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Liberty Bell (Berlin)
Encyclopedia
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, is a bell
Bell (instrument)
A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...
that was given as a gift from Americans
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to the city of Berlin in 1950 as a symbol of the fight for freedom and against communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and was inspired by the American Liberty Bell
Liberty Bell
The Liberty Bell is an iconic symbol of American Independence, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formerly placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House , the bell was commissioned from the London firm of Lester and Pack in 1752, and was cast with the lettering "Proclaim LIBERTY...
. Since 1950, the bell has been located in the Rathaus Schöneberg
Rathaus Schöneberg
Rathaus Schöneberg is the city hall for the Borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg in Berlin.-History:It was constructed between 1911–1914 for Schöneberg, at that time an independent city not yet incorporated into Berlin, which took place in 1920....
, the former city hall of West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
.
Overview
The initiative to give Berlin such a bell was taken by the Crusade for Freedom, a campaign sponsored by the National Committee for a Free EuropeNational Committee for a Free Europe
The National Committee for a Free Europe was an American anti-communist organization, founded on March 17, 1949 in New York, which worked for the spreading of American influence in Europe and to oppose Stalin's Soviet occupation and dictatorship...
, the organization which operated Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...
. The campaign was launched by U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
on Labor Day, 1950, with General Lucius D. Clay
Lucius D. Clay
General Lucius Dubignon Clay was an American officer and military governor of the United States Army known for his administration of Germany immediately after World War II. Clay was deputy to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1945; deputy military governor, Germany 1946; commander in chief, U.S....
, later known as the "father of the Berlin airlift", as its chairman. The purpose of the Campaign was to offer all Americans an opportunity to play a personal part in a demonstration of the "free world's determination to resist Communist aggression."
The 10-ton bell arrived from the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
foundry of Gillett and Johnston to a ticker tape parade in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. It carries the inscription That this world under God shall have a new birth of freedom. The bell subsequently visited 21 American cities, and people in every state were encouraged to sign a "Declaration of Freedom". 16 million signatures from American citizens were collected and are enshrined in Berlin along with the bell.
The bell then traveled to Berlin, and was permanently installed in the West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
city hall on United Nations Day
United Nations Day
In 1947, the United Nations General Assembly declared 24 October, the anniversary of the Charter of the United Nations, as which "shall be devoted to making known to the peoples of the world the aims and achievements of the United Nations and to gaining their support for" its work.In 1971 the...
, October 24, 1950. More than 400,000 Berliners, some 100,000 of them having risked crossing the border from East Berlin, filled the square before the city hall (now John-F.-Kennedy-Platz
John-F.-Kennedy-Platz
John-F.-Kennedy-Platz , formerly Rudolph-Wilde-Platz, in Berlin-Schöneberg is the square in front of the former city hall of West Berlin . It was here that US President John F. Kennedy gave his famous speech to the Berliners, in which he stated: "Ich bin ein Berliner"...
) to witness the dedication ceremonies. General Clay gave a speech and pushed the button that started the bell ringing. Its deep tones were heard throughout East Berlin and into East Germany. The East German communist party
Socialist Unity Party of Germany
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the governing party of the German Democratic Republic from its formation on 7 October 1949 until the elections of March 1990. The SED was a communist political party with a Marxist-Leninist ideology...
launched a noisy demonstration several miles from the dedication site, and party propagandists denounced the Freedom Bell as a "war bell", a "hunger bell" and a "death bell". Communist central committee member Hans Jendretzky
Hans Jendretzky
Hans Jendretzky was a German communist politician. He was a prominent politician of the Socialist Unity Party in the German Democratic Republic ....
warned: "The rope of the death bell will become the gallows rope for those who ring it."
The Governing Mayor of West Berlin, Ernst Reuter
Ernst Reuter
Ernst Rudolf Johannes Reuter was the German mayor of West Berlin from 1948 to 1953, during the time of the Cold War.- Early years :...
(SPD
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
), declared that Germany "will never rest or relax until freedom will shine over the countries of Eastern Europe that are at present forced to live in slavery".
The bell is rung daily at noon, and at midnight on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
and on New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
. A recording of the ringing was broadcast by RIAS
Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor
RIAS was a radio and television station in the American Sector of Berlin during the Cold War. It was founded by the US occupational authorities after World War II in 1946 to provide the German population in and around Berlin with news and political reporting and was initially only broadcast on...
, the American radio in West Berlin, every Sunday just before noon. These broadcasts have been continued by the successor of RIAS, Deutschlandradio Kultur
Deutschlandradio Kultur
Deutschlandradio Kultur is the culture-oriented radio station of the German national Deutschlandradio service...
. In the radio broadcasts, the ringing of the bell is followed by an excerpt from the text of the "Declaration of Freedom" in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, read by prominent theatre actors.
The bell was also rung on several special occasions: The Uprising of June 17
Uprising of 1953 in East Germany
The Uprising of 1953 in East Germany started with a strike by East Berlin construction workers on June 16. It turned into a widespread anti-Stalinist uprising against the German Democratic Republic government the next day....
of 1953, the Hungarian Uprising
Hungarian Uprising
Hungarian Uprising can refer to:*Hungarian Revolution of 1848 *Hungarian Revolution of 1956...
of 1956, the construction of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
in 1961 and the Reunification of Germany of 1990. In 2001, the bell was rung on occasion of the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, and thousands of Berlin citizens paid their respect at John-F.-Kennedy-Platz
John-F.-Kennedy-Platz
John-F.-Kennedy-Platz , formerly Rudolph-Wilde-Platz, in Berlin-Schöneberg is the square in front of the former city hall of West Berlin . It was here that US President John F. Kennedy gave his famous speech to the Berliners, in which he stated: "Ich bin ein Berliner"...
in front of the former city hall of West Berlin.