19 August 1964 · Hidden in vehicles · Checkpoint Charlie
Two Spanish workers and a hidden Pankow man at Checkpoint Charlie
At a quarter to one in the morning two Spanish workers employed in West Berlin drove up to Checkpoint Charlie in a Renault. The controllers found a man from Pankow, born in 1939, in a hiding place built into the car.
At 0.45 a.m. on 19 August 1964 two Spanish citizens arrived at the Friedrichstraße/Zimmerstraße crossing (Checkpoint Charlie) in a Renault with West Berlin number plates, heading back to West Berlin. The report gives their address as 'Berlin'. One, born in 1937, worked at a printing works in Lichterfelde; the other, born in 1925, worked for Borsig AG.
During the check the GDR controllers found a man from Berlin-Pankow, born in 1939, in a hiding place built into the car. The two Spaniards had wanted to smuggle him out to West Berlin.
The Stasi's report of the same day speaks of the arrest of 'Spanish citizens' for attempted smuggling. It gives no further details of what happened to the three men. All names are redacted in the published edition.
Sources
Whose account is this? Told from a GDR record only: documents of the GDR’s police, Stasi or border troops. No other account of the event is cited.
GDR records
- Jahrgang 1964: Festnahme eines spanischen Bürgers wegen versuchter Schleusung – Einzelinformation Nr. 667/64, 19 August 1964Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)
Facts checked against the sources: September 2026
Spotted an error, or know more about this story? Email us a correction or addition
Cite this page
Berlin Experiences, “Two Spanish workers and a hidden Pankow man at Checkpoint Charlie”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/spanish-renault-checkpoint-charlie-1964/ (accessed [date]).
Related escapes
12 July 1964
The Lloyd 600 with a secretary hidden in the back
An Egyptian geology student drove a Lloyd 600 back to West Berlin through Checkpoint Charlie; in a hiding place at the back was a secretary from the GDR Building Academy.
10 October 1964
A sleeping pill for the four-year-old: the American's Ford at Checkpoint Charlie
An American Lufthansa loader built a hiding place behind the back seat of a Ford to bring out a colleague's cousin and her four-year-old child, who was given a sleeping pill. They were caught at Checkpoint Charlie.
4 May 1963
Two Swiss typesetters and the hidden railwayman from Dresden
Two Swiss men had built a hiding place into their Chevrolet to smuggle out a woman from Dresden; when she would not come, they took her colleague instead – and all three were caught at Checkpoint Charlie.
19 September 1965
A Teltow schoolgirl behind the dashboard of a Peugeot
A teenage girl from Teltow, whose parents had already fled, was hidden behind the dashboard of a Peugeot by two Americans living in West Berlin. She was found at Checkpoint Charlie.
