Berlin Wall Escapes1961–1989

19 September 1961 · Window jumps · Bernauer Straße

Five escapees rope down from the roof of Bernauer Straße 43

Four men and a woman crossed the rooftops, tied a rope to a chimney and let themselves down to the western pavement; the woman fell from the third-floor level and was badly hurt, and another woman was caught in the attic.

Sepia photo of an old tram on a cobbled street, with tall tenement houses whose ground-floor windows are bricked up on the right and a screen wall across the street behind.
Bernauer Straße at Wolliner Straße on 8 June 1962, with the row of border houses that included No. 43 Photo: Sigurd Hilkenbach. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Shortly after 5 a.m. on 19 September 1961, four men and a woman who had made their way over the rooftops from Rheinsberger Straße reached the roof of Bernauer Straße 43. They tied a rope to the chimney and let themselves down towards the West Berlin pavement.

At about the level of the third floor the woman lost her grip and fell to the pavement, suffering serious injuries. One of the men burned both hands on the rope. The others got down unhurt.

A large corner apartment building on Bernauer Straße in winter.
The corner house Bernauer Straße 44 / Wolliner Straße in January 1978, next door to No. 43 Photo: John Spooner. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

A little later border soldiers arrested another woman in the attic of the same building who had also wanted to escape.

Sources

Historians and memorials

Facts checked against the sources: September 2026

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Berlin Experiences, “Five escapees rope down from the roof of Bernauer Straße 43”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/bernauer-strasse-43-rooftop-rope/ (accessed [date]).

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