Berlin Wall Escapes1961–1989

4 January 1965 · Over the wall · Bernauer Straße

Rope-ladder escape at Ruppiner Straße

Equipped with wire cutters, a rope ladder and a throwing line, a man of about 25 got over the Wall near Ruppiner Straße despite gunfire; stray bullets hit a West Berlin bedroom.

Historical photograph of a corner apartment building and a row of houses on Bernauer Straße with bricked-up windows
The corner of Bernauer Straße and Ruppiner Straße in August 1963, with the border houses' windows bricked up Photo: Roger W from Sarasota, Florida, U.S.A.. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

At about 5 a.m. on 4 January 1965 a man of about 25, carrying wire cutters, a rope ladder and a throwing line, got into the border area near Ruppiner Straße without being seen.

The guards only noticed him when he set off an alarm at the signal fence. They opened fire but missed, because he took cover behind a sight screen. He was then able to climb over the Wall into West Berlin unhurt.

A street junction beside a grassy former border strip
The Bernauer Straße / Ruppiner Straße junction in 2007 Photo: Andreas Thum. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Several bullets struck West Berlin territory, including the bedroom of a woman who was asleep in her bed at the time.

Sources

Historians and memorials

Facts checked against the sources: September 2026

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Berlin Experiences, “Rope-ladder escape at Ruppiner Straße”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/ruppiner-strasse-rope-ladder-1965/ (accessed [date]).

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