BERLIN: In a poignant illustration of how times change, John F. Kennedy’s triumphal visit to West Berlin 40 years ago is being colourfully recalled at an exhibition in what used to be “communist” East Berlin.

The venue is architect I.M. Pei’s two elegant glass-and-steel exhibition halls, which serve as a spectacular extension to the German Historical Museum.

The JFK exhibition, focussing on his tragically cut-short presidency, has attracted large numbers of visitors, with many of them eager to listen to extracts from President Kennedy’s famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech, delivered from the Schoeneberg City Hall, during his visit to West Berlin on June 26, 1963.

The JFK exhibition, co-sponsored by the German Historical Museum and the Free University’s John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies in Berlin, displays 450 artefacts trawled from American and German museums.

Among them are original Kennedy family photographs, election posters, campaign badges, news articles, personal effects, and a series of stamps bearing JFK’s profile.

The American relationship with West Berlin around the time the Berlin Wall was being built in August, 1961, and a portrayal of communist East Germany’s view of Kennedy, are central to the exhibition, which also traces other Cold War events.—dpa