The Obama campaign is using Ustream for a live video connections. At the moment, 12:50 PM, EDT, there are reported to be over 2000 viewers connected. The signal keeps going in and out.

Now we're up to 2146 viewers. Wonder how many they can accommodate.

Meanwhile, New Hampshire is dealing with the aftermath of a tornado.

At 2700 people the stream went off-line. Will try C-SPAN 3, which has announced that it would be covering the event. Video live at 12:59.

The Tiergarten looks like the Mall in D.C. No way to tell how many people.

It's summer time in Berlin. People in tank tops. A multi-ethnic crowd, according to the C-SPAN cameras. The camera stayed on a very black man with a brown boy on his lap for a long time. More dark-skinned people. It doesn't seem hard for the camera to find them. People who have climbed up on lamp posts. There's music playing which the audience seems to hear--they're moving to the beat.

Shot of the lectern with his water and his speech in paper. It is now 1:06.

The crowd extends down through the greenery to the next building. Packed in like sardines in the camera shot. Whistling starting up and clapping. Music has stopped.

Chant of Obama starting.

"Yes we can" is a little half-hearted.

The transmission is courtesy of ARD German television. That probably accounts for the multiple cameras. Some in the crowd waving american flags. Shot towards the monument, showing that there's some separation between the crowd and the base where the lectern is set up.

Looks like an aerial view of the venue. 1:14 ET.

Some hand-made signs saying "Vote B.O." "I Love Barack 'n' Roll"

Oh, I see, there are towers for some of the media from which the high crowd shots originate. Jugglers are entertaining. It's a festive atmosphere. More shouting and clapping, as if something was going to actually happen. Looks like everyone's got a camera. 1:19 ET.

People are chanting "obama" again. Crowd sounds.

Announcement over loudspeaker and he's walking out on a platform to the lectern. Waving and smiling and going to speak.

"Thank you" so much.

Thanking everyone, including the police, for this extraordinary welcome. "I speak as a citizen, a proud citizen of the United States, and of the world." (Bio stuff)

"This city of all cities knows the dream of freedom."

Recitation of Berlin's history after World War II.

Berlin stood in the way of another war.

He's not reading that speech. He's not using a teleprompter.

"People of the world look at Berlin."

Where a wall came down and a continent came together and history proved that no challenge is too great for a world that acts together."

"The fall of the Berlin wall brought new hope" but has brought new dangers.

"The genocide in Darfur shames the conscience of us all....We cannot afford to be divided."

"Yes, there have been difference between America and Europe."

"Partnership is not a choice.... it is the only answer."

The walls cannot stand.

We know that these walls have fallen before........

"America cannot turn inward....America has no better partner than Europe....."

"It is time to secure all loose nuclear weapons....this is the time to seek to secure the world from all nuclear weapons....we need a strong European Union......"

"We cannot sustain growth if it favors the few and not the many."

"This is the moment when we must come together to save our planet...."

"This is the moment to give our children back their future."

"Will we reject torture and stand for the rule of law?"

"People of the Berlin, people of the world, this is our time....."

Thank you Berlin. 1:50 PM ET.

He goes down into the crowd along a rope line. Always the hands reach and cameras click. "Yes we can" starting up again.

Ustream did not work--is off the air.

Walking in a camera crowd. He's good at ignoring the cameras. Having a conversation with some dignitary, he demonstrates an ability to multi-task and to ignore the immediate environment. He's an island of concentration in the stream of roiling humanity. Microphones on long poles are listening in, but he seems totally capable of ignoring them and attending to the person at hand.

Really nice coverage! Congrats to the camera operators!

Now he's been intercepted by a petite woman. The public address system says the event is over and thanks everyone for coming. Obama has to sign some documents--left-handed. People still milling about. Don't seem in any rush to depart. Music has started up again on the public address system.

Finis.

******

Addendum--a quote I missed

. . we are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope. With an eye toward the future, with resolve in our hearts, let us remember this history, and answer our destiny, and remake the world once again.