Bonn, Federal Republic of Germany Remarks at the Bonn City Hall.

Distinguished officials and citizens of the great city of Bonn, thank you for your welcome.

Before I came to Bonn, I was warned that three things might happen to me while I was in your city. But there has been no rain; as you can .see, I'm not in the least tired; and no matter where I go, the railroad gates have always 'been open. Instead, I have seen a beautiful city, a green and a pleasant community with which to admire your quality of life.

Konrad Adenauer always said he chose Bonn as capital, temporary capital, of the Federal Republic, because in addition to his love for roses, he knew democracy could reach its fullest flower in this serene and gentle town along the banks of the Rhine. Despite all the changes you have undergone, you have kept that serenity and charm.

When I signed your Golden Book a few moments ago, I was surrounded by reminders of your history. And I am honored, as I stand here, to think of the history that has taken place on these very steps.

Many distinguished visitors have spoken here, among them President Charles de Gaulle and our own President John F. Kennedy. But even more important are those who spoke to you not as visitors, but as products of the soil and the soul of Germany. When Professor Gottfried Kinkel proclaimed the ideals of 1848 from these steps, one of his listeners was a young man destined to be known equally well to Americans and to Germans: Carl Schurz, the great German-American reformer.

A century later, when President Heuss spoke to you here on the night of his election in 1949, not many in his audience realized they were living in the dawn of an era when Germany and America would become the closest of partners in a global effort to secure peace, freedom, and stability for all mankind.

But that is precisely what has occurred. Today, the Federal Republic and the United States share vast responsibilities and similar interests, and Bonn has taken its place as the capital of one of our most important allies. Our security is your security, and yours is ours. That is why the United States is increasing its commitment to NATO and will help to defend your land as if it were our own.

The Federal Republic and the United States also share an attitude and a sense of duty toward Europe and to the world. Many years ago, Carl Schurz, who took so much of his guidance from this city, said something very wise to us, his adopted people. "The genuine American," he said, "must be a creative world citizen."

Today both Americans and Germans are creative world citizens, striving together to help other regions of the world achieve economic well-being and stability. And, of course, our two nations share a fundamental faith in the same values-the values of freedom, of human rights, of economic liberty, and the conviction that each person should be able to develop one's own life fully and creatively, secure from foreign oppression and secure from domestic disorder.

At a time when the enemies of democracy seem determined to test us, we are prepared to maintain our strength, because we know that democracy is the most effective means of solving problems and meeting the needs of our people. You, as citizens of the capital of one great democratic nation, and I, as a citizen of the capital of another, have this faith in common.

We understand and we share your aspirations and your commitment for peaceful reunification of all Germany.

As allies, as citizens of the world, as believers in freedom and democratic government, Germans and Americans also share an awareness of the interdependence of all people, everywhere.

As I look about this marktplatz today, I am conscious not only of its purely German history—this gracious rococo building behind me; this one to my right, restored from the 14th century; the great university to my left; the spires of the church above the rooftops—but I'm also conscious of its present reality: the restaurant from China, the American camera store, the shops filled with produce from France, Scandinavia, and so many other nations of Europe and the world. All of these are reminders of how closely linked have become the lives of the people of our planet.

Finally, let me say that the point is that over the past few generations, relations among us have become the province not only of governments but of our people themselves. As the world's people speak and work and live together, we all could well remember the poem of Schiller, immortally put to music by the great Beethoven, a son of Bonn, the "Ode to Joy": "Alle Menschen werden Bruder Wo dein sanfter Flitgel weilt."

("All mankind shall be brothers where try* gentle wings abide.")

Thank you very much, my friends.