A 20-year-old East Berliner escapes across the tracks of the interzonal freight line
Press photographs dated 9 July 1963 and filed under Wedding are catalogued as taken after the escape of a 20-year-old East Berliner over the tracks of the interzonal freight line.
Five photographs by the press photographer Heinz Wunnicke, dated 9 July 1963 and filed under 'Wedding', are catalogued as taken 'after the escape of a 20-year-old East Berliner over the tracks of the interzonal freight line' ('Nach der Flucht eines 20 jährigen Ostberliners, über die Gleise der Interzonen-Güterstrecke'). The catalogue gives no name and no exact place.
Sources
Whose account is this? Told from a press report only.
Press
- Wedding, 9 July 1963 – photograph by Heinz Wunnicke (Landesarchiv Berlin, F Rep. 290-02-04 Nr. 4928)Landesarchiv Berlin (catalogue via Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek)
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, “A 20-year-old East Berliner escapes across the tracks of the interzonal freight line”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/wedding-freight-line-tracks-1963-07-09/ (accessed [date]).
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25 November 1963
Dietmar Schulz – killed on the S-Bahn tracks north of Bornholmer Straße
A 24-year-old man from Pankow tried to reach Wedding across the railway tracks in the border zone north of Bornholmer Straße and was fatally struck by a train.
18 August 1964
Hildegard Trabant shot in the back on the disused S-Bahn line
Discovered hiding behind an elder bush on the disused railway, 37-year-old Hildegard Trabant ran away from the border and was shot in the back.
8 August 1965
Klaus Kratzel killed in the S-Bahn tunnel at Bornholmer Straße
Having returned to East Berlin after a family quarrel, bricklayer Klaus Kratzel tried to get back to his wife and children in the West along the railway at Bornholmer Straße and was apparently struck by a train.
13 August 1961
Wire cutters at the Ebertstraße fence on the first day
On the Sunday the border was sealed, a crowd of East Berliners at the new fence in Ebertstraße cut through the wire when the guards were not looking. Some ran across to West Berlin before the fence was closed again.
