13 August 1961 · Over the wall
Wire cutters at the Ebertstraße fence on the first day
On the Sunday the border was sealed, a crowd of East Berliners at the new fence in Ebertstraße cut through the wire when the guards were not looking. Some ran across to West Berlin before the fence was closed again.
During the night of 12 to 13 August 1961 a wire-mesh fence topped with barbed wire was put up along Ebertstraße, the street running south from the Brandenburg Gate on the sector boundary. By Sunday morning East Berliners were gathering on the eastern side of the fence, and the crowd kept growing. West Berlin was only a few steps away, on the other side of the street.
Some people in the crowd were looking for a way out. When the East German border guards were not watching, they cut through the fence with a pair of pliers and got past the barrier. They ran across to the other side of the street, into West Berlin.
Not everyone made it. Part of the group was still behind the fence when the border police pushed them back and closed the gap. Michael-Reiner Ernst photographed the scene. His pictures, now held by the Stiftung Berliner Mauer, show the crowd, the cut fence, people running across and the others being driven back.
Sources
- Chronik 1961 – AugustChronik der Mauer
- Massenflucht an der Ebertstraße (photo series)Chronik der Mauer
Spotted an error, or know more about this story? Email us a correction or addition
Related escapes
23 August 1961
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.
18 August 1961
Three wires cut at the Heidekampgraben
On 18 August 1961 a youth cut three strands of barbed wire at the Heidekampgraben near the Sonnenallee crossing and escaped. A family of three who tried to follow him through the gap was arrested.
13 August 1961
Through the graveyard and the church door: Hildegard K. and her son
On the night the border closed, a radio singer and her eldest son crept through back yards and the Elisabeth cemetery to the Reconciliation Church, whose door to West Berlin was still open.
21 August 1961
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.
