Two rope escapes in one night from Bernauer Straße 2
At 1.30 a.m. a tenant and two friends roped down from Bernauer Straße 2; at about 4 a.m. five more people fled through a window of the same house.
At about 1.30 a.m. on 30 August 1961 Hannelore B., Margot St. and Ursula S. escaped from a flat at Bernauer Straße 2. The sentry in the cemetery opposite saw objects being thrown from a window onto the pavement but could see no more, because West Berlin police were dazzling him with searchlights.
A check afterwards showed that the tenant of the flat had let herself down on a rope together with two friends.
The same night, at about four o'clock in the morning, five more people escaped through a window of the same house, Bernauer Straße 2.
Sources
- Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer – Bereich B: Die Zerstörung der Stadt (Orientierungsplan und Ereignismarken), marker B 332, B 343Stiftung Berliner Mauer
- B 332 – Digital Guide, Berlin Wall MemorialStiftung Berliner Mauer
- B 343 – Digital Guide, Berlin Wall MemorialStiftung Berliner Mauer
Spotted an error, or know more about this story? Email us a correction or addition
Related escapes
19 August 1961
Rudolf Urban's rope descent from Bernauer Straße 1
Rudolf Urban and his wife let themselves down on a rope from their first-floor flat; he was badly injured and died in hospital four weeks later.
24 August 1961
Parents and 14-year-old daughter rope down from Bernauer Straße 10
Probably on 24 August 1961 a married couple and their 14-year-old daughter let themselves down on a rope from a first-floor window.
24 August 1961
Max W.'s rope breaks at Bernauer Straße 24
Max W. let himself down from his first-floor flat; the rope snapped and he fell to the pavement, where West Berlin police picked him up.
17 September 1961
Three people rope down from the corner house Brunnenstraße 138
On the evening of 17 September 1961 three people let themselves down on a rope from the corner house at Brunnenstraße 138.