2 September 1986 · Over the wall

Over the rear wall and across the Bösebrücke

A janitor and a construction helper climbed into the Bornholmer Straße checkpoint area with a ladder, got into the diplomats' lane and simply walked across the Bösebrücke — guards who saw them assumed they had been cleared.

Overhead view of the border crossing with control buildings, barriers and the steel Bösebrücke
The Bornholmer Straße border crossing photographed from a rooftop on Finnländische Straße, 1984 Photo: Gerd Danigel, ddr-fotograf.de. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

In the early morning of 2 September 1986 a 26-year-old janitor and a 24-year-old construction helper set out from the 'Bornholm 1' allotment colony towards the Bornholmer Straße crossing point.

Near an unfinished guard post they climbed the rear wall with a ladder. The signal fence on the wall was defective and a watchtower was unmanned. They then climbed a two-metre fence and found themselves in the diplomatic lane of the checkpoint.

View of the Wall and border installations beside the Bösebrücke
The Berlin Wall at the Bornholmer Straße crossing / Bösebrücke, 2 June 1985 Photo: Gerd Danigel. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Border guards saw them but let them pass, apparently assuming they had already been processed. The two walked across the Bösebrücke into Wedding in West Berlin.

Sources

  1. Gelungene Flucht über den Grenzübergang Bornholmer Straße, 2. September 1986Chronik der Mauer

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  1. 20 January 1986

    "Ladder of success" at Glienicke/Nordbahn

    Shortly after midnight a man used a two-metre ladder to climb the rear wall at Glienicke/Nordbahn, set off the signal fence, ran the last 17 metres and used the same ladder to get over the final wall — the guards never saw him.

    Over the wall · Reached the West · Glienicke/Nordbahn / Reinickendorf

  2. 19 November 1986

    Dieter H.'s folding-ladder escape under fire

    A toolmaker who had been refused permission to emigrate and jailed for two years built a small collapsible ladder, cut through the signal fence at Brunnenstraße and got over the 3.6-metre Wall while twelve shots were fired at him.

    Over the wall · Reached the West · Mitte

  3. 3 March 1982

    Emergency brake and ladder south of the Bösebrücke

    Two men pulled the emergency brake of an S-Bahn train on the curve at Bornholmer Straße, jumped out and climbed the border barriers into Wedding with a ladder.

    Over the wall · Reached the West · Pankow / Mitte (Wedding)

  4. 24 November 1986

    Michael Bittner shot at Glienicke/Nordbahn

    The 25-year-old climbed the inner wall with a wooden ladder and was shot in the back as he reached the final wall; the Stasi then erased almost every trace of his death.

    Over the wall · Killed · Glienicke/Nordbahn (Brandenburg) / Reinickendorf