27 October 1968 · Over the wall · Bernauer Straße
The guards couldn't open their window: folding-ladder escape at Schönholzer Straße
At 1 a.m. a man with a folding ladder crossed every barrier; by the time the Ruppiner Straße tower crew had smashed the window they could not open and fired, he was in the West.
At about one o'clock in the morning on 27 October 1968 a man used a folding ladder to climb the inner fence next to the house at Schönholzer Straße 8.
He crept along the gable wall to the signal fence and climbed over it without setting off the alarm. Pulling the ladder after him, he ran to the border wall and got over that too without difficulty.
The soldiers in the watchtower at Ruppiner Straße only noticed him when he was already at the Wall. They wanted to shoot but could not open their window. By the time they had smashed the pane and fired a burst, the man was in the West.
Sources
Whose account is this? Told from historical research only.
Historians and memorials
- Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer – Bereich D: Alltag an der Mauer (Orientierungsplan und Ereignismarken), marker D 413Stiftung Berliner Mauer
- D 413 – Digital Guide, Berlin Wall MemorialStiftung Berliner Mauer
Facts checked against the sources: September 2026
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Cite this page
Berlin Experiences, “The guards couldn't open their window: folding-ladder escape at Schönholzer Straße”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/schoenholzer-strasse-folding-ladder-1968/ (accessed [date]).
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