History of the Berlin U-Bahn began on 1 March 1985; the first section to open was between Biesdorf-Süd and Elsterwerdaer Platz. The section to Hönow was to open on 1 July 1989, just a few months before the fall of the Berlin Wall. On 9 November 1989, following months of unrest, the travel restrictions placed upon East Germans were lifted. Tens of thousands of East Berliners heard the statement live on television and flooded the border checkpoints, demanding entry into West Berlin. Jannowitzbrücke, a former ghost station, was reopened two days later as an additional crossing point. Rosenthaler Platz and Bernauer Straße on the U8
Berlin Wall 22 months after the erection of the Berlin Wall, U.S. President John F. Kennedy visited West Berlin. Speaking from a platform erected on the steps of Rathaus Schöneberg for an audience of 450,000 he declared in his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech the support of the United States for West Germany and the people of West Berlin in particular: The message was aimed as much at the Soviets as it was at Berliners and was a clear statement of U.S. policy in the wake of the construction of the Berlin Wall. The speech is considered one of Kennedy's best, both