*Ø* Blogmanac | June 26, 1963 | I am a jelly donut

Ich bin ein Berliner.
US President John F Kennedy, on this day in 1963, in a speech in Germany

It's a famous quote, and just as well known is the 'fact' that in Berlin ein Berliner is a jelly donut. But is this so, or another urban whatchamacallit?

Yesterday I heard an interview with the man who wrote the words for JFK back in '63. He was Kennedy's intepreter in Berlin, and the Prez asked him to jot down the German for 'I am a Berliner'. When quizzed by the interviewer, this gentleman (I regret I don't know his name) answered, as the poor guy has no doubt answered a thousand times before, that he is in no doubt that Kennedy's audience knew what he meant -- which didn't really answer the question.

Can you answer it? I know there are plenty of websites you can google that will say Kennedy got it wrong. But what's the truth? Did Jiggin John call himself a jelly donut in front of thousands of adoring ... jelly donuts?