Berlin Wall Escapes1961–1989

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.

Night view across the river Spree from the Kreuzberg bank towards a brightly floodlit strip of wall on the far shore.
The brightly lit Wall along the Spree bank at Mühlenstraße, Friedrichshain, seen from the Gröbenufer in West Berlin in 1985 – the stretch now known as the East Side Gallery Photo: Lothar Weber. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

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

  1. Raus aus der DDR (Flucht im Bereich Mühlenstraße)East Side Gallery (Stiftung Berliner Mauer)
  2. Information Nr. 1157/71, 3 December 1971 – Gruppenfahnenflucht nach WestberlinStasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)

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