Berlin Wall Escapes1961–1989

12 September 1961 · Window jumps · Bernauer Straße

Down a telephone cable from Bernauer Straße 47

An unknown man broke into the Sch. family's first-floor flat and let himself down from the window on a telephone cable.

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, a few doors from No. 47 Photo: Sigurd Hilkenbach. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

On the morning of 12 September 1961 an unknown man escaped to the West from Bernauer Straße 47.

He broke into the flat of the Sch. family on the first floor.

A large corner apartment building on Bernauer Straße in winter.
The corner house Bernauer Straße 44 / Wolliner Straße in January 1978 Photo: John Spooner. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

He let himself down from the window on a telephone cable.

Sources

Historians and memorials

Facts checked against the sources: September 2026

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Cite this page

Berlin Experiences, “Down a telephone cable from Bernauer Straße 47”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/bernauer-strasse-47-telephone-cable-1961/ (accessed [date]).

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