29 April 1963 · Driving through
A stolen army workshop lorry through the Wall at Leuschnerdamm
Shortly after midnight on 29 April 1963 a stolen army lorry drove through the sight screen, two wire barriers and the Wall at Leuschnerdamm. The Stasi recorded it as a serious border breakthrough by presumably four men.
This is a reported escape. It appears in a reputable publication, but its key details could not be checked against a second source. See the note below.
At about ten past midnight on 29 April 1963 two guards on the sector border in Berlin-Mitte saw a lorry approaching the border at about 50 km/h from the direction of Michaelkirchplatz. It was an army workshop lorry of the type G 5 belonging to the National People's Army (NVA). Because all traffic was being diverted along this route for the dress rehearsal of the May Day parade, the guards took little notice when it signalled a turn towards Heinrich-Heine-Straße.
Instead the lorry kept its speed and drove straight at the border. It broke through the sight screen, an iron gate in the first wire barrier and the second wire barrier, drove about 60 metres along the control strip and then broke through the Wall level with the plot Leuschnerdamm 7. Only when it broke through the sight screen and the gate did the guards open fire; they fired five shots, and the only hit found was a bullet hole in the windscreen.
The lorry went through the Wall as far as its load body. Falling wall slabs and their ring anchoring stopped it from breaking through completely, and according to the Stasi its front was still on East Berlin territory, because the kerb formed the actual border line. The Stasi blamed the guards' slow reaction and a gap in the vehicle barrier that had been rebuilt three days earlier, against orders, so that it could be driven through in a straight line.
The lorry belonged to an air force technical battalion at Karlshagen/Peenemünde. Two airmen had brought it to Berlin with an engine for a repair workshop, and it had been left in a garage while its gearbox was repaired. The Stasi identified four men living in the Berlin C 2 postal district, among them an employee of the workshop, as the perpetrators. They had met on the evening of 28 April, drunk heavily in a pub and then stolen the lorry.
The Stasi report, written the next day, calls the event a serious border breakthrough by presumably four persons and says that the search for the occupants had led to the four men being identified. It does not say that any of them was arrested, and the Stasi Records Archive's edition publishes the report under the title 'Escape to West Berlin by NVA lorry'.
Where the accounts differ
The sources do not tell this story the same way. We give each version with its source rather than choose one; the summary and map follow the best-supported version.
Did the lorry get through the Wall?
- The lorry broke through the Wall as far as its load body, but falling wall slabs and their ring anchoring stopped it from breaking through completely, and its front was still on GDR territory, because only the kerb formed the border ('am völligen Durchbruch gehindert'). It calls the event a serious border breakthrough by presumably four persons.Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick) (GDR record)
- A photograph of 30 April 1963 at the corner of Dresdener and Luckauer Straße in Kreuzberg shows the escape vehicle 'with which four refugees successfully broke through the Wall' ('mit dem vier Flüchtlinge die Mauer erfolgreich durchbrachen'), while technicians try to repair the badly damaged vehicle.Landesarchiv Berlin (catalogue via Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek) (press)
- A question in the West Berlin parliament on 2 May 1963 speaks of 'the escape of four East Berliners with a military lorry'; the Senator for Security answered that, according to the Senate's inquiries, the refugees met journalists and local people in a nearby pub straight after their successful escape ('unmittelbar nach der gelungenen Flucht').Abgeordnetenhaus von Berlin (PARDOK) (Western official record)
That the photo caption and the parliamentary exchange describe this lorry is an inference: neither names the lorry or Leuschnerdamm (see the notes on the sources). The Stasi report does not say whether the four reached West Berlin; this page counts the escape as successful, following the report, and gives no number for those who got through.
Sources
Whose account is this? Drawn from a GDR record, a Western official record and a press report.
GDR records
- Jahrgang 1963: Flucht nach Westberlin mittels Lkw der NVA – Einzelinformation Nr. 270/63, 30 April 1963Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)
Western official records
Press
- Dresdner- Ecke Luckauer Straße (Kreuzberg), 30 April 1963 – photograph by Heinz Wunnicke (Landesarchiv Berlin, F Rep. 290-02-04 Nr. 4846)Landesarchiv Berlin (catalogue via Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek)
Facts checked against the sources: November 2026
Spotted an error, or know more about this story? Email us a correction or addition
Cite this page
Berlin Experiences, “A stolen army workshop lorry through the Wall at Leuschnerdamm”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/leuschnerdamm-nva-truck-1963/ (accessed [date]).
Related escapes
3 October 1961
A Tatra crane lorry breaks through at Heinrich-Heine-Straße
Just before the checkpoint a building firm's crane lorry swung into Dresdner Straße, crashed through the border wall between two new blocks and raced into Kreuzberg under machine-pistol fire.
18 April 1962
Fatal truck breakthrough at Heinrich-Heine-Straße
Three young East Berliners crashed a truck through the Heinrich-Heine-Straße crossing; they reached the West, but the driver, 23-year-old Klaus Brueske, died of his injuries.
10 September 1961
A lorry feints a turn, then ploughs through the Wall at Adalbertstraße
Two men in an H 6 lorry signalled a turn into Fritz-Heckert-Straße, then accelerated, forced a guard to jump aside and broke through the Wall into Kreuzberg.
17 April 1963
Wolfgang Engels' armoured personnel carrier
A 19-year-old civilian army employee drove a stolen Soviet-built armoured personnel carrier into the Wall and was shot while climbing over, but reached the West.
