Both legs broken: a jump from Harzer Straße 110
On the evening of 23 August 1961 a young man slipped into Harzer Straße 110 by a back entrance and jumped from the second-floor stairwell window into West Berlin, breaking both legs.
Harzer Straße 110 was a house on the sector border between Treptow in East Berlin and Neukölln in West Berlin.
At about 19.30 on 23 August 1961 a man of about 20 jumped from the second floor of Harzer Straße 110 and broke both legs. On the West Berlin side an ambulance, a jeep with four American soldiers, a police radio car and a fire engine came to help.
The local East Berlin police officer found out afterwards that the man was not known in the neighbourhood. He had come in by a back entrance and jumped from the window on the second-floor landing. The tenants on that floor could say nothing about him. That evening the Interior Ministry staff noted that people could still get into the houses at Harzer Straße 108–111 without being seen.
Sources
- Stab PdVP Berlin – Journal der Handlung, 23 August 1961Chronik der Mauer (document: Landesarchiv Berlin, C Rep. 303/26.1/239)
Spotted an error, or know more about this story? Email us a correction or addition
Related escapes
13 September 1961
Fire-net escapes at Harzer Straße, Treptow
Two men escaped from Harzer Straße 109 into a fire brigade net, but two hours later East Berlin police used a water cannon and tear gas to stop two women jumping from No. 117.
22 August 1961
A pretend visitor jumps from Bernauer Straße 7
Claiming to be visiting someone, a young woman talked her way past the rear guard posts, then jumped from a first-floor window two hours later.
26 August 1961
A woman jumps from the first floor of Bernauer Straße 2
On 26 August 1961 a woman jumped from a first-floor window of Bernauer Straße 2; she was hurt and taken to safety by West Berlin police.
19 September 1961
Five escapees rope down from the roof of Bernauer Straße 43
Four men and a woman crossed the rooftops, tied a rope to a chimney and let themselves down to the western pavement; the woman fell from the third-floor level and was badly hurt, and another woman was caught in the attic.