13 August 1961 · Driving through
A VW Beetle races through the barbed wire at Ackerstraße
On the day the border was sealed, a Beetle from East Berlin drove at full speed through the single roll of barbed wire across Ackerstraße.
On 13 August 1961 the barrier across Ackerstraße consisted only of a loosely laid roll of barbed wire.
A VW Beetle from East Berlin raced along Ackerstraße and drove through it at full throttle. The car became entangled in the wire but came to a stop on West Berlin territory, and the driver climbed out to safety.
The West Berlin fire brigade then freed the car from the barbed wire.
Sources
- Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer – Bereich B: Die Zerstörung der Stadt (Orientierungsplan und Ereignismarken), marker B 340Stiftung Berliner Mauer
- B 340 – Digital Guide, Berlin Wall MemorialStiftung Berliner Mauer
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