7 July 1969 · Hidden in vehicles
The 'Trojan cow' at Drewitz
A 28-year-old woman from Karl-Marx-Stadt was hidden inside a hollow model bull in a wooden crate, but the hiding place was found at the Drewitz crossing.
A 28-year-old woman from Karl-Marx-Stadt (Chemnitz) wanted to live with her fiancé in West Berlin. He paid 5,000 Deutschmarks in advance for the escape, with the same amount again due on success.
According to the Chronik der Mauer the prepared figure, an exhibition object, had already carried people to the West twice. On the evening of 7 July 1969 two escape helpers drove it in a wooden crate on a small truck along the transit autobahn towards West Berlin. The woman climbed in on the way and hid inside the hollow body.
On 7 July 1969 the hiding place was discovered at the GDR crossing at Drewitz. All three were arrested and taken to the Stasi remand prison on Lindenstraße in Potsdam.
On 15 October 1969 the Potsdam district court sentenced the helpers to more than three years for 'anti-state trafficking in people' and the woman to two years and ten months for attempted 'illegal border crossing'. After 17 months in the Potsdam remand prison she was moved to the Stasi prison in Karl-Marx-Stadt, and four weeks later she was released to the West through the West German prisoner buyout scheme.
Sources
Whose account is this? Told from historical research only.
Historians and memorials
- Gescheiterte Flucht in einer „trojanischen Kuh“, 7. Juli 1969Chronik der Mauer
- Flucht aus der DDR: Mit Fahrzeugen über die GrenzeDemokratiegeschichten
Facts checked against the sources: September 2026
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Cite this page
Berlin Experiences, “The 'Trojan cow' at Drewitz”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/trojan-cow-drewitz-1969/ (accessed [date]).
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