Speaking from a platform erected on the steps of Rathaus Schöneberg for an audience of 450,000 on June 26, 1963, Kennedy said,
Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was civis Romanus sum ["I am a Roman citizen"]. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is "Ich bin ein Berliner!"... All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words "Ich bin ein Berliner!"--Moments in the stream of time