The myth persists that President John F. Kennedy said, “I am a doughnut,” when he spoke the famous words,
“All free men, wherever they live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words, “Ich bin ein Berliner.”
I stood in the crowd in front of Schoeneberger Rathaus in West Berlin in June of 1963. Let me assure you that none of us in the audience thought for one minute that JFK had misspoken. Here is why:
A Berliner
True, a Berliner Pfannkuchen, in short a Berliner, is a jelly filled and sugar-glazed bakery item, akin to our well-loved doughnut. So far – so good. But, as a long-time US citizen who was born in Berlin, I still respond to the question what area in Germany I originally came from with, “Oh, don’t you know, I am a Berliner.” Same word – different context. I hope no one ever assumes that I like to refer to myself as a doughnut. And John F. Kennedy knew what he was saying as well. In fact, translators who knew the German language very well had written the phrase for him.
A Berliner Pfannkuchen – in short a “Berliner,” Photo by J. Elke Ertle © 2014
When President John F. Kennedy made that statement, “Ich bin ein Berliner” in his speech in West Berlin, his German audience understood without question what his words meant. They meant, “I am a citizen of Berlin.” No one laughed at or misconstrued his words. Instead, the audience understood him to say that America would stand by them in their Cold War battle against the Berlin Wall and a divided Germany.
An American
Let’s take this persistent myth one step further. In Berlin (maybe also in some other German cities), there is another bakery item, called an American. Americans are a little larger and flatter than Berliners (no pun intended). Americans are not jelly filled but are also sugar-glazed. And now the most interesting part – Americans are available with a white sugar glaze or a chocolate sugar glaze and are called light Americans or dark Americans, respectively.
A light “American,” Photo by J. Elke Ertle © 2014
Next time you call yourself an American when abroad, aren’t you glad that the rest of the world isn’t wondering whether you are referring to yourself as an US citizen or as a flattened doughnut? So let’s put that stubborn myth to rest once and for all.
For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic and current events, people, places and food.
Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.
Tags: "Ich bin ein Berliner", dark Americans, I am a doughnut, John F. Kennedy, light Americans, West Berlin
