10 October 1961 · By boat · The Spree between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain
Three teenagers take a Red Cross speedboat down the Spree
In the early hours of 10 October 1961 two boys of 16 and 17 and a 16-year-old girl took a Red Cross rescue speedboat from Wildau, raced it past the border on the Spree at Treptow under fire from patrol boats, and landed in Kreuzberg near the Oberbaumbrücke.
According to reports of 11 October 1961, two boys of 16 and 17 and a 16-year-old girl took a rescue speedboat of the GDR Red Cross at Wildau near Königs Wusterhausen about an hour and a half after midnight on Tuesday, 10 October. After more than two hours on the water they reached the sector border on the Spree at Treptow and went to full speed.
Three boats of the border police chased them and fired several shots, which missed in the dark. They landed on the bank of the West Berlin district of Kreuzberg near the Oberbaumbrücke. The rescue boat drifted off and was later towed away by a patrol boat from the Soviet sector.
Sources
Whose account is this? Told from press reports only.
Press
- Mit einem Rettungsschnellboot … (wire report) (Neckar-Bote (Mannheim-Seckenheim), 1961-10-11, p. 2)Neckar-Bote (Mannheim-Seckenheim), via Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (Zeitungsportal)
- Mit DRK-Schnellboot in die Freiheit (Honnefer Volkszeitung, 1961-10-11, p. 1)Honnefer Volkszeitung, via Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (Zeitungsportal)
Known from a single report line: the source says no more than this page.
Facts checked against the sources: November 2026
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Cite this page
Berlin Experiences, “Three teenagers take a Red Cross speedboat down the Spree”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/treptow-speedboat-1961-10-10/ (accessed [date]).
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