25 August 1961 · Over the wall
A volunteer fireman slips away through the Eiskeller
A member of the Nauen volunteer fire brigade, which was doing engineering ('pioneer') work in the area, fled to West Berlin through the Eiskeller exclave on the morning of 25 August 1961.
The volunteer fire brigade of Nauen was doing 'pioneer work' (Pionierarbeiten) near the Eiskeller, an enclave south of Schönwalde.
According to the Stasi situation report of 25 August 1961, one of the firemen used the job to escape: between 9.30 and 9.45 a.m. he got away to West Berlin via the Eiskeller enclave.
The same report noted four breakthroughs with six people on the ring around Berlin that day. In two cases workers building border fortifications, at Glienicke-Nordbahn and among a crew from the transformer works in Nauen, used their work to leave. The Stasi also listed the Eiskeller enclave among the places where the border barriers still had gaps.
Sources
Whose account is this? Told from a GDR record only: documents of the GDR’s police, Stasi or border troops. No other account of the event is cited.
GDR records
- Jahrgang 1961: Lage nach dem Bau der Berliner Mauer (9) – Bericht Nr. 486/61, 25 August 1961Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)
Facts checked against the sources: September 2026
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Cite this page
Berlin Experiences, “A volunteer fireman slips away through the Eiskeller”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/nauen-fireman-eiskeller-1961/ (accessed [date]).
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