1 December 1971 · By boat · The Spree between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain
Two border guards take a patrol boat across the Spree
In December 1971 two 20-year-old GDR border guards disarmed a comrade, took the patrol boat moored at Mühlenstraße and crossed the Spree to Kreuzberg in broad daylight.
A GDR border control boat was moored at the Spree bank at Mühlenstraße 74/77 in Friedrichshain.
In December 1971 two 20-year-old border guards took their colleague's weapon, made him leave the boat and steered it across to the Kreuzberg side, where they jumped ashore.
The escape happened in the middle of the day, in full view.
Sources
Whose account is this? Drawn from a GDR record and historical research.
GDR records
- Information Nr. 1157/71, 3 December 1971 – Gruppenfahnenflucht nach WestberlinStasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)
Historians and memorials
- Raus aus der DDR (Flucht im Bereich Mühlenstraße)East Side Gallery (Stiftung Berliner Mauer)
Facts checked against the sources: September 2026
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Cite this page
Berlin Experiences, “Two border guards take a patrol boat across the Spree”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/border-guards-patrol-boat-muehlenstrasse-1971/ (accessed [date]).
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15 December 1962
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Shortly before 1 a.m. on 20 November 1961 the Spree was swum under fire at the Schillingbrücke. A Stasi report speaks of one man, injured by shots from the water police boat 'Toni 132'; the West Berlin police recorded three men who reached West Berlin, one of them wounded, and the fire brigade took them to hospital.