Armoured pre-war Opel at Chausseestraße

Five East Berliners drove an armoured pre-war Opel P4 through the Chausseestraße crossing under heavy fire and reached West Berlin unhurt.

Black-and-white photo of a wide empty street leading to a barrier, the Wall and control buildings at the Chausseestraße crossing, with apartment blocks behind. — The Chausseestraße border crossing seen from Wedding (West Berlin) in June 1972 Photo: Willy Pragher. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

Five East Berliners, three women and two men, used an old pre-war Opel P4 for an escape through the Chausseestraße border crossing between Mitte and Wedding.

The car had been fitted with steel plates to protect the occupants. On 14 November 1961 they drove it at high speed towards the crossing.

Two graffiti-covered Wall segments either side of an overgrown path. — Remains of the Wall at the former Chausseestraße crossing in November 2011 (since demolished) Photo: Christian Mentel. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

East Berlin border police recognised the escape attempt and fired around 100 shots at the car. The windscreen and the right front wheel were shot to pieces.

The five occupants reached West Berlin without injury.

Where the sources differ

Names of the escapees are not given in the sources. The Demokratiegeschichten article retells the Chronik der Mauer account and is not independent of it. Coordinates are for the former crossing at Chausseestraße/Liesenstraße. Round 11: the West Berlin Schutzpolizei report for November 1961 (Chronik der Mauer node 180442) gives the same core figures as the Chronik der Mauer page. That page cites no sources and uses only photos from the Polizeihistorische Sammlung, so it appears to rest on this police material (inference), and the report is not counted as an independent confirmation. The report adds the time (about 21.00), that the car drove at high speed through the slalom barrier, and that four Vopo posted at the border fired from three submachine guns and a pistol. It describes the damage as several bullet holes in the windscreen and the right front wheel; the Chronik says both were shot to pieces. The New York Times of 15 November 1961 (p. 2; first paragraph free, read in a browser, Oct 2026) reports the escape the same night: two men and three women drove uninjured through submachine-gun fire at the Chausseestraße crossing into the French sector in an armoured station wagon with steel plates riveted to its sides and back and a plate over the windscreen with 180 tiny holes for the driver to see through; West Berlin policemen said the guards fired about 100 shots as it drove through a concrete obstacle course. The NYT calls the vehicle a 1932 station wagon; the Chronik der Mauer a pre-war Opel P4.

Sources

Whose account is this? Drawn from a press report and historical research.

Press

Armored Station Wagon Gets 5 to West Berlin (15 November 1961)The New York Times

Historians and memorials

Gelungene Flucht mit einem gepanzerten Vorkriegs-Opel über den Grenzübergang Chausseestraße, 14. November 1961Chronik der Mauer
Flucht aus der DDR: Mit Fahrzeugen über die GrenzeDemokratiegeschichten
Tätigkeitsbericht der West-Berliner Schutzpolizei für den Monat November 1961 [Auszug]Chronik der Mauer (document: Polizeihistorische Sammlung des Polizeipräsidenten in Berlin)

Facts checked against the sources: October 2026

Spotted an error, or know more about this story? Email us a correction or addition

Cite this page

Berlin Experiences, “Armoured pre-war Opel at Chausseestraße”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/armoured-opel-chausseestrasse-1961/ (accessed [date]).

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Sources

Press

Historians and memorials

Cite this page

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