Daniel Barenboim can now say ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’

Daniel Barenboim can now say ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’

News

norman lebrecht

April 11, 2023

The Senate of Berlin has named the former General Music Director of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden to be an honorary citizen of the city.

Barenboim can now officially add Berin to his many identity cards and nationalities, which include Argentina, Israel, Spain and Palestine.

Everything, as he says, is connected.

Comments

  • Gustavo says:

    “I am benign.”

  • Bantigg says:

    He is a doughnut? But he has good company: JFK.

  • Pacer1 says:

    I am a doughnut? JFK made the same mistake Norman.

    • Sue Sonata Form says:

      Yes, but isn’t it typical for an American to get a foreign language wrong? Perhaps you’re all better at Spanish??!!

    • Hugo Preuß says:

      Believe it or not, the people of Berlin are able to distinguish between “Berliner” as in jelly donut and “Berliner” as in citizen of their city, and even “Berliner” as in Emil Berliner, the inventor of the record and the grammophone. It depends on the context.

      And nobody, really nobody misunderstood the meaning of JFK’s speech. Except some meant-to-be-funny-but-not-really-being-funny American editorials, including the New York Times.

  • Elizabeth Owen says:

    Didn’t someone once say that JFK had said “I am a sausage”?

  • Alexander Hall says:

    Sorry, but it can only be “Ich bin Berliner”. Adding the indefinite article means the individual has metamorphosed into a doughnut. Very kafkaesque.

    • David K. Nelson says:

      The people voting thumbs down on the doughnut remarks have forgotten or are not aware that JFK made a grammar or word choice mistake in his famous speech. It was supposed to be a big applause line and was initially met with silence until the audience gradually figured out what he was intending to say. Then it got a big ovation.

      Veering seriously off topic there was an episode of The Simpsons cartoon show where Homer turns into a huge doughnut. And almost immediately his lawn is covered with police cars …..

    • Simon S. says:

      Native German speaker here. Apologies, but above is complete nonsense. You can perfectly say in German “Ich bin ein [city]er” without referring to some food. The indefinite article is optional and does not change the meaning of the sentence.

      • Alexander Hall says:

        Ditto. I have yet to hear somebody in Germany, when asked where they come from, say “Ich bin ein Hamburger”, “Ich bin ein Dresdener” or “Ich bin eine Stuttgarterin”. Wrong German pervades the airwaves as well as the streets. The younger generation avoids the subjunctive (Konjunktiv) like the plague and a linguistic mishmash (Kaffee to go) hardly raises an eyebrow these days. That doesn’t necessarily make it correct, anymore than increasing numbers of NHS patients being asked by their doctors “How long have you been laying there?” If I were the individual concerned, I would be tempted to reply “Since my last clutch of eggs.”

        • Lausitzer says:

          Ich bin ein/e Stuttgarter*in.

          Sorry, could not resist.

        • Simon S. says:

          Looking forward to learning your definition of “wrong German” or, alternatively, the precise rule by which I would be wrong when I say “Ich bin ein Frankfurter” to tell people where I am from.

      • Sisko24 says:

        I’ve read online commentary from those who are native German speakers-some said they are Berlin residents and were there then-that they are quite insulted that anyone would think those Berliners back then would’ve had a problem in understanding what was meant. Additionally, I’ve also read that in Berlin, jelly doughnuts are called Pfannkuchen, not Berliners, although the literal translation of pfannkuchen is ‘pancake’ with Berliners having another name for pancakes. I suspect it all comes down to a matter of taste and/or politics.

      • Sue Sonata Form says:

        Imagine any American knowing THAT!!!!!

      • Hugo Preuß says:

        Vollkommen richtig. Completely correct. This urban legend refuses to die, no matter how often native speakers say it is simply bollocks.

    • Rosario says:

      German-speaker here and that’s some utter non-sense, an urban legend that was made up decades after his speech. For one, no one in Berlin calls a doughnut a “Berliner”, it’s a Pfannkuchen. If you go to a shop an order “a Berliner” the salesperson will most probably tell you “Ham wa nich” (we don’t have that) or “I’m not for sale”. In addition, as JFK was speaking figuratively the “ein” was actually the correct way to say it. “Ich bin Berliner” would have been false as it would have implied he had actually registered with the authorities and become a Berlin citizen.

    • Sue Sonata Form says:

      But they had morphed into a donut; the hole was actually between the ears because the brain had earlier given way to another organ!!

    • Hugo Preuß says:

      Nope, “Ich bin ein Berliner” in the context of JFK’s speech means “I am a citizen of Berlin” and nothing else. Nobody whose native tongue is German ever subscribed to the notion that this was a grammatical error. Sorry, but no Kafka here.

  • MK says:

    For the record, Barenboim has referred to himself as a “Berliner” (without article) for at least over twenty years now. I myself heard him say it when he accepted an award on behalf of the Staatskapelle Berlin. He didn’t need the city’s permission to do so.

  • Heiko Who says:

    Ted Sorensen wrote, “Ich bin auch ein Berliner”, but JFK just could not pronounce “auch”, so it was cut.

  • Robert Holmén says:

    People continue to show their gullibility by repeating the lazy meme about JFK in Berlin.

    JFK was coached on the proper delivery of the German phrase by the then-mayor of Berlin, Willy Brandt, who even got him to do the regional Berlin “ish” pronunciation of “ich”.

  • Gustavo says:

    “Ich bin ein Faschingskrapfen.”

    “Ich bin ein Pfannkuchen.”

    “Ich bin kein Doughnut!”

  • Barry Guerrero says:

    I could be wrong! – this just what I’ve been told: the more formal “Mir ist Berliner”, or “Mir ist ein Berliner” would have been a better choice for a big political speech.

  • Jobim75 says:

    French passport is given away to almost anyone, but surprisingly not to Dany.. maybe he’s only a Parisian, who did a lot for the orchestra, rehearsing some Chicago or prestigious orchestra concerts with orchestre de Paris..

  • Tamino says:

    DB can claim to be „ein Berliner“ for more than 30 years already, since that is when he became a citizen of Berlin. This headline is a bit late.

  • Trevor says:

    Wonderful and deserving as Daniel B is, does he warrant being described as a tasty Berlin doughnut

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