Berlin Wall Escapes1961–1989

30 August 1961 · Swimming

Under fire across the Teltow Canal at the Späthbrücke, a day after Roland Hoff

At 7.35 a.m. on 30 August 1961, less than a day after Roland Hoff was shot dead in the Teltow Canal, a guard at the Späthbrücke saw a man swimming the canal; despite warning shots and aimed fire he reached the western bank, probably wounded.

Colour photo of a steel truss road bridge over a canal under a clear blue sky, with dry reeds in the foreground and a brick abutment on the right.
The old Späthstraßenbrücke of 1906 over the Teltow Canal between Baumschulenweg and Britz, photographed in 2009; in 1961 the canal here was the sector border Photo: Lienhard Schulz. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

On the afternoon of 29 August 1961 border police shot Roland Hoff dead as he swam the Teltow Canal between Teltow and Lichterfelde. West Berlin papers called it 'the second refugee murder'.

The next morning, at about 7.35 a.m., the guard at the Späthbrücke on the Teltow Canal saw a person swimming the canal towards West Berlin. According to the Stasi situation report of 30 August, the guards fired several warning shots and then aimed shots, but the swimmer reached the western bank, presumably wounded.

Colour photo of a steel truss bridge spanning a calm canal, with wildflowers on the near bank and trees on the far side.
The Teltow Canal at the old Späthstraßenbrücke in summer 2007 Photo: Jwnabd. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

The Chronik der Mauer records the same day that 'barely 24 hours after the fatal shots' another refugee swam the Teltow Canal; again the guards opened fire, but this time the escape succeeded. RIAS broadcast an interview with a woman who had witnessed it.

It was a busy morning on that stretch of the border. The same Stasi report lists a gardener who crossed at 6.40 a.m. from an unguarded water-authority site on the canal in Baumschulenweg, and the driver of a pioneer crawler tractor who used his work in the 'Tanneberg' allotments in Johannisthal to escape at about 9.30 a.m.

Sources

  1. Jahrgang 1961: Lage nach dem Bau der Berliner Mauer (14) – Bericht Nr. 500/61, 30. August 1961Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)
  2. Chronik 1961, August – entry of 30 August 1961 and 'RIAS-Interview mit der Augenzeugin einer gelungenen Flucht durch den Teltowkanal, 30. August 1961'Chronik der Mauer
  3. Jahrgang 1961: Lage nach dem Bau der Berliner Mauer (13) – Bericht Nr. 496/61, 29. August 1961 (death of Roland Hoff)Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)

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