5 January 1963 · Over the wall · Bernauer Straße
Jürgen B. is caught past the wire at Ruppiner Straße
Jürgen B. had already climbed the first wire fence when guards arrested him at Ruppiner Straße in the night before 5 January 1963.
In the night leading into 5 January 1963 Jürgen B. tried to escape at Ruppiner Straße, by Bernauer Straße.
He had already climbed over the first wire fence when border guards arrested him.
Under questioning he admitted that he had wanted to flee to West Berlin.
Sources
Whose account is this? Told from historical research only.
Historians and memorials
- Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer – Bereich D: Alltag an der Mauer (Orientierungsplan und Ereignismarken), marker D 421Stiftung Berliner Mauer
- D 421 – Digital Guide, Berlin Wall MemorialStiftung Berliner Mauer
- D 421 – Digitaler Tourguide, Gedenkstätte Berliner MauerStiftung Berliner Mauer
Facts checked against the sources: September 2026
Spotted an error, or know more about this story? Email us a correction or addition
Cite this page
Berlin Experiences, “Jürgen B. is caught past the wire at Ruppiner Straße”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/juergen-b-ruppiner-strasse-1963/ (accessed [date]).
Related escapes
24 August 1961
Detlef M. and Herbert Z. try the Wall at Ruppiner Straße
Eleven days after the border was sealed, two men tried to climb the new Wall at the corner of Schönholzer and Ruppiner Straße and were arrested.
6 September 1961
Günter Tr. climbs the Wall with a company ladder
An employee of the Murante firm in the border zone went to work as usual and then, with a woman smuggled in by a colleague, climbed the Wall on a company ladder; the colleague was arrested.
13 August 1961
Through the graveyard and the church gate: Hildegard K. and her son
On the night the border closed, a radio singer and her eldest son crept through back yards and the Elisabeth cemetery to the Reconciliation Church, whose gate to West Berlin was still open.
14 August 1961
Peter Hohmann sprints past the guards at Brunnenstraße
A waiter who had gone back East on the night the border closed tried the Sophien cemetery the next day, then slipped past the first soldiers in Brunnenstraße and ran when the guard holding his identity card chased another refugee.
