23 August 1961 · Over the wall

Sent to put flower bowls on the Wall

At 11.05 on 23 August 1961 a 30-year-old worker who had been sent to set up flower bowls on the barrier wall at the Brandenburg Gate escaped to the West, hidden from view by a lorry.

Black-and-white photo of a rough concrete wall in the foreground with the Brandenburg Gate and an East German flag rising behind it.
The barrier wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate on 20 November 1961, three months after a worker sent to put flower bowls on it escaped Photo: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-88222-0002 / Sturm, Horst. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de

The Chronik der Mauer records that workers were sent to set up flower bowls on the new barrier wall at the Brandenburg Gate.

One of them, a 30-year-old worker, used the job to escape. At 11.05 on 23 August 1961 he fled into the western part of the city, shielded from view by a lorry.

The Chronik der Mauer records the escape in a single sentence. No name or further details are known.

Sources

  1. Chronik 1961 – AugustChronik der Mauer

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