Home Massachusetts No, JFK Did Not Say ‘I Am a Jelly Doughnut’

No, JFK Did Not Say ‘I Am a Jelly Doughnut’

The 'ein' was key

by
10 comments

Critics of President John F. Kennedy, popularly known as JFK, claimed his eloquent 1963 speech before 400,000 people in West Berlin included an embarrassing gaffe. When he said, “ich bin ein Berliner,” he meant, “I am a Berliner.” But he really said, “I am a jelly doughnut” in German. Or so they claimed.

John F. Kennedy in Berlin

JFK in Berlin

Kennedy’s point was to defend the ideals of democracy and self-government when both were threatened in Berlin.

After World War II, Berlin, like all of Germany, was divided into the democratic west and the communist east. Located in the heart of East Germany, it was an isolated satellite of West Germany.

From 1952, the border was closed between East and West Germany — except for Berlin. Hundreds of thousands of East Germans escaped to the West through West Berlin, which drained East Germany of labor and threatened its economic collapse.

Soviet Premier Nikita Krushchev called West Berlin ‘a bone in my throat’ and threatened to ‘eradicate this splinter from the heart of Europe.’

In 1961, the Soviet-backed East German government began building the Berlin Wall between East and West Berlin and to plug the biggest hole in the Iron Curtain. The wall itself was a concrete monstrosity with watchtowers, barbed war and machine gun emplacements.

In 1963, Berliners feared a takeover by East Germany. Kennedy feared conflict in Berlin would spark a nuclear war.

Kennedy's address to the people of West Berlin. Photograph by Robert Knudsen, White House, in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.

Kennedy’s address to the people of West Berlin. Photograph by Robert Knudsen, White House, in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.

JFK, Berliner

In a previous speech, Kennedy called civis romanus [“I am a Roman citizen”] the proudest boast one could make. He then adapted those words for the speech he delivered in Rudolph Wilde Platz on June 26, 1963. He told the huge crowd,

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.”

Those words ranked up there with “Ask not what you can do for your country.”

Twenty years later, British fiction writer Len Deighton published a spy novel, Berlin Game. In it, he wrote that Kennedy had mangled the German language during the speech and actually said, ”I am a jelly doughnut.”

The New York Times picked up the mistake four years later in an op-ed. The Guardian, MSNBC, CNN, Time magazine and several books subsequently repeated Deighton’s accusation. They are wrong.

As the Atlantic explains,

…it would be suggested that Kennedy had got the translation wrong—that by using the article ein before the word Berliner, he had mistakenly called himself a jelly doughnut. In fact, Kennedy was correct. To state Ich bin Berliner would have suggested being born in Berlin, whereas adding the word ein implied being a Berliner in spirit. His audience understood that he meant to show his solidarity.

Rudolph Wilde Platz was later renamed John F. Kennedy Platz. To listen to the 9-minute speech, click here.

*  *  *

 

Learn what life was like in the White House for New England’s six presidents. Click here to order your copy today.

John F. Kennedy was by no means new to Europe. He spent the summer of 1945 there as a reporter. JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956 by Fredrik Logevall examines Kennedy’s pre-White House years. This story was updated in 2025.

10 comments

Jackie Kennedy Has a White House Christmas or Two - New England Historical Society December 20, 2015 - 8:46 am

[…] John F. Kennedy had been elected in November 1960 and wouldn’t take office until Jan. 20, 1961. Jackie Kennedy […]

Eat Like A President, Part II - New England Historical Society February 15, 2016 - 9:21 am

[…] a member of Congress, John F. Kennedy stayed at a hotel near the Statehouse when he was in Boston. He was notorious for showing up at the […]

JFK Redesigns Air Force One - New England Historical Society January 29, 2017 - 9:31 am

[…] Force One looks the way it does because President John F. Kennedy sat on the floor of the Oval Office with an industrial designer, scissors, paper and […]

The Night Ethel Kennedy Met Jackie Bouvier - New England Historical Society May 16, 2017 - 11:39 am

[…] minted lawyer, was working for the federal government in Washington, D.C. Bobby’s older brother, John F. Kennedy, had just been elected to the U.S. Senate from […]

The Stunned Musical Reaction to JFK's Assassination - New England Historical Society November 22, 2017 - 5:28 pm

[…] Leinsdorf stepped forward and, in faltering voice, broke the news to the audience of JFK's assassination. […]

Salty Brine for 51 Years Announces News, Weather and No School Fosta Glosta - New England Historical Society January 4, 2018 - 6:17 pm

[…] WNAC-AM in Boston, after graduating from Staley School of the Spoken Word in Brookline in 1941. (John F. Kennedy and James Michael Curley polished their speaking skills there as well.) He also worked at WESX in […]

The Tragedy of Texas Tower No. 4 - New England Historical Society January 27, 2018 - 5:33 pm

[…] were a product of the Cold War, a ring of early-warning beacons in case Soviet bombers approached the East Coast. Fifty men lived […]

The New England Dark Day of 1780 - New England Historical Society May 21, 2019 - 7:06 am

[…] 1960, U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy mentioned the Dark Day during a campaign speech in North Carolina. He got some of the facts wrong, […]

My Homepage June 11, 2020 - 12:48 pm

… [Trackback]

[…] Read More Infos here: newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/no-john-f-kennedy-did-not-say-i-am-a-jelly-doughnut/ […]

The Stunned Musical Reaction to JFK's Assassination - New England Historical Society November 22, 2020 - 7:59 am

[…] Leinsdorf stepped forward and, in faltering voice, broke the news to the audience of JFK’s assassination. […]

Comments are closed.

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our mailing list to receive the latest artciles from the New England Historical Society

Thanks for Signing Up!

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join Now and Get The Latest Articles. 

It's Free!

You have Successfully Subscribed!