Rudolf Urban's rope descent from Bernauer Straße 1
Rudolf Urban and his wife let themselves down on a rope from their first-floor flat; he was badly injured and died in hospital four weeks later.
Rudolf Urban, a 47-year-old truck driver born in 1914, lived with his wife on the first floor of Bernauer Straße 1. The house stood in East Berlin, but the pavement in front of it belonged to the West Berlin district of Wedding. After the border closure the authorities began nailing shut the front doors of these houses.
On 19 August 1961 the couple fixed a rope to the window and let themselves down to the western pavement. Both slipped during the descent and were hurt; Rudolf Urban crushed his heel bone. They were taken to the nearby Lazarus Hospital in West Berlin.
While in hospital Urban caught pneumonia, from which he did not recover. He died on 17 September 1961. The district of Wedding later put up a memorial of wood and barbed wire in front of the house.
Sources
- Urban, RudolfChronik der Mauer
- Die Bernauer StraßeStiftung Berliner Mauer
- Schicksalsort Bernauer Straße nach dem Bau der Berliner Mauer 1961ullstein bild blog
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