The betrayed Kremmener Straße tunnel, dug from East to West
East Berliners dug a 45-metre tunnel from a disused bakery cellar at Kremmener Straße 15 almost to Bernauer Straße before it was discovered in May 1963; 19 people were jailed.
In spring 1963 young people in East Berlin dug one of the few tunnels that ran from East to West Berlin. It started in the cellar of a disused bakery at Kremmener Straße 15.
According to the memorial plaque, the tunnel was 45 metres long and lay seven metres deep. It had almost reached Bernauer Straße – only a few metres were missing – when it was uncovered in May 1963.
Nineteen people were arrested; the plaque states that they were sentenced to long prison terms in several secret trials in December 1963.
Sources
- Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer – Bereich D: Alltag an der Mauer (Orientierungsplan und Ereignismarken), section "Fluchttunnel"Stiftung Berliner Mauer
- Fluchttunnel Kremmener Straße (Gedenktafel, Kremmener Straße 15)Gedenktafeln in Berlin (Aktives Museum / Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand)
- Gedenktafel „Verratener Fluchttunnel Kremmener Straße“Orte des Erinnerns – Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur
Spotted an error, or know more about this story? Email us a correction or addition
Related escapes
February 1963
The betrayed second tunnel from Bernauer Straße 78
Tunnel 29's builders dug again from the same cellars; on breakthrough day Stasi officers lay in wait at Brunnenstraße 45. The diggers noticed in time, but 14 would-be escapees and three couriers were arrested.
July 1963
Betrayed a few metres short: the tunnel to Eberswalder / Oderberger Straße
A tunnel from the former freight yard towards the corner house at Eberswalder and Oderberger Straße had to be abandoned a few metres short in July 1963 after the plan was betrayed and two diggers were arrested in East Berlin.
7 January 1964
The first Bernauer Straße 97 tunnel ends in a coal yard
The first tunnel from a bakery cellar at Bernauer Straße 97 surfaced in a coal yard in view of the guards; three young women got through before it was discovered.
May 1970
The 85-metre tunnel from Bernauer Straße 80, dug out by the Stasi
Eight years after Tunnel 29, a new tunnel was begun at Bernauer Straße 80; after a tip-off and listening probes the Stasi exposed it by cross-trenching in May 1970, when it was already 85 metres long.