17 March 1964 · Over the wall · Bernauer Straße
An unknown escapee slips past the guards at Gartenstraße
In the early morning of 17 March 1964 an unidentified person got over the border installations at Gartenstraße, about a metre from where the sentries were standing.
Early on the morning of 17 March 1964 an unidentified person crossed the border installations at Gartenstraße and reached West Berlin.
According to the memorial text, their superiors assumed the guards had simply not been paying attention; the memorial text points out that they may equally have looked the other way on purpose.
A border troops report quoted on the memorial marker complained that the sentries "performed a poor border service" and failed to see the border violator climb over the installations about one metre from their post.
Sources
Whose account is this? Told from historical research only.
Historians and memorials
- Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer – Bereich A: Die Mauer und der Todesstreifen (Orientierungsplan und Ereignismarken), marker A 302Stiftung Berliner Mauer
- A 302 – Digital Guide, Berlin Wall MemorialStiftung Berliner Mauer
Facts checked against the sources: September 2026
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Cite this page
Berlin Experiences, “An unknown escapee slips past the guards at Gartenstraße”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/gartenstrasse-unknown-escapee-1964/ (accessed [date]).
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