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 climbed over the inner wall (Hinterlandmauer) facing East Berlin and had probably also got past the border signal fence, which raised the alarm when it was touched.

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

  1. Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer – Bereich A: Die Mauer und der Todesstreifen (Orientierungsplan und Ereignismarken), marker A 312Stiftung Berliner Mauer
  2. A 312 – Digital Guide, Berlin Wall MemorialStiftung Berliner Mauer
  3. A 312 – Digitaler Tourguide, Gedenkstätte Berliner MauerStiftung Berliner Mauer

Spotted an error, or know more about this story? Email us a correction or addition

Related escapes

  1. 14 December 1973

    Klaus-Peter K. is caught on the patrol road

    Klaus-Peter K. got over the inner wall and the signal fence at Brunnenstraße but was arrested at the patrol road.

    Over the wall · Stopped · Mitte

  2. 29 October 1966

    Siegfried J. sets off an alarm and gives up at Bergstraße

    A man who had moved from West to East Berlin only in 1965 climbed the cemetery wall at Bergstraße, triggered a signal device, turned back and was caught hiding in a school yard.

    Over the wall · Stopped · Mitte

  3. 24 October 1969

    35 shots at Karl-Heinz Br. and Gerd W. in the cemetery strip

    Two men crawling across the control strip were spotted from the Ackerstraße watchtower; the guards fired 35 rounds, and both were arrested unhurt behind the vehicle barrier.

    Over the wall · Stopped · Mitte

  4. 23 July 1971

    Shots stop an escape at Brunnenstraße

    At about 3.20 a.m. on 23 July 1971 border guards fired on a man trying to escape at Brunnenstraße and arrested him.

    Over the wall · Stopped · Mitte