Frankfurt, Capital of West Germany

"Ich bin ein Berliner." is perfectly acceptable for anybody here in Germany who doesn't have the Duden stuck up their butt. Seriously. It may not be grammarically correct but 99% of Germans would seee nothing wrong with that. The only problem is that news reproters allways want to report on a gaffe and the like so of course up to this day we hear this nonsense.

Actually, the unofficial Prussian anthem (you don't get much better pedigree for correctness in terms of empathetic declaration) begins with the words: "Ich bin ein Preuße, kennt ihr meine Farben..."
 
As a German, I do not object the use of the article in the sentence "Ich bin ein Berliner". It serves to emphasize.

The term "Berliner" itself is ambiguous, especially to people with a soft spot for food. It is funny, but not to be avoided.
But so would be "Hamburger", "Frankfurter", "Krakauer", "Nürnburger". Come on, we have a city named "Essen" - "eat".
I hail from Münster and have so often been asked about the cheese when abroad...and it has absolutely no connection to this city.

What stuck in German memory much more than the idea of a theoretical misunderstanding is that Kennedy chose to use German words. That was felt as an emphasis of the importance of the US-relationship to (West-) Germany.

Bonn's "Haus der Geschichte", Germany's official museum on the history of post-WW2-Germany, has Kennedy's notices on display with the sentence spelt in a way so that he can pronounce it most appropriately German sounding.

Though, to sound authentic, he should have said "Icke bin ein Berliner, wa".
 
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