Berlin Wall Escapes1961–1989

29 August 1961 · Over the wall

Two men from Wollankstraße 14 escape over the railway embankment

On 29 August 1961 two men from the house at Wollankstraße 14 in Pankow got away to West Berlin over the railway embankment.

Colour photo taken from a railway bridge over a white wall and a metal fence: a wide street with a tram track runs away between old apartment buildings and bare trees in East Berlin.
Wollankstraße in East Berlin seen from the railway bridge over the Wall in December 1986; the railway embankment behind the houses was the way out in 1961 Photo: Roehrensee. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

According to the Stasi report of 29 August 1961, six people broke through the border in its reporting period, in three cases from houses right on the border.

One of these cases was at Wollankstraße 14: two men fled over the railway embankment. Another was a woman who jumped from a window in Bernauer Straße.

Sources

  1. Jahrgang 1961: Lage nach dem Bau der Berliner Mauer (13) – Bericht Nr. 496/61, 29. August 1961Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)

Spotted an error, or know more about this story? Email us a correction or addition

Related escapes

  1. 20 August 1961

    A shot is fired at a man with a rucksack crossing the tracks near Wilhelmsruh

    At 7.50 p.m. on 20 August 1961 a man with a rucksack broke through over the railway line about 300 m from Wilhelmsruh station into West Berlin; an aimed carbine shot was fired at him.

    Over the wall · Reached the West · Pankow (Wilhelmsruh) → Reinickendorf

  2. 23 August 1961

    Over the wall from Zimmerstraße 85

    At about 9.55 p.m. on 23 August 1961 a person came out of the house at Zimmerstraße 85 and got over the wall into West Berlin before the guard could stop them.

    Over the wall · Reached the West · Mitte → Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg

  3. 26 August 1961

    A family of five leaves through an allotment at Klemkestraße

    On 26 August 1961 a family of five got past the Klemkestraße control point in Pankow by pottering about on an allotment plot until the guards stopped paying attention to them.

    Over the wall · Reached the West · Pankow → Reinickendorf

  4. 21 August 1961

    A fitter climbs the Bergmann-Borsig factory wall with a ladder

    On 21 August 1961 a fitter born in 1942, who was helping to put up a wire fence along the wall of VEB Bergmann-Borsig in Wilhelmsruh, left his brigade on a pretext and climbed over the wall with a ladder into West Berlin.

    Over the wall · Reached the West · Pankow (Wilhelmsruh) → Reinickendorf