Berlin Wall Escapes1961–1989

25 September 1961 · Window jumps · Bernauer Straße

Rudolf B., his wife and son rope down from Bernauer Straße 5

A family let themselves down on a rope from their second-floor flat; the guards only noticed when a crowd gathered and the fire brigade arrived.

Colour photo of a red-brick neo-Gothic church rising behind a long wall of grey concrete blocks; an orange car is parked on the cobbled street in front and 'Die Mauer muss fallen' is painted on the wall.
The Reconciliation Church behind the Wall on Bernauer Straße in January 1978, a few doors from No. 5 Photo: Olga Bandelowa. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 de

On the evening of 25 September 1961 Rudolf B. escaped with his wife and son from their second-floor flat at Bernauer Straße 5.

The family let themselves down from the flat on a rope.

Black-and-white photo taken over a low wall of breeze blocks topped with barbed wire: a line of canvas-covered lorries stands in a cobbled side street between tall apartment houses, with people and furniture on the pavement; signs in the foreground read 'Ende franz. Sektors' and 'Fin du secteur français'.
Lorries lined up in a side street off Bernauer Straße in early September 1961 to clear furniture from the border houses (CIA booklet photo) Photo: The Central Intelligence Agency. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

The border guards only realised what had happened when onlookers gathered and the fire brigade arrived.

Sources

Historians and memorials

Facts checked against the sources: September 2026

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Cite this page

Berlin Experiences, “Rudolf B., his wife and son rope down from Bernauer Straße 5”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/rudolf-b-family-bernauer-strasse-5-1961/ (accessed [date]).

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