[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book I)]
[July 12, 1994]
[Pages 1247-1248]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the Citizens of Berlin
July 12, 1994

    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.
    Now, you who found the courage to endure, to resist, to tear down 
the Wall, must found a new civil courage, the courage to build. The 
Berlin Wall is gone. Now our generation must decide, what will we build 
in its place? Standing here today, we can see the answer: a Europe where 
all nations are independent and democratic; where free markets and 
prosperity know no borders; where our security is based on building 
bridges, not walls; where all our citizens can go as far as their God-
given abilities will take them and raise their children in peace and 
hope.
    The work of freedom is not easy. It requires discipline, 
responsibility, and a faith strong enough to endure failure and 
criticism. And it requires vigilance. Here in Germany, in the United 
States, and throughout the entire world, we must reject those who would 
divide us with scalding words about race, ethnicity, or religion. I 
appeal especially to the young people of this nation: Believe you can 
live in peace with those who are different from you. Believe in your own 
future. Believe you can make a difference and summon your own courage to 
build, and you will.
    There is reason for you to believe. Already, the new future is 
taking shape in the growing chorus of voices that speak the common 
language of democracy; in the growing economies of Western Europe, the 
United States, and our partners; in the progress of economic reform, 
democracy, and freedom in lands that were not free; in NATO's 
Partnership For Peace where 21 nations have joined in military 
cooperation and pledge to respect each other's borders.

[[Page 1248]]

    It is to all of you in pursuit of that new future that I say in the 
name of the pilots whose airlift kept Berlin alive, in the name of the 
sentries at Checkpoint Charlie who stood face-to-face with enemy tanks, 
in the name of every American President who has come to Berlin, in the 
name of the American forces who will stay in Europe to guard freedom's 
future, in all of their names I say, Amerika steht an ihrer Seite, jetzt 
und fur immer. America is on your side, now and forever.
    Moments ago, with my friend Chancellor Kohl, I walked where my 
predecessors could not, through the Brandenburg Gate. For over two 
centuries in every age, that gate has been a symbol of the time. 
Sometimes it has been a monument to conquest and a tower of tyranny. But 
in our own time, you, courageous Berliners, have again made the 
Brandenburg what its builders meant it to be, a gateway. Now, together, 
we can walk through that gateway to our destiny, to a Europe united, 
united in peace, united in freedom, united in progress for the first 
time in history. Nothing will stop us. All things are possible. Nichts 
wird uns aufhalten. Alles ist moglich. Berlin ist frei. Berlin is free.

Note: The President spoke at approximately 1:15 p.m. at the Brandenburg 
Gate.