In the summer of 1963, just after the completion of the Wall, President Kennedy visited Berlin and was greeted by ecstatic crowds who showered his entourage with flowers, rice and torn paper. In the Rudolph-Wilde-Platz, Kennedy gave one of his most memorable speeches. Shortly after President Kennedy’s death in November of 1963, the square where he had made his famous speech was renamed the John F. Kennedy Platz.