16 February 1962 · Window jumps
A mother and her five-year-old jump from a balcony at Klein Glienicke
On 16 February 1962 a 25-year-old woman and her 5-year-old son jumped from the balcony of a house near the Böttcherberg cemetery into West Berlin. West Berlin police forced the border guards who were firing at them to take cover.
The West Berlin police report places the house near the cemetery Am Böttcherberg and records that the escape led into Wannsee in West Berlin.
At 16.50 on 16 February 1962 a 25-year-old woman and her 5-year-old son escaped by jumping from the balcony of the house. Two border police patrols of two men each opened fire with submachine guns.
West Berlin police officers fired warning shots that forced the border guards to take cover, and mother and son reached West Berlin unhurt. According to the West Berlin police, the border guards fired about 60 rounds and the police 39.
Sources
- Report of the West Berlin Schutzpolizei for February 1962Chronik der Mauer (document: Polizeihistorische Sammlung des Polizeipräsidenten in Berlin)
Spotted an error, or know more about this story? Email us a correction or addition
Related escapes
10 April 1962
A nine-year-old jumps from the roof of Bernauer Straße 44
On 10 April 1962 a nine-year-old schoolboy jumped from the roof of Bernauer Straße 44 into the West Berlin fire brigade's jumping sheet. Border guards stopped a second child of the same age.

29 January 1962
Fake chimney sweep abseils from Bernauer Straße 13
Dressed as a chimney sweep, a young man walked past the guards into an emptied border house, broke through a bricked-up attic window and let himself down on his sweep's rope.
19 February 1962
Scraping out the mortar by candlelight at Bernauer Straße 46
Guards found a hole broken through a bricked-up first-floor window; a man had apparently scratched out the joints with nails by candlelight and jumped.
17 September 1962
West Berlin police open a cellar window for three young men
While a West Berlin officer held the guards' observation post at gunpoint, police broke open a walled-up cellar window and three young men climbed out.