Berlin Wall Escapes1961–1989

20 August 1961 · Window jumps · Bernauer Straße

A married couple climbs out at the Wolliner Straße corner

At about 11 a.m. on 20 August 1961 a married couple escaped through the windows of their flat at the corner of Bernauer Straße and Wolliner Straße.

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.
The corner of Bernauer Straße and Wolliner Straße on 8 June 1962, with the East Berlin border houses' windows bricked up Photo: Sigurd Hilkenbach. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

According to the Stasi report of 21 August 1961, at about 11 a.m. on 20 August a married couple fled through the windows of their flat at control point 19, the corner of Bernauer Straße and Wolliner Straße.

The report gave the case as an example of residents of border properties escaping through the windows of their flats. Ten minutes earlier two other people had gone through the windows of their flat into West Berlin at control point 22, the Brunnenstraße corner.

Black-and-white photo: a signpost with street signs for Bernauer Straße and Wolliner Straße and notices reading 'Achtung Sektorengrenze 150 m' and 'Straßensperrung verursacht durch die Schandmauer' stands in front of a low wall of concrete slabs daubed 'KZ', with tall, bare-walled buildings behind.
The Wall across the end of Wolliner Straße at Bernauer Straße on 9 June 1965 Photo: Willy Pragher. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

Sources

  1. Jahrgang 1961: Lage nach dem Bau der Berliner Mauer (4) – Bericht Nr. 466/61, 21. August 1961Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)

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