The Company

It was on 15 February 1902 that the first metro route was officially inaugurated with the so-called "Ministers’ journey" with high-ranking representatives of the German Empire and Prussia.

This journey opened the overground section between the metro stations Stralauer Tor, which no longer exists today, and Potsdamer Platz.

Three days later on 18 February 1902, the metro started to transport passengers. The people of Berlin quickly accepted this new form of transport. Already during its first year of existence, nearly 30 million passengers travelled with the new metro.

Berlin's metro is the oldest underground railway in Germany. Today the routes are like lifelines pervading the city. But it has been a long journey which reflects the history of the city and also the frequently distressing history of our country.

At the end of the 19th century, thought was already being given to moving a central element of local public transport from Berlin's streets onto another level. The intention was on the one hand to restore the city streets to their original function, and on the other hand to develop a means of transport which took account of contemporary demands for mobility and speed. This pioneering idea was implemented with a rapid electric railway above and under the ground, known to everyone to day simply as the metro.

Within a good ten years, a network covering altogether 37.8 kilometres of track was completed in the first phase of construction. After the interruptions caused by the First World War, the second phase then followed up until 1930 with the two north-south routes and one east-west route, as well as extending the existing routes. Following further interruptions for the Second World War with subsequent elimination of the damage caused, a third phase introduced further extensions to the routes together with a new north-south route, to round off the range of services offered.