22 September 1961 · Over the wall · Bernauer Straße

Truck driver Heinz K. over the glass-topped wall

A driver for the Murante firm, which lay inside the border area, hid his truck between site huts and climbed a five-metre wall topped with broken glass.

Elevated view over a lawn with rows of rusty steel rods marking the former Wall, a road and cycle path in front, parked cars in a side street on the left and a white gable wall with a large 1961 photo mural.
The Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße near Strelitzer Straße in 2016; the Wall between Nos. 11 and 13 stood on this stretch Photo: Fridolin freudenfett. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Heinz K. drove trucks for the Murante company at Strelitzer Straße 53. After the Wall was built the firm lay inside the border area, and he had a permit to enter it.

On 22 September 1961 he parked his truck between site huts in such a way that the border guards could not see him.

Unnoticed, he climbed over a rear fence and then over the five-metre wall, set with broken glass, between the houses at Bernauer Straße 11 and 13.

Sources

Facts checked against the sources: September 2026

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Berlin Experiences, “Truck driver Heinz K. over the glass-topped wall”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/heinz-k-murante-truck-driver-1961/ (accessed [date]).

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