6. JFK Did Not Actually Refer To Himself As A Jelly Doughnut
One of the most common misconceptions to do with the Berlin Wall is actually a common misconception of a non-common misconception... if that makes any sense at all. When JFK made his famous trip to West Berlin in June 1963 and declared: Ich bin ein Berliner, he was not, as is often suggested, actually referring to himself as a jelly doughnut. Kennedy did actually, as he intended, refer to himself as a citizen of Berlin and not a pancake or Berliner as they are referred to in parts of Germany or jelly doughnut. It is argued by some that Ich bin Berliner I am a person from Berlin is the phrase Kennedy should actually have used, but without ein added to the sentence there is no way the US President, who was not actually a resident of Berlin, could have said the sentence in a way that made sense grammatically. Such a shame, really, because otherwise that certainly would have been one of those great: Ha ha, he really said that? moments. At least it clarifies my own common misconception that JFK really did think that he was actually a jelly doughnut...