Iconic Moments

The unforgettable Berlin moments that flashed around the world, speeches, leaps, concerts, the night the Wall fell, and the scenes burned into collective memory.

Part of Berlin

15 moments in this segment.

1. 1963-06-26 - JFK: "Ich bin ein Berliner". June 26, 1963, Kennedy before 450,000 at the Schöneberg city hall, the most famous four words ever spoken in Berlin.
2. 1987-06-06 - Bowie's 1987 Wall concert. Bowie plays "Heroes" by the Reichstag; East Berliners chant "the Wall must fall" from the other side.
3. 1989-11-09 - The Wall falls - live. November 9, 1989, Tom Brokaw and the world's cameras at the Brandenburg Gate as Berliners pour through.
4. 1989-11-09 - Schabowski's press conference. The fumbled words "ab sofort, unverzüglich", the press conference that accidentally opened the Wall.
5. 1989-11-10 - Dancing on the Wall. The night of November 9, strangers embracing, champagne, and Berliners dancing atop the concrete by the Gate.
6. 1990-07-21 - Pink Floyd's The Wall in Berlin. July 1990, Roger Waters stages "The Wall" in the no-man's-land of Potsdamer Platz before 350,000.
7. 2006-07-09 - The 2006 World Cup Fan Mile. A million fans on the Straße des 17. Juni, the "Sommermärchen" that showed a relaxed, reunified Germany.
8. 2008-07-24 - Obama at the Victory Column. July 2008, candidate Obama draws 200,000 to the Siegessäule, a Berlin rally watched around the world.
9. 2014-07-13 - World Cup champions, 2014. July 2014, 400,000 welcome the world champions home to a roaring Fan Mile at the Brandenburg Gate.
10. 2017 - New Year's Eve at the Gate. Berlin's vast Silvester party at the Brandenburg Gate, one of the world's biggest open-air New Year celebrations.
11. 2018 - World records at the Berlin Marathon. The flattest, fastest course in the world, where the men's marathon world record has fallen again and again.
12. 2022-03-22 - Gigafactory Berlin opens. Tesla switches on its first European plant in Grünheide outside Berlin, the contested, fast-tracked factory that reshaped the region.
13. 2022-06-01 - The 9-Euro-Ticket summer. For three months Germany sold a €9 monthly pass for all regional transit, packed trains, a national experiment in cheap mobility.
14. 2023-09-24 - Marathon world record. Tigist Assefa shatters the women's marathon world record on Berlin's famously fast course.
15. 2024-07-14 - Euro 2024 final. Spain beat England 2-1 at the Olympiastadion to win the European Championship, the tournament's last night in Berlin.