24 June 1973 · Hidden in vehicles
Three West Germans with a woman in the boot at Bornholmer Straße
Three West Germans working at a West Berlin plastics firm were arrested at the Bornholmer Straße crossing with an East German woman hidden in the boot of the car Wolfgang Prange was driving.
At about 0.35 a.m. on 24 June 1973 the GDR control at the Bornholmer Straße crossing arrested three West Germans from the Brilon district, born in 1948 and 1950, who also lived in West Berlin and worked as setters at the Astra thermoplastics firm there. They had tried to take an East German woman to West Berlin hidden in the boot of the car driven by Wolfgang Prange.
All three and the woman were remanded in custody. The report gives no further details.
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
- Information Nr. 591/73 über die verhinderte Ausschleusung einer DDR-Bürgerin durch Bürger der BRDDDR im Blick (Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv)
Facts checked against the sources: November 2026
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Cite this page
Berlin Experiences, “Three West Germans with a woman in the boot at Bornholmer Straße”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/three-brilon-fitters-boot-bornholmer-strasse-1973/ (accessed [date]).
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