23 August 1961 · Over the wall · Glienicke/Nordbahn, Frohnau and Bergfelde
A man with a bicycle climbs the barrier at Glienicke/Nordbahn
On 23 August 1961 an unknown man approached the border at Glienicke/Nordbahn with a bicycle and was over the barrier before the guard could react.
Glienicke/Nordbahn lay on the GDR side of the northern outer ring around West Berlin.
According to the Stasi situation report of 24 August 1961, on 23 August an unknown man approached the border there with a bicycle. Before the border guard could react, he climbed over the barrier and reached West Berlin.
The report adds, without any detail, that a further case of 'unknown persons' overcoming the border security occurred in the Glienicke/Nordbahn area.
Sources
Whose account is this? Told from a GDR record only: documents of the GDR’s police, Stasi or border troops. No other account of the event is cited.
GDR records
- Jahrgang 1961: Lage nach dem Bau der Berliner Mauer (7) – Bericht Nr. 477/61, 24. August 1961Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)
Facts checked against the sources: September 2026
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Cite this page
Berlin Experiences, “A man with a bicycle climbs the barrier at Glienicke/Nordbahn”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/glienicke-nordbahn-cyclist-1961/ (accessed [date]).
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