10 September 1961 · Guards who fled · Hennigsdorf, Nieder Neuendorf and the Havel

Four riot-police pioneers walk off during the breakfast break at Stolpe-Süd

On 10 September 1961 four men of the pioneer platoon of the Potsdam riot-police training unit, deployed on engineering work at Stolpe-Süd, crossed into West Berlin during their breakfast break; a fifth turned back and reported them.

Colour photo from an overgrown railway embankment with an old rail in the foreground: behind a concrete wall lies a wide sandy border strip with lamp posts, a watchtower, a white inner wall and a fence, with woods beyond. — The border installations between Stolpe-Süd and Heiligensee in March 1987, seen from West Berlin Photo: Roehrensee. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

In September 1961 the pioneer platoon of the Potsdam training unit (Lehrbereitschaft) of the Bereitschaftspolizei was deployed on engineering work ('Pionierarbeiten') in the Stolpe-Süd / Hennigsdorf section of the 14th Grenzbereitschaft.

At about 9.30 a.m. on 10 September, during the breakfast break, five members of the platoon walked away. When one of them, a Wachtmeister, asked 'Where do you think you're going?', another replied: 'Now it can be said – either you stay here, or you go back.' By then the group was already on West Berlin ground.

The Wachtmeister who had asked went back and reported what had happened. The other four – an Oberwachtmeister, a Wachtmeister and two Unterwachtmeister – are listed in the Stasi report of 10 September 1961 as deserters, and the Stasi called it a group escape. A commission of the riot police command investigated.

Where the sources differ

Single source (Stasi situation report); all names are redacted. The report lists four deserters from the Lehrbereitschaft Potsdam on 10 September, and the narrative names five who walked off, one of whom went back; hence 4 escapees. The report does not say how they crossed the fence line they were building. Coordinates mark the Stolpe-Süd border section and are approximate. A dpa report (Neckar-Bote, 13 Sep 1961), citing the West Berlin interior senator, of a four-man border-police patrol that cut the wire it was meant to repair while on entrenchment work at the Reinickendorf border and gave itself up to the West Berlin police probably describes this escape (match an inference from the number, the kind of work, the Reinickendorf border and the timing; the press gives no date or place name). dpa gives one Oberwachtmeister and three Unterwachtmeister; the Stasi report an Oberwachtmeister, a Wachtmeister and two Unterwachtmeister.

Sources

Whose account is this? Drawn from a GDR record and a press report.

GDR records

Jahrgang 1961: Lage nach dem Bau der Berliner Mauer (20) – Bericht Nr. 554/61, 10 September 1961Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)

Press

Vopos geflohen (dpa) (Neckar-Bote (Mannheim-Seckenheim), 1961-09-13, p. 2)Neckar-Bote (Mannheim-Seckenheim), via Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (Zeitungsportal)

Facts checked against the sources: November 2026

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Cite this page

Berlin Experiences, “Four riot-police pioneers walk off during the breakfast break at Stolpe-Süd”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/lehrbereitschaft-pioneers-stolpe-sued-1961/ (accessed [date]).

Where: Border section Stolpe-Süd / Hennigsdorf (14th Grenzbereitschaft), opposite Berlin-Heiligensee, Hennigsdorf (Stolpe-Süd) → Reinickendorf (Heiligensee) (map position approximate)
Map position: In the area named in the sources; the exact spot is not known
52.630° N, 13.230° E
Border section: Outer ring (West Berlin / GDR)
Outcome: Reached the West
Reached the West: 4
Sourcing: Rests mainly on one reputable source
Whose account: A GDR record and a press report
Themes: Workers at the Wall, Stasi reports

Key facts

Date and time: 10 September 1961, about 9.30 a.m., during the breakfast break.
The men belonged to the pioneer platoon of the Lehrbereitschaft Potsdam.
They were deployed on engineering ('pioneer') work in the Stolpe-Süd / Hennigsdorf section.
Four men stayed in the West; a fifth turned back and reported.
The Stasi classed it as a group escape (Gruppenflucht).

Follow the thread

16 August 1961
Four riot-police cadets slip away from the barrier works at Schönefeld
On 16 August 1961 four NCO cadets of a riot-police training unit, deployed on engineering work near the Schönefeld control point, crossed into West Berlin. Their unit only noticed when children said they had seen riot policemen on the western side.
Guards who fled · Reached the West · Schönefeld → Neukölln (Rudow)
22 August 1961
Two pioneers go through the fence they were building at Grüneck
On 22 August 1961 two riot-police pioneers who were putting up fences at the Grüneck allotments in Altglienicke went through the wire into West Berlin; the superior present could not stop them.
Guards who fled · Reached the West · Treptow-Köpenick (Altglienicke) → Neukölln (Rudow)
20 August 1961
A militia man deserts from the wire detail at Zimmerstraße
On the morning of 20 August 1961 a member of a workers' militia unit, a DBD party official, left the wire detail he was working with at the corner of Zimmerstraße and Wilhelmstraße and went over to West Berlin without his weapon.
Guards who fled · Reached the West · Mitte → Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
21 August 1961
From a lorry's radiator over the wire near control point 4
On the afternoon of 21 August 1961 a Hauptwachtmeister of the civil air-defence service, who was helping to build the border fence between control points 3 and 4, jumped from the radiator of a vehicle over the barbed wire towards West Berlin.
Guards who fled · Reached the West · Pankow (Rosenthal) → Reinickendorf

Sources

GDR records

Press

Cite this page

Related escapes

Four riot-police cadets slip away from the barrier works at Schönefeld

Two pioneers go through the fence they were building at Grüneck

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From a lorry's radiator over the wire near control point 4