Bill Clinton: “Citizens of free Berlin, citizens of united Germany, Chancellor Kohl, Mayor Diepgen, Berliners the world over, thank you…”

“Citizens of free Berlin, citizens of united Germany, Chancellor Kohl, Mayor Diepgen, Berliners the world over, thank you for this wonderful welcome to your magnificent city. We stand together where Europe's heart was cut in half and we celebrate unity. We stand where crude walls of concrete separated mother from child and we meet as one family. We stand where those who sought a new life instead found death. And we rejoice in renewal. Berliners, you have won your long struggle. You have proved that no wall can forever contain the mighty power of freedom. Within a few years, an American President will visit a Berlin that is again the seat of your government. And I pledge to you today a new American Embassy will also stand in Berlin. Half a century has passed since Berlin was first divided, 33 years since the Wall went up. In that time, one-half of this city lived encircled and the other half enslaved. But one force endured: your courage. Your courage has taken many forms: the bold courage of June 17th, 1953, when those trapped in the East threw stones at the tanks of tyranny; the quiet courage to lift children above the wall so that their grandparents on the other side could see those they loved but could not touch; the inner courage to reach for the ideas that make you free; and the civil courage, civil courage of 5 years ago when, starting in the strong hearts and candlelit streets of Leipzig, you turned your dreams of a better life into the chisels of liberty.…”