23 May 1964 · Hidden in vehicles
Smuggled out in a BMW Isetta
Klaus-Günter Jacobi hid his friend Manfred in a modified BMW Isetta, the smallest car ever used for an escape, and drove him under the barrier to the West.
Klaus-Günter Jacobi, whose family had left East Berlin in 1958, came up with the idea of hiding a person inside a BMW Isetta, a bubble car only 2.40 m long.
In his workshop he cut an opening in the panel behind the bench seat and raised the parcel shelf. He took out the spare wheel, heater and air filter and replaced the 13-litre fuel tank with a 2-litre can to make room for a person.
On 23 May 1964, shortly before the crossing closed at midnight, the Isetta rolled under the raised barrier into West Berlin, and Jacobi freed his friend Manfred Koster from the hiding place.
It was the only escape made with Jacobi's own car. Students later used a second, similarly converted Isetta to bring eight more people out of the GDR. That car is on display in the Mauermuseum at Checkpoint Charlie.
Sources
- Mit der BMW Isetta in die FreiheitBMW Group PressClub
- 30 Jahre Wiedervereinigung: Trick-Autos der Fluchthelferauto motor und sport
- BMW Isetta: DDR-Flucht im Mikro-MobilMotorsport-Total
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1964 – November 1967
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