8 April 1984 · Over the wall · Treptow and Neukölln
Watchtower fire at Neukölln: one of two climbers gets over
Late on Sunday 8 April 1984 East German guards fired on two men scrambling over the Wall at Neukölln; a 20-year-old reached the West, but his companion, caught with him on top of the Wall, did not.
Late on a Sunday night in April 1984, residents near the Wall in Neukölln, in the American sector, heard bursts of fire from East German watchtowers, West Berlin police said. The guards had apparently opened fire when they spotted two men scrambling over the 13-foot Wall. According to West German officials, they apparently hit one of the men and prevented his escape.
Two hours after the shooting a 20-year-old East German walked into a police station and said he had escaped across the Wall. He said his companion, caught with him on top of the Wall when the guards opened fire, had not made it into the western sector and had probably been shot.
The West German Government condemned the incident as undermining relations between the two German states.
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