22 August 1961 · Over the wall

Over the wall at Boyenstraße, then a photo

On 22 August 1961 a man waited in the hallway of Boyenstraße 43 until a patrol had passed, then pulled himself up the new wall and jumped over. From the West Berlin side, he took photographs.

A painted Berlin Wall running along a path with weeds, with old East Berlin tenement and factory buildings and a tall chimney behind it.
The Wall along Boyenstraße in June 1989, seen from Chausseestraße in West Berlin; the houses behind it were in East Berlin Photo: Gtelloke. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

In Boyenstraße, near the Chausseestraße crossing, the sector boundary ran along the street, and a wall had just been built.

At about 11.30 on 22 August 1961 an unknown man was standing in the hallway of Boyenstraße 43. As soon as the patrolling policeman had walked past, he ran at the wall, pulled himself up in a flash and jumped over.

He then stood in front of Boyenstraße 2 on the western side and took photographs from there. The guard post at Chausseestraße reported the breakthrough at 11.35.

Sources

  1. Stab PdVP Berlin – Journal der Handlung, 22 August 1961Chronik der Mauer (document: Landesarchiv Berlin, C Rep. 303/26.1/239)
  2. Bericht Nr. 475/61, 22 August 1961 – Lage nach dem Bau der Berliner Mauer (6)Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)

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