13 August 1961 · Over the wall · Treptow and Neukölln
Manfred Roseneit leaves his scooter at the Kiefholzstraße fence
Turned back at the Dammweg after going home for his papers, and filmed by the Abendschau behind the wire, a 22-year-old radio mechanic found a gap in the mesh fence between the Kiefholzstraße allotments the same day.
Manfred Roseneit, 22, lived in Altglienicke and worked in Charlottenburg as a radio mechanic. On the morning of Sunday 13 August 1961 he heard on his transistor radio that the border was being sealed and set off on his motor scooter to find a way across.
At the Dammweg in Plänterwald the road between Treptow and Neukölln was already closed, and border guards were stringing the first wire between the allotment gardens, but a small footpath was still open. Realising he had nothing with him, not even his skilled-worker certificate, he rode home to fetch it. When he returned the path was shut. A cameraman of the West Berlin Abendschau filmed him standing behind the wire, and the newsreel also used the picture.
He rode back to the Kiefholzstraße, where the allotments formed the border between East and West. The guards were busy putting up wire and few people were on the road. He parked the scooter; a few people had already gone through a gap in the wire-mesh fence, and he followed them. He left the scooter behind and went through the gardens to his aunt in Friedenau. His family stayed in the East.
Sources
Whose account is this? Told from witness accounts only.
Witness accounts
- Flucht in letzter Minute – rbb eyewitness video (2011)rbb – Geschichte der Berliner Mauer (berlin-mauer.de)
- Flucht in letzter Minute – subtitles of the rbb eyewitness videorbb – Geschichte der Berliner Mauer (berlin-mauer.de)
Facts checked against the sources: September 2026
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Cite this page
Berlin Experiences, “Manfred Roseneit leaves his scooter at the Kiefholzstraße fence”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/manfred-roseneit-kiefholzstrasse-1961/ (accessed [date]).
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