July 1963 · Tunnels · Bernauer Straße
Betrayed a few metres short: the tunnel to Eberswalder / Oderberger Straße
A tunnel from the former freight yard towards the corner house at Eberswalder and Oderberger Straße had to be abandoned a few metres short in July 1963 after the plan was betrayed and two diggers were arrested in East Berlin.
In 1962/63 three escape tunnels were started at the north-eastern end of Bernauer Straße. One of them ran from the grounds of the former freight yard towards the corner house at Eberswalder Straße and Oderberger Straße in East Berlin.
A few metres short of its goal, the tunnel had to be abandoned in July 1963.
The escape plan had been betrayed, and two of the tunnel builders had been arrested in East Berlin.
Sources
Whose account is this? Drawn from press reports and historical research.
Press
- Ein Fluchttunnel aus der DDR wurde neu entdeckt – aus purem ZufallAargauer Zeitung (28 Jan 2018)
- DDR-Fluchttunnel am Berliner Mauerpark entdecktDer Tagesspiegel (Henning Onken, 11 Jan 2018)
- Erinnerung an den Mauerfall: Stahligel im Mauerparktaz (Roberto Sanchino Martinez, 9 Nov 2020)
Historians and memorials
- Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer – Bereich D: Alltag an der Mauer (Orientierungsplan und Ereignismarken), section "Fluchttunnel"Stiftung Berliner Mauer
- Neuer Eingangsbereich für den Mauerpark (press release, 6 Nov 2020)Grün Berlin GmbH
- TF MAPPING: Mitte – Wedding (entry 'Bernauer Straße / Schwedter Straße, West-Ost-Tunnel')TF-Mapping (Humboldt-Universität / visuelle-archäologie.de)
Facts checked against the sources: September 2026
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Cite this page
Berlin Experiences, “Betrayed a few metres short: the tunnel to Eberswalder / Oderberger Straße”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/oderberger-strasse-tunnel-1963/ (accessed [date]).
Related escapes
February 1963
The betrayed second tunnel from Bernauer Straße 78
Tunnel 29's builders dug again from the same cellars; on breakthrough day Stasi officers lay in wait at Brunnenstraße 45. The diggers noticed in time, but 14 would-be escapees and three couriers were arrested.
24 May 1963
The betrayed Kremmener Straße tunnel, dug from East to West
East Berliners dug a 45-metre tunnel from a disused bakery cellar at Kremmener Straße 15 almost to Bernauer Straße before it was discovered in May 1963; 19 people were jailed.
7 January 1964
The first Bernauer Straße 97 tunnel ends in a coal yard
The first tunnel from a bakery cellar at Bernauer Straße 97 surfaced in a coal yard in view of the guards; three young women got through before it was discovered.
3 October 1964 – 5 October 1964
Tunnel 57
57 East Berliners crawled through a 145-metre tunnel dug by West Berlin students under Bernauer Straße. The escape ended in a shoot-out in which border guard Egon Schultz was killed; records opened after 1990 showed the fatal shots came from a fellow GDR soldier.
