Berlin Wall Escapes1961–1989

18 January 1974 · Over the wall · Bernauer Straße

Karl-Heinz M. is caught past the inner wall

Karl-Heinz M. had climbed the inner wall and probably the signal fence before border soldiers arrested him in the strip.

A long grey concrete wall covered in graffiti runs across a grassy field; a simple wooden cross stands in the foreground and large buildings with red-tiled roofs rise behind the wall.
The preserved section of the border wall on Bernauer Straße, seen from the Sophien cemetery side in January 2008, in what is now area A of the Berlin Wall Memorial Photo: Beek100. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

On 18 January 1974 Karl-Heinz M. tried to escape across the border strip in what is now area A of the Berlin Wall Memorial, the section along the Sophien cemetery.

He had already climbed over the inner wall (Hinterlandmauer) and probably also over the border signal fence.

Two tall concrete wall segments painted with a cartoon face and a large hand stand among bare shrubs; behind them on the left runs a lower, grey, graffiti-covered wall.
Dismantled segments of the outer wall on the Sophien cemetery in January 2008, with parts of the original inner wall (Hinterlandmauer) still standing behind them Photo: Beek100. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Border soldiers arrested him inside the border strip.

Sources

Historians and memorials

Facts checked against the sources: September 2026

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Cite this page

Berlin Experiences, “Karl-Heinz M. is caught past the inner wall”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/karl-heinz-m-sophienfriedhof-1974/ (accessed [date]).

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