"The Free University must be interested in turning out citizens of the world"

Fifty years ago during the Cold War the President of the United States gave a programmatic speech in Dahlem

It is 3:20 p.m. on June 26, 1963. A crowd of nearly 20,000 gathers on the campus of Freie Universität, in Berlin’s Dahlem district. They have come to hear the man who is driving up to the Henry Ford Building right now, in a Lincoln Continental convertible with Washington license plates.

And they won’t be disappointed: A few minutes later the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, starts his highly acclaimed speech at Freie Universität Berlin.

Anniversary Program: With several lectures, an official ceremony, and a symposium Freie Universität is drawing attention to the significance of the American President's visit in Berlin as well as to the speech he gave at the university in Dahlem 50 years ago.