29 August 1961 · Swimming · Kleinmachnow, Teltow and the Teltow Canal
Roland Hoff – shot in the Teltow Canal
Five days after Günter Litfin's death, 27-year-old Roland Hoff jumped into the Teltow Canal with a briefcase under his arm and was killed by border police gunfire.
Roland Hoff was born in Hanover on 19 March 1934 and trained as a pipe layer; his mother and three sisters lived in Hanover. At the time of his escape he was living in the GDR.
Around 2 p.m. on 29 August 1961 he jumped into the Teltow Canal on the border between Teltow and West Berlin's Lichterfelde, carrying a briefcase, and swam towards the western bank.
When the first shots were fired he called out not to shoot. Four border policemen kept firing until he was hit in the head and sank.
The GDR kept his identity secret. His mother suspected from Western press reports that the dead man in the canal was her son, but never received confirmation from East German authorities in her lifetime; he was only identified from East German records after the archives opened. A trial of three former border police officers after 1990 could not establish who had fired the fatal shot.
Sources
Whose account is this? Drawn from GDR records, press reports and historical research.
GDR records
- Jahrgang 1961: Lage nach dem Bau der Berliner Mauer (13) – Bericht Nr. 496/61, 29. August 1961Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)
- Jahrgang 1961: Tod von zwei Männern bei Fluchtversuchen – Einzel-Information Nr. 499/61, 31. August 1961Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)
Press
Historians and memorials
- Hoff, RolandChronik der Mauer
- Gedenktafeln in Berlin: Opfer der Mauer (Teltower Damm, Knesebeckbrücke)Gedenktafeln in Berlin (Aktives Museum / Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand)
Facts checked against the sources: October 2026
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Cite this page
Berlin Experiences, “Roland Hoff – shot in the Teltow Canal”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/roland-hoff-teltowkanal/ (accessed [date]).
Related escapes
24 August 1961
Günter Litfin – shot swimming the Humboldthafen
On 24 August 1961 tailor Günter Litfin, born 1937, tried to swim across the Humboldthafen and became the first refugee killed by targeted shots at the Berlin Wall.
14 October 1961
Werner Probst – shot at the West Berlin ladder
Truck driver Werner Probst swam the Spree at night near the Schillingbrücke and was hit by gunfire as he climbed the ladder on the West Berlin quay wall.
15 August 1961
Married couple swims the Britz canal under police fire
On 15 August 1961 East German police fired at a married couple swimming across the 'Britz Canal'; both escaped the bullets and reached the West Berlin bank exhausted.
30 August 1961
Under fire across the Teltow Canal at the Späthbrücke, a day after Roland Hoff
At 7.35 a.m. on 30 August 1961, less than a day after Roland Hoff was shot dead in the Teltow Canal, a guard at the Späthbrücke saw a man swimming the canal; despite warning shots and aimed fire he reached the western bank, probably wounded.
