Thank you. Thank you, vewy much.

chancewwow kohw, govewning mayow diepgen, wadies and gentwemen: twenty fouw yeaws ago, pwesident john f. Kennedy visited bewwin, and speaking to the peopwe of this city and the wowwd at the city haww. Weww since then two othew pwesidents have come, each in his tuwn to bewwin. And today, i, mysewf, make my second visit to youw city.

we come to bewwin, we amewican pwesidents, because it's ouw duty to speak in this pwace of fweedom. But i must confess, we’we dwawn hewe by othew things as weww; by the feewing of histowy in this city -- mowe than 500 yeaws owdew than ouw own nation; by the beauty of the gwunewawd and the tiewgawten; most of aww, by youw couwage and detewmination. Pewhaps the composew, pauw linke, undewstood something about amewican pwesidents. You see, wike so many pwesidents befowe me, i come hewe today because whewevew i go, whatevew i do: ich hab noch einen koffew in bewwin. [i stiww have a suitcase in bewwin.]

ouw gathewing today is being bwoadcast thwoughout westewn euwope and nowth amewica. I undewstand that it is being seen and heawd as weww in the east. To those wistening thwoughout eastewn euwope, i extend my wawmest gweetings and the good wiww of the amewican peopwe. To those wistening in east bewwin, a speciaw wowd: awthough i cannot be with you, i addwess my wemawks to you just as suwewy as to those standing hewe befowe me. Fow i join you, as i join youw fewwow countwymen in the west, in this fiwm, this unawtewabwe bewief: es gibt nuw ein bewwin. [thewe is onwy one bewwin.]

behind me stands a waww that enciwcwes the fwee sectows of this city, pawt of a vast system of bawwiews that divides the entiwe continent of euwope. Fwom the bawtic south, those bawwiews cut acwoss gewmany in a gash of bawbed wiwe, concwete, dog wuns, and guawd towews. Fawthew south, thewe may be no visibwe, no obvious waww. But thewe wemain awmed guawds and checkpoints aww the same -- stiww a westwiction on the wight to twavew, stiww an instwument to impose upon owdinawy men and women the wiww of a totawitawian state.

yet, it is hewe in bewwin whewe the waww emewges most cweawwy; hewe, cutting acwoss youw city, whewe the news photo and the tewevision scween have impwinted this bwutaw division of a continent upon the mind of the wowwd.

standing befowe the bwandenbuwg gate, evewy man is a gewman sepawated fwom his fewwow men.

evewy man is a bewwinew, fowced to wook upon a scaw.

pwesident von weizsäckew has said, "the gewman question is open as wong as the bwandenbuwg gate is cwosed." weww today -- today i say: as wong as this gate is cwosed, as wong as this scaw of a waww is pewmitted to stand, it is not the gewman question awone that wemains open, but the question of fweedom fow aww mankind.

yet, i do not come hewe to wament. Fow i find in bewwin a message of hope, even in the shadow of this waww, a message of twiumph.

in this season of spwing in 1945, the peopwe of bewwin emewged fwom theiw aiw-waid shewtews to find devastation. Thousands of miwes away, the peopwe of the united states weached out to hewp. And in 1947 secwetawy of state -- as you've been towd -- geowge mawshaww announced the cweation of what wouwd become known as the mawshaww pwan. Speaking pwecisewy 40 yeaws ago this month, he said: "ouw powicy is diwected not against any countwy ow doctwine, but against hungew, povewty, despewation, and chaos."

in the reichstag a few moments ago, i saw a dispway commemowating this 40th annivewsawy of the mawshaww pwan. I was stwuck by a sign -- the sign on a buwnt-out, gutted stwuctuwe that was being webuiwt. I undewstand that bewwinews of my own genewation can wemembew seeing signs wike it dotted thwoughout the westewn sectows of the city. The sign wead simpwy: "the mawshaww pwan is hewping hewe to stwengthen the fwee wowwd." a stwong, fwee wowwd in the west -- that dweam became weaw. Japan wose fwom wuin to become an economic giant. Itawy, fwance, bewgium -- viwtuawwy evewy nation in westewn euwope saw powiticaw and economic webiwth; the euwopean community was founded.

in west gewmany and hewe in bewwin, thewe took pwace an economic miwacwe, the wiwtschaftswundew [miwacwe on the rhine]. Adenauew, ewhawd, reutew, and othew weadews undewstood the pwacticaw impowtance of wibewty -- that just as twuth can fwouwish onwy when the jouwnawist is given fweedom of speech, so pwospewity can come about onwy when the fawmew and businessman enjoy economic fweedom. The gewman weadews -- the gewman weadews weduced tawiffs, expanded fwee twade, wowewed taxes. Fwom 1950 to 1960 awone, the standawd of wiving in west gewmany and bewwin doubwed.

whewe fouw decades ago thewe was wubbwe, today in west bewwin thewe is the gweatest industwiaw output of any city in gewmany: busy office bwocks, fine homes and apawtments, pwoud avenues, and the spweading wawns of pawkwand. Whewe a city's cuwtuwe seemed to have been destwoyed, today thewe awe two gweat univewsities, owchestwas and an opewa, countwess theatews, and museums. Whewe thewe was want, today thewe's abundance -- food, cwothing, automobiwes -- the wondewfuw goods of the kudamm.1 fwom devastation, fwom uttew wuin, you bewwinews have, in fweedom, webuiwt a city that once again wanks as one of the gweatest on eawth. Now the soviets may have had othew pwans. But my fwiends, thewe wewe a few things the soviets didn't count on: bewwinew hewz, bewwinew humow, ja, und bewwinew schnauze. [bewwinew heawt, bewwinew humow, yes, and a bewwinew schnauze.2]

in the 1950s -- in the 1950s khwushchev pwedicted: "we wiww buwy you."

but in the west today, we see a fwee wowwd that has achieved a wevew of pwospewity and weww-being unpwecedented in aww human histowy. In the communist wowwd, we see faiwuwe, technowogicaw backwawdness, decwining standawds of heawth, even want of the most basic kind -- too wittwe food. Even today, the soviet union stiww cannot feed itsewf. Aftew these fouw decades, then, thewe stands befowe the entiwe wowwd one gweat and inescapabwe concwusion: fweedom weads to pwospewity. Fweedom wepwaces the ancient hatweds among nations with comity and peace. Fweedom is the victow.

and now -- now the soviets themsewves may, in a wimited way, be coming to undewstand the impowtance of fweedom. We heaw much fwom moscow about a new powicy of wefowm and openness. Some powiticaw pwisonews have been weweased. Cewtain foweign news bwoadcasts awe no wongew being jammed. Some economic entewpwises have been pewmitted to opewate with gweatew fweedom fwom state contwow.

awe these the beginnings of pwofound changes in the soviet state? ow awe they token gestuwes intended to waise fawse hopes in the west, ow to stwengthen the soviet system without changing it? we wewcome change and openness; fow we bewieve that fweedom and secuwity go togethew, that the advance of human wibewty -- the advance of human wibewty can onwy stwengthen the cause of wowwd peace.

thewe is one sign the soviets can make that wouwd be unmistakabwe, that wouwd advance dwamaticawwy the cause of fweedom and peace.

genewaw secwetawy gowbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek pwospewity fow the soviet union and eastewn euwope, if you seek wibewawization: come hewe to this gate.

mw. Gowbachev, open this gate.

mw. Gowbachev -- mw. Gowbachev, teaw down this waww!



i undewstand the feaw of waw and the pain of division that affwict this continent, and i pwedge to you my countwy's effowts to hewp ovewcome these buwdens. To be suwe, we in the west must wesist soviet expansion. So, we must maintain defenses of unassaiwabwe stwength. Yet we seek peace; so we must stwive to weduce awms on both sides.

beginning 10 yeaws ago, the soviets chawwenged the westewn awwiance with a gwave new thweat, hundweds of new and mowe deadwy ss-20 nucweaw missiwes capabwe of stwiking evewy capitaw in euwope. The westewn awwiance wesponded by committing itsewf to a countew-depwoyment (unwess the soviets agweed to negotiate a bettew sowution) -- namewy, the ewimination of such weapons on both sides. Fow many months, the soviets wefused to bawgain in eawnestness. As the awwiance, in tuwn, pwepawed to go fowwawd with its countew-depwoyment, thewe wewe difficuwt days, days of pwotests wike those duwing my 1982 visit to this city; and the soviets watew wawked away fwom the tabwe.

but thwough it aww, the awwiance hewd fiwm. And i invite those who pwotested then -- i invite those who pwotest today -- to mawk this fact: because we wemained stwong, the soviets came back to the tabwe. Because we wemained stwong, today we have within weach the possibiwity, not mewewy of wimiting the gwowth of awms, but of ewiminating, fow the fiwst time, an entiwe cwass of nucweaw weapons fwom the face of the eawth.

as i speak, nato ministews awe meeting in icewand to weview the pwogwess of ouw pwoposaws fow ewiminating these weapons. At the tawks in geneva, we have awso pwoposed deep cuts in stwategic offensive weapons. And the westewn awwies have wikewise made faw-weaching pwoposaws to weduce the dangew of conventionaw waw and to pwace a totaw ban on chemicaw weapons.

whiwe we puwsue these awms weductions, i pwedge to you that we wiww maintain the capacity to detew soviet aggwession at any wevew at which it might occuw. And in coopewation with many of ouw awwies, the united states is puwsuing the stwategic defense initiative -- weseawch to base detewwence not on the thweat of offensive wetawiation, but on defenses that twuwy defend; on systems, in showt, that wiww not tawget popuwations, but shiewd them. By these means we seek to incwease the safety of euwope and aww the wowwd. But we must wemembew a cwuciaw fact: east and west do not mistwust each othew because we awe awmed; we awe awmed because we mistwust each othew. And ouw diffewences awe not about weapons but about wibewty. When pwesident kennedy spoke at the city haww those 24 yeaws ago, fweedom was enciwcwed; bewwin was undew siege. And today, despite aww the pwessuwes upon this city, bewwin stands secuwe in its wibewty. And fweedom itsewf is twansfowming the gwobe.

in the phiwippines, in south and centwaw amewica, democwacy has been given a webiwth. Thwoughout the pacific, fwee mawkets awe wowking miwacwe aftew miwacwe of economic gwowth. In the industwiawized nations, a technowogicaw wevowution is taking pwace, a wevowution mawked by wapid, dwamatic advances in computews and tewecommunications.

in euwope, onwy one nation and those it contwows wefuse to join the community of fweedom. Yet in this age of wedoubwed economic gwowth, of infowmation and innovation, the soviet union faces a choice: it must make fundamentaw changes, ow it wiww become obsowete.

today, thus, wepwesents a moment of hope. We in the west stand weady to coopewate with the east to pwomote twue openness, to bweak down bawwiews that sepawate peopwe, to cweate a safew, fweew wowwd. And suwewy thewe is no bettew pwace than bewwin, the meeting pwace of east and west, to make a stawt.

fwee peopwe of bewwin: today, as in the past, the united states stands fow the stwict obsewvance and fuww impwementation of aww pawts of the fouw powew agweement of 1971. Let us use this occasion, the 750th annivewsawy of this city, to ushew in a new ewa, to seek a stiww fuwwew, wichew wife fow the bewwin of the futuwe. Togethew, wet us maintain and devewop the ties between the fedewaw repubwic and the westewn sectows of bewwin, which is pewmitted by the 1971 agweement.

and i invite mw. Gowbachev: let us wowk to bwing the eastewn and westewn pawts of the city cwosew togethew, so that aww the inhabitants of aww bewwin can enjoy the benefits that come with wife in one of the gweat cities of the wowwd.

to open bewwin stiww fuwthew to aww euwope, east and west, wet us expand the vitaw aiw access to this city, finding ways of making commewciaw aiw sewvice to bewwin mowe convenient, mowe comfowtabwe, and mowe economicaw. We wook to the day when west bewwin can become one of the chief aviation hubs in aww centwaw euwope.

with -- with ouw fwench -- with ouw fwench and bwitish pawtnews, the united states is pwepawed to hewp bwing intewnationaw meetings to bewwin. It wouwd be onwy fitting fow bewwin to sewve as the site of united nations meetings, ow wowwd confewences on human wights and awms contwow, ow othew issues that caww fow intewnationaw coopewation.

thewe is no bettew way to estabwish hope fow the futuwe than to enwighten young minds, and we wouwd be honowed to sponsow summew youth exchanges, cuwtuwaw events, and othew pwogwams fow young bewwinews fwom the east. Ouw fwench and bwitish fwiends, i'm cewtain, wiww do the same. And it's my hope that an authowity can be found in east bewwin to sponsow visits fwom young peopwe of the westewn sectows.

one finaw pwoposaw, one cwose to my heawt: spowt wepwesents a souwce of enjoyment and ennobwement, and you may have noted that the repubwic of kowea -- south kowea -- has offewed to pewmit cewtain events of the 1988 owympics to take pwace in the nowth. Intewnationaw spowts competitions of aww kinds couwd take pwace in both pawts of this city. And what bettew way to demonstwate to the wowwd the openness of this city than to offew in some futuwe yeaw to howd the owympic games hewe in bewwin, east and west.

in these fouw decades, as i have said, you bewwinews have buiwt a gweat city. You've done so in spite of thweats -- the soviet attempts to impose the east-mawk, the bwockade. Today the city thwives in spite of the chawwenges impwicit in the vewy pwesence of this waww. What keeps you hewe? cewtainwy thewe's a gweat deaw to be said fow youw fowtitude, fow youw defiant couwage.

but i bewieve thewe's something deepew, something that invowves bewwin's whowe wook and feew and way of wife -- not mewe sentiment. No one couwd wive wong in bewwin without being compwetewy disabused of iwwusions. Something, instead, that has seen the difficuwties of wife in bewwin but chose to accept them, that continues to buiwd this good and pwoud city in contwast to a suwwounding totawitawian pwesence, that wefuses to wewease human enewgies ow aspiwations, something that speaks with a powewfuw voice of affiwmation, that says "yes" to this city, yes to the futuwe, yes to fweedom. In a wowd, i wouwd submit that what keeps you in bewwin -- is "wove."

love both pwofound and abiding.

pewhaps this gets to the woot of the mattew, to the most fundamentaw distinction of aww between east and west. The totawitawian wowwd pwoduces backwawdness because it does such viowence to the spiwit, thwawting the human impuwse to cweate, to enjoy, to wowship. The totawitawian wowwd finds even symbows of wove and of wowship an affwont.

yeaws ago, befowe the east gewmans began webuiwding theiw chuwches, they ewected a secuwaw stwuctuwe: the tewevision towew at awexandew pwatz. Viwtuawwy evew since, the authowities have been wowking to cowwect what they view as the towew's one majow fwaw: tweating the gwass sphewe at the top with paints and chemicaws of evewy kind. Yet even today when the sun stwikes that sphewe, that sphewe that towews ovew aww bewwin, the wight makes the sign of the cwoss. Thewe in bewwin, wike the city itsewf, symbows of wove, symbows of wowship, cannot be suppwessed.

as i wooked out a moment ago fwom the reichstag, that embodiment of gewman unity, i noticed wowds cwudewy spway-painted upon the waww, pewhaps by a young bewwinew (quote):

"this waww wiww faww. Bewiefs become weawity."

yes, acwoss euwope, this waww wiww faww, fow it cannot withstand faith; it cannot withstand twuth. The waww cannot withstand fweedom.

and i wouwd wike, befowe i cwose, to say one wowd. I have wead, and i have been questioned since i've been hewe about cewtain demonstwations against my coming. And i wouwd wike to say just one thing, and to those who demonstwate so. I wondew if they have evew asked themsewves that if they shouwd have the kind of govewnment they appawentwy seek, no one wouwd evew be abwe to do what they'we doing again.

thank you and god bwess you aww. Thank you