9 September 1971 · Over the wall · Treptow and Neukölln
A circus hand runs for the Wall near the Sonnenallee crossing
After an evening in the pubs of Baumschulenweg, a circus worker climbed the hinterland fence off the Heidekampweg; guards fired 43 rounds and wounded him in the hip and knees.
A man from Aschersleben, born in 1949, worked as a labourer for the state circus company VEB Zentralzirkus and was helping with publicity for the Soviet State Circus in the Kulturpark in Berlin. On the night of 8/9 September 1971 he drank twelve to fourteen glasses of beer in several pubs in Baumschulenweg.
At about 0.30 a.m. on 9 September he went down the Heidekampweg into the border area, about 80 metres from the Sonnenallee crossing, climbed the hinterland fence and set off the signal fence as he crawled through it. The posts 100 and 150 metres to either side saw him moving, bent over, across the roughly 70 metres towards the Wall. When he ignored a challenge and a warning shot, they opened aimed fire – 43 rounds in all – and he was hit in the hip and both knees. His life was not in danger.
Two stray bullets broke windows in houses on the Heidekampweg and the Sonnenallee. West Berlin police officers watching from a platform about 250 metres away called out 'All's well that ends well' as he was carried away. The Stasi concluded that he had decided to flee on the spur of the moment under the influence of alcohol.
Sources
Whose account is this? Told from a GDR record only: documents of the GDR’s police, Stasi or border troops. No other account of the event is cited.
GDR records
- Jahrgang 1971: Fluchtversuch in Berlin-Baumschulenweg – Information Nr. 899/71, 10 September 1971Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)
Facts checked against the sources: September 2026
Spotted an error, or know more about this story? Email us a correction or addition
Cite this page
Berlin Experiences, “A circus hand runs for the Wall near the Sonnenallee crossing”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/baumschulenweg-heidekampweg-circus-worker-1971/ (accessed [date]).
Related escapes
22 February 1971
75 shots miss – and the escaper is caught in a hallway on Provinzstraße
A bricklayer got through every barrier to within three metres of the Wall at Schönholz. Guards fired 75 rounds without hitting him; he turned back and was caught by police in a hallway.
6 October 1972
Over the waterworks wall and onto the Schillingbrücke – 46 shots
A circus worker climbed the wall of the waterworks on Holzmarktstraße and the fence at the Schillingbrücke, and tried to cross the bridge. Guards fired 46 rounds; he collapsed about 30 metres past the bridge with life-threatening internal injuries.
7 January 1971
Rolf-Dieter Kabelitz – shot in the snow at Bergfelde
A 19-year-old from Potsdam set off a border alarm at Bergfelde on a snowy January night in 1971, turned back when tracking dogs were set on him, and was shot while hiding behind a tree. He died of his wounds 23 days later under Stasi guard in hospital.
23 July 1971
Shots stop an escape at Brunnenstraße
At about 3.20 a.m. on 23 July 1971 border guards fired on a man trying to escape at Brunnenstraße and arrested him.
