Berlin Wall Escapes1961–1989

21 August 1961 · Over the wall

The person in the white coat from the Charité

On 21 August 1961 a person in a white coat came out of the last gate of the Charité and jumped over the barrier into West Berlin while the guard had been called to the telephone.

A quiet street leading to a checkpoint with white screen walls, a watchtower, floodlights and a sign reading 'You are now leaving the British sector'.
The Invalidenstraße border crossing at the Sandkrugbrücke in 1987, seen from West Berlin; the Charité grounds lay just beyond it on the East Berlin side Photo: Jochims. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

The grounds of the Charité hospital in East Berlin reached right up to the sector boundary on Invalidenstraße, near the Sandkrugbrücke.

At about 16.30 on 21 August 1961 the guard at checkpoint 35 was called to the telephone. A person in a white coat used the moment. Coming out of the last gate of the Charité, the gate of the dental and jaw clinic on Invalidenstraße, they jumped over the barrier. At that point it did not yet have any wire on it.

The police in Mitte confirmed the incident but could not find out who the person was. They planned to investigate further the next day.

Sources

  1. Stab PdVP Berlin – Journal der Handlung, 21 August 1961Chronik der Mauer (document: Landesarchiv Berlin, C Rep. 303/26.1/239)

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