Berlin Wall Escapes1961–1989

3 December 1964 · Over the wall

Joachim Mehr shot in the wire near Bergfelde

After a spontaneous decision in a pub, 19-year-old carpenter Joachim Mehr and Hans-Jürgen K. ran for the wire near Frohnau; both were wounded, and Mehr was killed by further shots after they had given up.

Joachim Mehr, born in April 1945 in Belgard, Pomerania, grew up in Prenzlauer Berg and worked as a carpenter in his father's workshop. The Stasi found no trace of Western influence or escape plans in his past.

On 2 December 1964, after an evening at the Christmas market, he met Hans-Jürgen K. in a pub. K., three years older, had fled once in 1962 and come back; he described how he had got across on the city's edge, and they decided to go that same night.

They rode a moped to Hohen Neuendorf, crossed the rear fence in the forest between Hohen Neuendorf and Bergfelde and, on K.'s signal, ran across the brightly lit strip for the three-row barbed-wire fence. The post commander on a tower 160 metres away opened fire, and both collapsed wounded just before the fence.

Entangled in the wire, they agreed to give up. A patrolling NCO nevertheless fired again at Mehr because he moved, and killed him; until then his wounds had not been life-threatening. West Berlin customs officers saw the two men lying in the strip before smoke canisters hid their removal.

Hans-Jürgen K. was sentenced to three years. Mehr's parents were forced to describe his death as a road accident. In 1994 the NCO and the post commander received suspended sentences of 18 months.

Sources

  1. Mehr, JoachimChronik der Mauer
  2. Die Todesopfer an der Berliner Mauer 1961-1989 (Hertle/Nooke, Stand August 2017)Stiftung Berliner Mauer

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