrence not on the threat of offensive retaliation but on defenses that truly defend on systems in short that will not target populations but shield them by these means we seek to increase the safety of Europe and all the world but we must remember a crucial fact East and West do not mistrust each other because we are armed we are armed because we mistrust each other and our differences are not about weapons but about liberty when President Kennedy spoke at the city hall those 24 years ago freedom was encircled Berlin was under siege and today despite all the pressures upon this city Berlin stands secure in its liberty and freedom itself is transforming the globe in the Philippines in South and Central America democracy has been given a rebirth throughout the Pacific free markets are working miracle after miracle of economic growth in the industrialized nations a technological revolution is taking place a revolution marked by rapid dramatic advances in computers and telecommunications in Europe only one nation and those it controls refuse to join the community of freedom yet in this age of redoubled economic growth of information and innovation the Soviet Union faces a choice it must make fundamental changes or it will become obsolete today thus represents a moment of hope we in the West stand ready to cooperate with the east to promote true openness to break down barriers that separate people to create a safer freer world and surely there is no better place than Berlin the meeting place of East and West to make a start free people of Berlin today is in the past the United States stands for the strict observance and full implementation of all parts of the for power agreement of 1971 let us use this occasion the seven hundred and fiftieth anniversary of this city to usher in a new era to seek a still fuller richer life for the Berlin of the future together let us maintain and develop the ties between the Federal Republic and the Western sectors of Berlin which is permitted by the 1971 agreement and I invite mr. Gorbachev let us work to bring the eastern and western parts of the city closer together so that all the inhabitants of all Berlin can enjoy the benefits that come with life in one of the great cities of the world to open berlin still further to all Europe East and West let us expand the vital air access to this city finding ways of making commercial air service to Berlin more convenient more comfortable and more economical we look to the day when West Berlin can become one of the chief aviation hubs in all Central Europe with with our French with our French and British partners the United States is prepared to help bring international meetings to Berlin it would be only fitting for Berlin de servers the site of United Nations meetings or world conferences on human rights and arms control or other issues that call for international cooperation there is no better way to establish hope for the future than to enlighten young minds and we would be honored to sponsor summer youth exchanges cultural events and other programs for young Berliners from the East our French and British friends uncertain will do the same and is my hope that an authority can be found in East Berlin to sponsor visits from young people of the Western sectors one final proposal one close to my heart Sport represents a source of enjoyment and ennoble limit and you may have noted that the Republic of Korea South Korea has offered to permit certain events of the 1988 Olympics to take place in the north international sports competitions of all kinds could take place in both parts of this city and what better way to demonstrate to the world the openness of this city than to offer in some future year to hold the Olympic Games here in Berlin east and west in these four decades as I have said you Berliners have built a great city you've done so in spite of threats the Soviet attempts to impose the East mark the blockade today the city thrives in spite of the challenges implicit in the very presence of this wall what keeps you here certainly there's a great deal to be said for your fortitude for your defiant courage but I believe there's something deeper something that involves Berlin's whole look and feel and way of life not mere sentiment no one could live long and Berlin without being completely disabused of illusions something instead that has seen the difficulties of life in Berlin but chose to accept them that continues to build this good and proud City in contrast to a surrounding totalitarian presence that refuses to release human energies or aspirations something that speaks with a powerful voice of affirmation that says yes to this city yes to the future yes to freedom in a word I would submit that what keeps you in Berlin is love love both profound and abiding perhaps this gets to the root of the matter to the most fundamental distinction of all between east and west the totalitarian world produces backwardness because it does such violence to the spirit thwarted the human impulse to create to enjoy to worship the totalitarian world finds even symbols of love and of worship and affront years ago before the East Germans began rebuilding their churches they erected a secular structure the television tower at Alexanderplatz virtually ever since the authorities have been working to correct what they view as the towers one major flaw treating the glass sphere at the top with paints and chemicals of every kind yet even today when the Sun strikes that sphere lets fear that towers over all Berlin the light makes the sign of the Cross there in Berlin like the city itself symbols of love symbols of worship cannot be suppressed as I looked out a moment ago from the Reichstag that embodiment of German unity I noticed words crudely spray-painted upon the wall perhaps by a young Berliner quote this wall will fall beliefs become reality yes across Europe this wall will fall for it cannot withstand faith it cannot withstand the truth the wall cannot withstand freedom and I would like for I close to say one word I have read and I have been questioned since I've been here about certain demonstrations against my coming and I would like to say just one thing and to those who demonstrate so I wonder if they have ever asked themselves that if they should have the kind of government they apparently seek no one would ever be able to do what they're doing again thank you and God bless you all you you

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Id: 5MDFX-dNtsM

Length: 26min 43sec (1603 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 15 2009