TheFreedom Bell (in German,Freiheitsglocke) inBerlin,Germany, is abell that was given as a gift fromAmericans to the city of Berlin in 1950 as a symbol ofanti-communism, and was inspired by the AmericanLiberty Bell. Since 1950, the bell has been located in theRathaus Schöneberg, the former city hall ofWest Berlin.
The initiative to give Berlin such a bell was taken by theCrusade for Freedom, a propaganda campaign sponsored by theNational Committee for a Free Europe, the organization which operatedRadio Free Europe. The campaign was launched by U.S. generalDwight D. Eisenhower on Labor Day, 1950, with GeneralLucius D. Clay, later known as the "father of theBerlin airlift", as its chairman. The stated 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 bell was conceived by Abbott Washburn and Nate Crabtree and designed byWalter Dorwin Teague.[1][2]
The 10-ton bell arrived from the Britishbell foundry ofGillett & Johnston to a ticker tape parade inNew York City. It carries the inscription "That this world under God shall have a new birth of freedom". The bell subsequently visited 26 American cities, and people in every state were encouraged to sign a "Declaration of Freedom".[3] 16 million signatures from American citizens were collected and are enshrined in Berlin along with the bell.[4] The bell then traveled to Berlin, and was permanently installed in theWest Berlin city hall onUnited Nations Day, October 24, 1950.[5] More than 400,000 Berliners filled the square before the city hall (nowJohn-F.-Kennedy-Platz) to witness the dedication ceremonies. General Clay gave a speech and pushed the button that started the bell ringing. Its tones were heard throughout East Berlin and into East Germany. The East GermanSocialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) launched a demonstration several miles from the dedication site, and party members denounced the bell as a "war bell", a "hunger bell" and a "death bell". SED central committee memberHans Jendretzky warned: "The rope of the death bell will become the gallows rope for those who ring it."[6]
The Governing Mayor of West Berlin,Ernst Reuter (SPD), 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".[6]
The bell is rung daily for five minutes at noon, and at midnight onChristmas Eve and onNew Year's Eve.[7] A recording of the ringing was broadcast byRIAS, the American radio in West Berlin, every Sunday just before noon. These broadcasts have been continued by the successor of RIAS,Deutschlandfunk Kultur. In the radio broadcasts, the ringing of the bell is followed by an excerpt from the text of the "Declaration of Freedom" inGerman.[8][9]
The bell has also been rung on several special occasions: the 1953Uprising of June 17, the 1956Hungarian Uprising, the construction of theBerlin Wall in 1961, and theReunification of Germany of 1990. In 2001, the bell was rung following theSeptember 11, 2001 attacks, and thousands of Berlin citizens paid their respect atJohn-F.-Kennedy-Platz in front of the former city hall of West Berlin.[10]
