Berlin Wall Escapes1961–1989

25 September 1961 · Window jumps

Olga Segler's jump into the fire brigade net

Encouraged by her daughter waiting below, 80-year-old Olga Segler jumped from her second-floor window into a fire brigade net. She died the next day.

A row of old apartment buildings with bricked-up windows along Bernauer Straße.
Bernauer Straße 37 to 33 on 19 August 1963, including No. 34 where Olga Segler lived, with the windows bricked up Photo: Roger W from Sarasota, Florida, U.S.A.. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Olga Segler, born in 1881, lived in a second-floor flat at Bernauer Straße 34. Her daughter lived on the West Berlin side of the street, and for nearly six weeks after 13 August she had been cut off from her.

When the forced evictions of the border houses on Bernauer Straße began, she decided to flee. On the evening of 25 September 1961, with her daughter on the pavement below urging her on, she jumped from her window into a rescue net held by West Berlin firefighters.

An upright memorial stele with text on the pavement of Bernauer Straße.
Memorial stele for Olga Segler in front of the site of Bernauer Straße 34 (2015) Photo: Brewer Bob. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

She hurt her back in the jump and was taken by ambulance to the nearby Lazarus Hospital. She died there the next day, 26 September 1961. According to the Chronik der Mauer, her heart gave out as a result of the stress of the escape. She is counted among the victims of the Berlin Wall.

Sources

  1. Segler, OlgaChronik der Mauer
  2. Die Bernauer StraßeStiftung Berliner Mauer
  3. Schicksalsort Bernauer Straße nach dem Bau der Berliner Mauer 1961ullstein bild blog

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