The excursion ship "Friedrich Wolf"
Young East Berliners commandeered the passenger steamer "Friedrich Wolf", locked up its crew and swerved under heavy fire into West Berlin's Landwehrkanal.
In the early morning of 8 June 1962 thirteen young East Berliners, bringing a baby with them, took over the excursion ship "Friedrich Wolf". They had plied the captain and engineer with alcohol and locked them in their cabins below deck; the vessel had been shielded with metal plates against gunfire.
The ship came down the Spree from Treptow towards the Oberbaumbrücke. At about 5.05 a.m., roughly 400 metres before the bridge, it swung around sharply and headed at full speed into the Landwehrkanal towards the Upper Lock in West Berlin.
Three GDR border boats pursued it and opened fire; Chronik der Mauer counts 135 shots, twelve of which hit West Berlin territory. West Berlin police returned fire, and the refugees reached the western bank and jumped ashore unhurt under police protection.
The captain and engineer returned voluntarily to East Berlin. Afterwards the GDR guarded its passenger ships at night and removed and stored their steering wheels. A memorial stele near the Flutgraben at Schlesischer Busch recalls the escape.
Sources
- Gelungene Flucht mit dem Fahrgastschiff „Friedrich Wolf“ am Osthafen, 8. Juni 1962Chronik der Mauer
- Gedenktafel – Flucht des Schiffs „Friedrich Wolf“Museum Treptow-Köpenick / berlin.de
- Hart backbord – letzte Ausfahrt West-BerlinDer Tagesspiegel
- Flucht aus der DDR: Durchs WasserDemokratiegeschichten
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Related escapes
5 June 1962
Axel Hannemann – from a cargo barge into the Spree
A 17-year-old apprentice from Cottbus jumped from the Marschallbrücke onto a westbound cargo barge; when the skipper stopped, he jumped into the Spree and was shot a few metres from the West Berlin bank.
8 October 1962
Anton Walzer – shot swimming from a barge
Sixty-year-old Anton Walzer climbed onto a moored barge and slipped into the Spree; border guards shot him in the back of the head.
April 1962
Philipp Held – a West German who could not get back
A 19-year-old from Worms who had moved to the GDR in 1961 tried to return to the West by swimming the Spree; his body was recovered on 22 April 1962.
5 October 1961
Udo Düllick – drowned under fire in the Spree
Railway worker Udo Düllick tried to swim the Spree at the Oberbaumbrücke around midnight; chased by gunfire, he drowned just short of the western bank.
