Ronald Reagan Speech: Tear Down this Wall

YouTube - "Berlin Wall" Speech - President Reagan's Address at the Brandenburg Gate - 6/12/87

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall," was a challenge from then President Ronald Reagan to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to destroy the Berlin Wall. In a speech at Brandenburg Gate commemorating the 750th anniversary of Berlin, by the Berlin Wall on June 12, 1987. Reagan challenged Gorbachev to tear it down as a symbol for Reagan's desire for increasing freedom in the Eastern Bloc.

Since the end of World War II, the Berlin Wall was erected to separate Communist East Germany from free West Germany. In 1961 the Berlin Wall became a symbol of Communism. This was Reagan's second visit to West Berlin, Germany within five years. The speech took place at 2:00 p.m. at Reichstag, Germany. He spoke at the Brandenburg Gate. He was in front of two panes of bulletproof glass to protect the president from potential snipers in East Berlin. There were 4500 people in attendance at Reagan's speech. Those in attendance were West German president Richard von Weigsacker, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, and West Berlin Mayor Eberhard Diepgen.