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.