A Photo Tour in the Footsteps of Dr. King

MLK’s Whirlwind Tour of Berlin: A Chronology
Martin Luther King Jr. was in Berlin (East and West) for barely 36 hours in September 1964. In that limited time he saw more of the city than most dignitaries see during longer visits. The American delegation arrived at Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport in the afternoon of September 12. Their only full day in Berlin was the next day, September 13, a Sunday, spent in both East and West Berlin. After a long day that went late into the evening, Dr. King returned to his room at West Berlin’s Senate Guesthouse for a brief night’s sleep before boarding a plane the next morning (September 14) to fly to Munich.

King had been invited to Berlin by Willy Brandt, West Berlin’s mayor (later West German chancellor) to speak at a ceremony commemorating the assassinated US president John F. Kennedy who had visited West Germany in June 1963. At the time of King’s visit the Berlin Wall had been standing for only three years and one month. Dr. King had no intention of letting a wall stand between him and the German people on the other side. Much to the displeasure of the American government and the Johnson administration, the African American civil rights leader was determined to cross into East Berlin, even after his US passport had been taken from him by American authorities. And he did just that.

Below is a chronology of Dr. King’s Berlin visit in 1964, with a brief description of each stop along the way. For more about King’s visit, see Martin Luther King Jr. in Berlin.

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Tempelhof Airport

Saturday, September 12, 1964 | In the early afternoon, Martin Luther King, Jr. arrives at Tempelhof, then West Berlin’s central airport (Zentralflughafen). (The Tegel airport terminal did not open until 1974, although commercial jet flights operated there before that.) Tempelhof, famous as a key airport during the Berlin Airlift (1948-1949), operated as a commuter/business airport until 2008. Today the terminal building is a protected landmark and the former airfield is now a giant park. Dr. King was accompanied by his friend and associate Rev. Ralph Abernathy. The Americans received a warm welcome on the tarmac outside their aircraft from the Major Superintendent of West Berlin, Hans Martin Helbich, and the Berlin Senator for Culture Werner Stein.

Senate Guesthouse (Gästehaus des Senats)

As Willy Brandt’s guest, Dr. King spends the first of two nights in West Berlin’s Senate Guesthouse, a former private mansion in Berlin’s ritzy Grunewald district. Built in 1923, the villa was damaged during World War II. It was completely renovated to accommodate visiting dignitaries and officials. Besides Dr. King, other famous former guests include Neil Armstrong, the Dalai Lama, and Robert Kennedy. It served in that capacity from 1964 until 2003, when it was sold to the Republic of Korea for just under 6 million euros, and it has been the residence of the South Korean ambassador since 2006. The actual Embassy of South Korea is now housed in a new modern building completed in 2006 in Berlin’s diplomatic quarters in the Tiergarten district at Stülerstraße 8–10.

Schöneberg City Hall (Rathaus Schöneberg)

Sunday, September 13, 1964 | Dr. King’s official reception took place at the Schöneberg City Hall, where mayor Brandt presents a miniature liberty bell as a gift to King. (The original bell, die Freiheitsglocke, has been in the city hall tower since 1950. It is the largest non-church bell in Berlin.) After offering a few words, King signs the Golden Book, Berlin’s ceremonial guest book. Following the ceremonies Brandt and King drive to the opening of the 14th Berlin Festival at the Philharmonie building near Potsdamer Platz, then an empty field on the eastern side of the Berlin Wall.

Schöneberg City Hall was the site of John F. Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech in 1963. Until 1920, Schöneberg was a separate city outside of Berlin. Today it is a Berlin district (Bezirk). Because of Berlin’s division, Schöneberg City Hall served as West Berlin’s main city hall, legislature, and the mayor’s office until 1990. Today all those functions have returned to Berlin’s historic Rotes Rathaus (Red City Hall, named for its red brick exterior) near Alexanderplatz in what was East Berlin.

Philharmonie Hall (Philharmonie)

King and Brandt arrived at the Philharmonie, the home of Berlin’s Philharmonic (Berliner Philharmoniker) for the 11:00 a.m. opening ceremonies. Designed by noted German architect Hans Scharoun, the unusual building became the new home of the orchestra in October 1963. (The former hall was destroyed by British bombers in January 1944.) The hall’s unusual design and excellent acoustics became a model for many other concert halls around the globe. King gave a memorial speech honoring Kennedy, while various choirs sang gospel songs and other musical numbers.

As mentioned above, the hall stood next to Potsdamer Platz and the Berlin Wall at the time of King’s visit. The Potsdamer Platz S-Bahn (commuter rail) station was an unused so-called Geisterbahnhof, a ghost station. Until the Wall fell, the concert hall was isolated and surrounded by barren land. Today, with the Wall gone, the area is once again vibrant and thriving. The former “rear” entrance that had faced the Wall, was renovated in 2009 to make it a more appropriate front entrance, since with the Wall gone, it had become the main entrance for people arriving from the new Potsdamer Platz S-Bahn station.

Bad Day at Stallschreiberstraße

In the morning of Sunday, September 13, East German border guards had shot and wounded 21-year-old Michael Meyer as he was trying to escape from East Berlin. After being struck by several bullets, Meyer was rescued by an American soldier who heroically managed somehow to pull him over the Wall to safety. When King learns of the incident, he hurries to the Kreuzberg district to witness the scene of the rescue himself. He speaks with the residents of the apartment house at 42 Stallschreiberstraße and witnesses the numerous bullet holes in the windows and the walls of the building. He becomes a personal witness to the horror of the Berlin Wall.

The American soldier (Sergeant Puhl) technically violated the law by firing at the GDR soldiers and rescuing Meyer. However, he was later honored by Mayor Brandt for his “heroic deed.” In September 2010 a memorial plaque was placed at the site of the shooting on Stallschreiberstraße to commemorate Dr. King’s visit there in 1964.

Potsdamer Platz

Later in the day, King and Abernathy are given a tour of Berlin, with visits to the Berlin Wall, including the viewing point at Potsdamer Platz. What was once a busy, bustling intersection at the center of Berlin is now a barren landscape devoid of any structures, other than ugly steel tank traps. All the buildings that had once stood there have been torn down. (See photos below.) The so-called “death strip” here is wider than anywhere else along the Wall.

Bernauer Straße

At the time of King’s visit, the East and West Berlin authorities had been engaged in a contest over how to prevent or allow people to look over the Berlin Wall. East Germany had erected tall interior fences to try to block the view from East Berlin over the Wall. On the western side, authorities constructed ever taller viewing platforms to defeat the fences in East Berlin. Dr. King and Rev. Abernathy were taken to the what was once the corner of Bernauer Straße and Schwedter Straße (near today’s Mauerpark), where they climbed many stairs to reach the top of the viewing platform (top photo below).

The Waldbühne Speech

Following a reception at the Berlin Akademie der Künste (arts academy) at 1:00 p.m., Dr. King goes with Willy Brandt to the Waldbühne (“forest stage”) amphitheater next to the Olympic Stadium. At 3:00 p.m. he addresses a gathering of 20,000 people attending the “Tag der Kirchen” (Day of the Churches) event. He gives a prepared speech, which he will later repeat in East Berlin. Today the Waldbühne (formerly the “Dietrich Eckart Bühne” built by the Nazis between 1934-1936) is still a popular venue for rock concerts and other events.

Allied Checkpoint Charlie

In an attempt to prevent the “communist” Dr. King from entering the GDR (East Germany), the U.S. State Department had confiscated his passport. Undeterred, King was determined to accept an invitation to attend an evening church service at the Marienkirche in East Berlin. Accompanied by Ralph Zorn, the pastor at the Friedenskirche on Bernauer Straße, and his assistent Dr. Scott, both American citizens with U.S. passports who are permitted to cross into East Berlin at Checkpoint Charlie, just like any other citizen of the United States.

They explain to the East German border guards that their friend has “forgotten” his passport, but the guards insist on some other type of official identification. Dr. King finds his American Express credit card in his wallet, presents it as ID, and the group is allowed to enter East Berlin. Not far from the checkpoint is a cross for Peter Fechter, a young man who died at that spot after being shot by East German guards during an escape attempt in 1962.

St. Mary’s Church (Marienkirche)

With the words “My dear Christian friends in East Berlin” Dr. King begins to address an overflow crowd inside the Marienkirche – that today stands in the shadow of the nearby landmark TV tower (Fernsehturm) on Alexanderplatz. (The tower was not yet built. It opened to visitors in October 1969, five years after King’s visit.) King attracted a huge audience despite only two days of advance notice by word of mouth. He speaks in English to a crowd of East Berliners, most of whom don’t understand English very well. His interpreter Alcyone Scott provides a German version, but the audience reacts more to Dr. King’s emotion and spirited presentation.

Because of dissension among East German church leaders, general superintendent Gerhard Schmitt was almost forced to call off Dr. King’s invitation, but he felt he had to go ahead anyway. The Marienkirche pastor had recently been jailed for anti-GDR speech, and the former pastor had escaped to the West before that. Schmitt felt the church needed to take a stand. And events proved he was right. The Stasi (East German spy agency) records the sermon on tape. Following his church appearance, before going to the second church, Dr. King visits the nearby Humboldt University to speak with black students there.

“It is indeed an honor to be in this city, which stands as a symbol of the divisions of men on the face of the earth. For here on either side of the Wall are God’s children and no man-made barrier can obliterate that fact. Whether it be East or West, men and women search for meaning, hope for fulfillment, yearn for faith in something beyond themselves, and cry desperately for love and community to support them in this pilgrim journey.” – Martin Luther King Jr. in East Berlin (1964)

Sophienkirche

Because many people had to be turned away at the Marienkirche, a second church was provided so that Dr. King could speak to more East Germans. Around 9:20 p.m. Dr. King arrives at the second church. As he and Schmitt enter, the crowd stands to honor their distinguished visitor. A Stasi informant made notes of King’s words. The service doesn’t end until shortly before 10:00 p.m.

Hotel Albrechtshof

Following the Sophienkirche event, Dr. King and Ralph Zorn travel to a Christian hospice to talk with East German church leaders. The Albrechtshof hospice is just across the Spree river near the Friedrichstraße train station. In the hospice restaurant an exhausted Dr. King is able to enjoy a snack and drinks. But he still takes the time to engage in conversation with the East German Protestant representatives. He even agrees to autograph a card for Schmitt’s daughter. Along with all the others present, Dr. King signs the hospice guestbook.

It is midnight before Dr. King’s group leaves the hospice to drive back through Checkpoint Charlie to return to West Berlin. After a few hours of sleep, in the morning of September 14, 1964 Dr. King flies from Berlin to Munich.

More | Martin Luther King Jr. in Berlin

Related Pages
THE GERMAN WAY

• American Black History and Germany – Yes, there is a connection!
• Martin Luther King Jr. in Berlin – About King’s 1964 visit to East and West Berlin
• The Berlin Airlift – Tempelhof was a key airport for the “Luftbrücke.”
• Berlin’s Abandoned Tempelhof Airport Becomes a Vast Park – After the airport closed in 2008

ON THE WEB

• King Tour – The King Code youth project began in 2013. The website (king-code.de) offers a virtual “King Tour” of Berlin, similar to ours, but in German.