Image credits
Every image on this site comes from Wikimedia Commons and is either in the public domain or published under a Creative Commons licence that allows reuse with attribution. Many historical photographs come from the German Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv). Images are shown resized; follow the links for the originals and full licence terms.
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The border strip at Bernauer Straße, corner of Ackerstraße, in 1989, seen from West Berlin over the graffiti-covered Wall: an East German army Trabant patrols past a watchtower.
Photo: Gerd Danigel, ddr-fotograf.de. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Home page
Steel plates in the grass at the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße trace the course of an escape tunnel dug in 1964 (photographed 2014).
Photo: Tony Webster from Portland, Oregon, United States. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 · Used on Tunnels
Vehicle lanes 9 and 10 at the East German side of Checkpoint Charlie in 1987, where cars leaving East Berlin were stopped and searched; the dark doorway at right is the pedestrian passage.
Photo: Jochims. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Hidden in vehicles
The Invalidenstraße border crossing at the Sandkrugbrücke, 15 October 1987, seen from West Berlin: the bridge leads to the East German checkpoint, barrier and control buildings.
Photo: Roehrensee. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Driving through
The border strip and a watchtower seen from an S-Bahn train running over the Wall towards Friedrichstraße station, 20 November 1989.
Photo: Frits Wiarda. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on By train
Memorial stone for Günter Litfin at the Humboldthafen on Alexanderufer, Berlin-Mitte (2017). Litfin was shot dead on 24 August 1961 while trying to swim across the Humboldthafen – the first person killed by shots at the Wall.
Photo: Ansgar Koreng. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 de · Used on Swimming
Underwater and floating barriers of the GDR border in the Havel at Tiefer See near the Glienicke Bridge, 1987, seen from the water.
Photo: Jochims. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on By boat
The Berlin Wall at the corner of Niederkirchnerstraße and Wilhelmstraße, 1988, looking east from West Berlin. Here the Wall ran past the GDR's Haus der Ministerien, from whose roof the Holzapfel family escaped along a cable in 1965.
Photo: Fortepan / Urbán Tamás. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Ziplines and cables
DOWA 81, a home-made light aircraft built in East Germany in 1981 by Gerhard Wagner so that he and his family could escape; now in the Deutsches Museum, Munich (2009).
Photo: Cplakidas. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Aircraft and balloons
The corner house at Bernauer Straße 44 / Wolliner Straße in January 1978: the facade stood on the border line, with the ground-floor windows and doors bricked up and the upper windows shuttered.
Photo: John Spooner. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 · Used on Window jumps
The memorial cross for Peter Fechter on Zimmerstraße, West Berlin, 1 December 1989. Fechter was shot on 17 August 1962 while climbing the Wall at this spot and bled to death in the death strip.
Photo: Aad van der Drift. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 · Used on Over the wall
Sculpture of Conrad Schumann's leap on the former border strip at Bernauer Straße near Ruppiner Straße (2009). The East German border policeman jumped over the barbed wire into West Berlin here on 15 August 1961.
Photo: Jotquadrat. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Guards who fled
Passport control booths at the Friedrichstraße station border crossing, 18 November 1989. Refugees travelling on forged or borrowed Western passports had to get past checks like these.
Photo: Frits Wiarda. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on False papers and disguises
Memorial cross for escape helper Dieter Wohlfahrt at Bergstraße / Hauptstraße in Staaken, where he was shot in December 1961 (photographed 2009)
Photo: Pemba.mpimaji. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain · Used on Dieter Wohlfahrt, escape helper shot at Staaken
Memorial plaque for Dieter Wohlfahrt at the foot of the wooden cross at Hauptstraße / Bergstraße, Berlin-Staaken (2013)
Photo: Assenmacher. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Dieter Wohlfahrt, escape helper shot at Staaken
The memorial to Peter Fechter on the West Berlin side of the Wall in Zimmerstraße, photographed on 1 May 1984 while the Wall still stood
Photo: U.S. Department of Defense. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain · Used on Peter Fechter bleeds to death at Zimmerstraße
The Peter Fechter memorial column in Zimmerstraße near Checkpoint Charlie, close to where he bled to death in August 1962 (photographed 2005)
Photo: Jensen (German Wikipedia). Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Peter Fechter bleeds to death at Zimmerstraße
Ernst Mundt's portrait in the 'Window of Remembrance' at the Berlin Wall Memorial, Bernauer Straße (2015)
Photo: Brewer Bob. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Ernst Mundt shot on the Sophien cemetery wall
The surviving section of the Berlin Wall at Bernauer Straße seen from the Sophien cemetery, on whose wall Ernst Mundt was shot in 1962 (photographed 2008)
Photo: Jörg Zägel. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Ernst Mundt shot on the Sophien cemetery wall
Memorial steles for Georg Feldhahn and Siegfried Widera at the Massantebrücke over the Teltow Canal, Berlin-Johannisthal (2019)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Border guard Siegfried Widera fatally injured at the Massante Bridge
The Massantebrücke over the Teltow Canal, near where border guard Siegfried Widera was fatally injured in August 1963 (photographed 2024)
Photo: Krib. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Border guard Siegfried Widera fatally injured at the Massante Bridge
Memorial to Jörg Hartmann and Lothar Schleusener by Rüdiger Roehl and Jan Skuin (1999), Kiefholzstraße, Berlin-Plänterwald, near where the two boys were shot in March 1966 (photographed 2011)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Children Jörg Hartmann and Lothar Schleusener shot in Treptow
Inscription on the memorial to Jörg Hartmann (10) and Lothar Schleusener (13), Kiefholzstraße, Berlin-Plänterwald (2011)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Children Jörg Hartmann and Lothar Schleusener shot in Treptow
Memorial stele for Dietmar Schwietzer on the Berlin Wall Trail at the border between Schönwalde-Glien and Spandau (2011)
Photo: Pemba.mpimaji. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Dietmar Schwietzer killed near Schönwalde
Memorial panel for Dietmar Schwietzer at Berliner Allee, Schönwalde-Glien (2015)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Dietmar Schwietzer killed near Schönwalde
Memorial stele for Marienetta Jirkowsky in Hohen Neuendorf, near where she was shot in November 1980 (photographed 2013)
Photo: Matthias Wiegandt. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Marienetta Jirkowsky shot from a ladder at Hohen Neuendorf
The approximate line of Marienetta Jirkowsky's escape attempt of November 1980 in Hohen Neuendorf, photographed in 2014
Photo: Brewer Bob. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Marienetta Jirkowsky shot from a ladder at Hohen Neuendorf
Memorial panel at Klemkestraße, Berlin-Reinickendorf, commemorating Horst Frank, Wernhard Mispelhorn, Horst Einsiedel and Silvio Proksch, who died at the Wall on this stretch of the border (2016)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Silvio Proksch shot on Christmas Day at Pankow cemetery
Michael Bittner's portrait in the 'Window of Remembrance' at the Berlin Wall Memorial, Bernauer Straße (2024)
Photo: Ankermast. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Michael Bittner shot at Glienicke/Nordbahn
Memorial stele for Lutz Schmidt and for Christel and Eckhard Wehage in the Landschaftspark Rudow-Altglienicke, on the former border strip (2013)
Photo: SCIdude. Wikimedia Commons, CC0 · Used on Lutz Schmidt shot helping his friend over the Wall
White memorial crosses for Lutz Schmidt and Chris Gueffroy at the Berlin Wall, photographed on 28 December 1989
Photo: Aad van der Drift. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 · Used on Lutz Schmidt shot helping his friend over the Wall
The railway corridor at the Bösebrücke in June 1988, with the Berlin Wall, the bridge and Bornholmer Straße station – the stretch where Ingolf Diederichs jumped from an S-Bahn train in January 1989
Photo: Roehrensee. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Ingolf Diederichs dies jumping from an S-Bahn at Bösebrücke
The Berlin Wall dividing the railway lines just north of the Bösebrücke at Bornholmer Straße, August 1984
Photo: Hagen Pelka, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Ingolf Diederichs dies jumping from an S-Bahn at Bösebrücke
Memorial steles for Chris Gueffroy by Karl Biedermann on the bank of the Britzer Verbindungskanal (Britzer Zweigkanal), near where he was shot on 5 February 1989 (photographed 2016)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Chris Gueffroy, the last person shot dead at the Wall
Distant view of the Chris Gueffroy memorial by the canal, looking towards what was West Berlin (2014)
Photo: Brewer Bob. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Chris Gueffroy, the last person shot dead at the Wall
Sculpture commemorating Conrad Schumann's leap, on the former border strip at Bernauer Straße near Ruppiner Straße (photographed 2009)
Photo: Jotquadrat. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Conrad Schumann's leap to freedom
The corner of Bernauer Straße and Ruppiner Straße in August 1963, two years after Conrad Schumann jumped the wire here; the East Berlin border houses have bricked-up windows
Photo: Roger W from Sarasota, Florida, U.S.A.. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Used on Conrad Schumann's leap to freedom
Bernauer Straße 1, next door to No. 2, in August 1963, its windows bricked up; a memorial on the pavement marks Rudolf Urban, who was fatally injured escaping from this house
Photo: Roger Wollstadt. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Used on Border policeman Lutz M. jumps from Bernauer Straße 2
The border strip at Bernauer Straße / Ackerstraße beside the Sophien cemetery, photographed from the East in 1989 with a watchtower and a border-troops vehicle
Photo: Gerd Danigel, ddr-fotograf.de. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on The boot left in the barbed wire
The Wall at the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße, seen from the Sophien cemetery (2008)
Photo: Beek100. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on The boot left in the barbed wire
The Berlin Wall around the West Berlin enclave of Steinstücken, 1987
Photo: Jochims. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Rudi Thurow leads refugees to Steinstücken
A border watchtower on the Wall around Steinstücken, April 1989
Photo: Aad van der Drift. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 · Used on Rudi Thurow leads refugees to Steinstücken
The S-Bahn entry signal and the Berlin Wall at Griebnitzsee, 30 May 1983
Photo: Harald Knauer. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 · Used on Deserting cadets' gunfight at Griebnitzsee
Memorial markers tracing the former course of the Berlin Wall at Griebnitzsee (2013)
Photo: Lichterfelder. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Deserting cadets' gunfight at Griebnitzsee
The railway corridor with the Berlin Wall, the Bösebrücke and Bornholmer Straße S-Bahn station, June 1988
Photo: Roehrensee. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Hans-Dieter Wesa shot at Bornholmer Straße station
Border troops at the Bornholmer Straße crossing and S-Bahn station, photographed from the East in 1982
Photo: Gerd Danigel, gerddanigel.de.. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Hans-Dieter Wesa shot at Bornholmer Straße station
Aerial view of the Berlin Wall and death strip between Falkensee (Brandenburg) and Spandau's Falkenhagener Feld, 27 April 1987
Photo: Willy Pragher. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 · Used on Two border policemen escape from their bulldozer in Falkensee
Undated U.S. Army aerial photograph of the Berlin Wall along Kopenhagener Straße at Wilhelmsruh, between Pankow (East) and Reinickendorf (West)
Photo: AlliiertenMuseum/U.S. Army Photograph. Wikimedia Commons, CC0 · Used on Border policeman crashes a crawler tractor through the wire
Bernauer Straße at Gartenstraße on 8 June 1962: the Wall, and the sealed entrance to Nordbahnhof S-Bahn station on the right
Photo: Sigurd Hilkenbach. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Two conscripts flee on New Year's Eve at Gartenstraße
The Berlin Wall Memorial seen from Gartenstraße, looking east (2011)
Photo: N-Lange.de. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Two conscripts flee on New Year's Eve at Gartenstraße
The Berlin Wall between Bernauer Straße and Eberswalder Straße, January 1974
Photo: Andreas Schwarzkopf. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on "Now there are two fewer of you!"
Looking over the Wall from the end of Bernauer Straße into Eberswalder Straße, East Berlin, 1982
Photo: Lothar Weber. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on "Now there are two fewer of you!"
Memorial panels at Lankestraße 2, Klein Glienicke, for Rainer Gneiser, Rolf Henniger, Horst Körner, Günter Wiedenhöft and Norbert Wolscht (2023)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Deserting policeman and border soldier die near Klein Glienicke
Memorial stele for border soldier Ulrich Steinhauer on the Berlin Wall Trail at the Eiskeller, Spandau (2012)
Photo: Pemba.mpimaji. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Egon B.'s desertion and the death of Ulrich Steinhauer
Memorial panel for Ulrich Steinhauer at Eiskellerweg, Berlin-Hakenfelde (2017)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Egon B.'s desertion and the death of Ulrich Steinhauer
A double row of cobblestones marking the former line of the Berlin Wall across Brunnenstraße (2018)
Photo: Andrzej Otrębski. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Two 'postal workers' cycle to the West
The border crossing at Friedrichstraße S-Bahn station on 30 October 1964, when West Berliners crossed on visitor passes
Photo: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-C1030-0046-001 / Hans-Joachim Spremberg. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de · Used on Joachim Neumann's Swiss passport
Memorial plaque for Günter A. at Brunnenstraße 50, Berlin-Mitte (2013)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Günter A. climbs the Wall under machine-pistol fire
Cobblestones marking the former line of the Wall across Brunnenstraße (2018)
Photo: Andrzej Otrębski. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Günter A. climbs the Wall under machine-pistol fire
The corner of Bernauer Straße and Ruppiner Straße in August 1963, with the border houses' windows bricked up
Photo: Roger W from Sarasota, Florida, U.S.A.. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Used on Rope-ladder escape at Ruppiner Straße
The Bernauer Straße / Ruppiner Straße junction in 2007
Photo: Andreas Thum. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Rope-ladder escape at Ruppiner Straße
Memorial to the border barriers at Jungbornstraße 29, Glienicke/Nordbahn, a few houses from where the 1986 ladder escape crossed (2020)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on "Ladder of success" at Glienicke/Nordbahn
The Bornholmer Straße border crossing photographed from a rooftop on Finnländische Straße, 1984
Photo: Gerd Danigel, ddr-fotograf.de. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Over the rear wall and across the Bösebrücke
The Berlin Wall at the Bornholmer Straße crossing / Bösebrücke, 2 June 1985
Photo: Gerd Danigel. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Over the rear wall and across the Bösebrücke
Cobblestones marking the former line of the Wall across Brunnenstraße (2018)
Photo: Andrzej Otrębski. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Dieter H.'s folding-ladder escape under fire
Looking down into the discovered escape tunnel at Wollankstraße S-Bahn station, photographed by the East German news agency for a press conference on 1 February 1962 (the archive's original caption is GDR propaganda)
Photo: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-90187-0012 / Peter Heinz Junge. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de · Used on The Collapsed Tunnel under Wollankstraße Station
East German diagram of the Wollankstraße tunnel, shown at the GDR press conference on 1 February 1962, which presented the escape tunnel as an 'agent sluice' dug from West Berlin
Photo: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-90175-0007 / Unknown photographer. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de · Used on The Collapsed Tunnel under Wollankstraße Station
Memorial plaque for Heinz Jercha at Heidelberger Straße 35 in Neukölln, the house the tunnel was dug from (unveiled 27 March 2012; photographed April 2012)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Heidelberger Straße Tunnel and the Death of Heinz Jercha
Memorial plaque at Kiefholzstraße 79 in Plänterwald naming Heinz Jercha among six people killed at the Wall in Treptow (photographed 2011)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Heidelberger Straße Tunnel and the Death of Heinz Jercha
Ground plaque in the pavement in Alt-Treptow, near Elsenstraße, marking the escape tunnel through which, as the plaque says, 55 East Berliners escaped on 11 June 1962 (photographed 2013)
Photo: Assenmacher. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on The Whitsun Tunnel (Pfingsttunnel)
Plaque at Zimmerstraße 54 in Mitte: an East Berlin family escaped through a tunnel under this street on 18 June 1962, and border soldier Reinhold Huhn was shot dead by an escape helper (photographed 2018)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Rudolf Müller's Tunnel and the Death of Reinhold Huhn
Information board 'Der verratene Fluchttunnel in der Sebastianstraße – 28. Juni 1962' at Sebastianstraße 82 in Kreuzberg, where the tunnel began (photographed 2022)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on The Betrayed Sebastianstraße Tunnel
The Wall along Sebastianstraße in 1961: the street's northern side belonged to East Berlin, the southern side to West Berlin
Photo: Willy Pragher. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 · Used on The Betrayed Sebastianstraße Tunnel
Memorial plaque for 'Tunnel 29' at Schönholzer Straße 7 in Mitte, where the 135-metre tunnel ended and 29 people escaped on 14–15 September 1962 (plaque from 2009, photographed 2010)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Tunnel 29
The border strip at the corner of Heidelberger Straße and Elsenstraße, seen from a former watchtower on 29 June 1990 – the junction where both Heidelberger Krug tunnels began
Photo: Volkmar Bencker. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de · Used on The Second Heidelberger Krug Tunnel to Elsenstraße
Harry Seidel on trial before the GDR Supreme Court on 27 December 1962, after his arrest at the Kleinmachnow tunnel; court president Heinrich Toeplitz presides (GDR press photo; the archive's original caption is propaganda)
Photo: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-A1227-0007-001 / Rudolf Hesse. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de · Used on The Kleinmachnow Tunnel and the Arrest of Harry Seidel
The street Wolfswerder in Kleinmachnow in 2002, ending at the former border area where the tunnel from West Berlin was meant to surface
Photo: Andreas Lippold. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on The Kleinmachnow Tunnel and the Arrest of Harry Seidel
Steel plates in the grass at the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße tracing the route of 'Tunnel 57' (1964) (photographed 2011)
Photo: N-Lange.de. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Tunnel 57
Plaque at Strelitzer Straße 55, where Tunnel 57 ended: it records the escape of 57 people on 3–4 October 1964 and the death of border guard Egon Schultz, killed by a comrade's bullet (photographed 2010)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Tunnel 57
Steel plates at the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße marking the line of an escape tunnel dug in 1971 (photographed 2012)
Photo: Karen Mardahl. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Used on Tunnel 71 – The Last Tunnel under Bernauer Straße
Information stele at Waldmüllerstraße 6 in Klein Glienicke (photographed 2020) showing a Stasi photograph of the 1973 escape tunnel and the Wall at Wannseestraße in 1962
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on The Klein Glienicke Family Tunnel
The Chausseestraße border crossing seen from Wedding (West Berlin) in June 1972
Photo: Willy Pragher. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 · Used on Armoured pre-war Opel at Chausseestraße
Remains of the Wall at the former Chausseestraße crossing in November 2011 (since demolished)
Photo: Christian Mentel. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Armoured pre-war Opel at Chausseestraße
The Chausseestraße border crossing seen from Wedding (West Berlin) in June 1972
Photo: Willy Pragher. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 · Used on Lada crash at Chausseestraße
Remains of the Wall at the former Chausseestraße crossing in November 2011 (since demolished)
Photo: Christian Mentel. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Lada crash at Chausseestraße
Information panel on German division in the Bürgermeistergarten, Falkensee, telling how train driver Harry Deterling drove through Albrechtshof station on 5 December 1961, with a photo of Deterling and his family at Marienfelde refugee camp (photographed 2017)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on The last train to freedom
Albrechtshof station in 2007 – the last GDR station, which Deterling's train passed at full speed in 1961
Photo: A.Savin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on The last train to freedom
The Heinrich-Heine-Straße border crossing in August 1987
Photo: Roehrensee. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Fatal truck breakthrough at Heinrich-Heine-Straße
The Elsenstraße crossing between Treptow and Neukölln in 1990, looking towards Heidelberger Straße
Photo: Klimper. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Wolfgang Engels' armoured personnel carrier
Checkpoint Charlie on Friedrichstraße in August 1963, three months after Heinz Meixner drove under the barrier here
Photo: Roger Wollstadt. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Used on Under the barrier in an Austin-Healey Sprite
Checkpoint Charlie in January 1962: US Navy reservists at the 'You are leaving the American sector' sign
Photo: National Museum of the U.S. Navy. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain · Used on Under the barrier in an Austin-Healey Sprite
The Invalidenstraße border crossing at the Sandkrugbrücke in October 1987
Photo: Roehrensee. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Failed bus escape at Invalidenstraße
Border guards and civilians push a car that would not start through the Invalidenstraße crossing on 31 October 1964, a year after the bus escape attempt (GDR press photo)
Photo: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-C1031-0044-008 / Rudolf Hesse. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de · Used on Failed bus escape at Invalidenstraße
Cars at the control lanes of the Drewitz crossing on 31 March 1972 (GDR press photo)
Photo: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-L0331-0005 / Hartmut Reiche. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de · Used on The 'Trojan cow' at Drewitz
Cars at the control lanes of the Drewitz crossing on 31 March 1972 (GDR press photo)
Photo: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-L0331-0005 / Hartmut Reiche. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de · Used on Trabant caught by a steel cable at Drewitz
Information stele at the site of the former Staaken (Heerstraße) border crossing (photographed 2013)
Photo: Assenmacher. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Trabant against the Staaken barrier
Checkpoint Charlie seen from the western side on 9 November 1986, ten weeks after the gravel-truck breakthrough
Photo: Roehrensee. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Gravel truck through Checkpoint Charlie
The 'You are leaving the American sector' sign at Checkpoint Charlie in 1986, with the East German control area behind
Photo: Nancy Wong. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Gravel truck through Checkpoint Charlie
The East German barriers at the Potsdam end of the Glienicke Bridge in 1987
Photo: Jochims. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Wolga car on the Glienicke Bridge
The marker in the middle of the Glienicke Bridge showing where the border ran (photographed 2014)
Photo: Roland.h.bueb. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 · Used on Wolga car on the Glienicke Bridge
The Glienicke Bridge border crossing in 1987, looking across the bridge towards Potsdam
Photo: Jochims. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Truck full of gas cylinders over the Glienicke Bridge
The East German barriers at the Potsdam end of the Glienicke Bridge in 1987
Photo: Jochims. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Truck full of gas cylinders over the Glienicke Bridge
Information steles at the site of the former Stolpe crossing, in the Tegel forest at Heiligensee (photographed 2020)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Citroën at the Stolpe crossing
Information steles at the site of the former Stolpe crossing, in the Tegel forest at Heiligensee (photographed 2020)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Army truck overturned at Stolpe
The Günter Litfin memorial in the former border command tower at Kieler Straße 2, Berlin-Mitte (2024)
Photo: Neuköllner. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 · Used on Günter Litfin – shot swimming the Humboldthafen
Memorial stone for Günter Litfin on the Alexanderufer beside the Humboldthafen, where he was shot (2020)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Günter Litfin – shot swimming the Humboldthafen
Memorial plaque for Roland Hoff on Lichterfelder Allee in Teltow (2017)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Roland Hoff – shot in the Teltow Canal
Memorial plaque at the Knesebeckbrücke over the Teltowkanal in Berlin-Zehlendorf, commemorating Roland Hoff among the victims of the Wall (photographed c. 2009)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Roland Hoff – shot in the Teltow Canal
Memorial plaque for Udo Düllick on the May-Ayim-Ufer in Kreuzberg, on the Spree near the Oberbaumbrücke (2012)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Udo Düllick – drowned under fire in the Spree
The Oberbaumbrücke border crossing over the Spree in 1987, with East German border-troop boats on the river
Photo: Jochims. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Udo Düllick – drowned under fire in the Spree
Memorial plaque on the May-Ayim-Ufer in Kreuzberg, on the Spree near the Oberbaumbrücke, listing people killed at the Wall's water border, including Werner Probst (photographed 2012)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Werner Probst – shot at the West Berlin ladder
Köpenicker Straße looking towards the Schillingbrücke on 11 April 1990, when the crossing was still a checkpoint in the months after the Wall opened
Photo: Roehrensee. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Werner Probst – shot at the West Berlin ladder
The former border-troop command tower at Schlesischer Busch, Alt-Treptow, near the mouth of the Landwehrkanal, photographed in 2011 (the tower was built after the 1962 escape)
Photo: Chris. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 · Used on The excursion ship "Friedrich Wolf"
Memorial plaque on the May-Ayim-Ufer in Kreuzberg, on the Spree near the Oberbaumbrücke, listing people killed at the Wall's water border, including Anton Walzer (photographed 2012)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Anton Walzer – shot swimming from a barge
The Oberbaumbrücke border crossing in 1987
Photo: Jochims. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Anton Walzer – shot swimming from a barge
The Oberbaumbrücke border crossing over the Spree in 1987, with East German border-troop boats on the river
Photo: Jochims. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Hans Räwel – New Year's morning in the icy Spree
Memorial plaque on the May-Ayim-Ufer in Kreuzberg, on the Spree near the Oberbaumbrücke, listing people killed at the Wall's water border, including Hans Räwel (photographed 2012)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Hans Räwel – New Year's morning in the icy Spree
The Reichstag building photographed from the west in January 1985, with the Wall's barriers along the far bank of the Spree
Photo: Kuebi = Armin Kübelbeck. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Klaus Schröter – homemade diving suit at the Reichstag
The White Crosses memorial on the Spree bank at the Reichstagufer, which includes a cross for Klaus Schröter (2016)
Photo: Dietmar Rabich. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Klaus Schröter – homemade diving suit at the Reichstag
East German border buoy No. 13 on the Jungfernsee, one of the buoys marking the water border between the GDR and West Berlin, 1 May 1989
Photo: Lothar Weber. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Hubert Hohlbein – under the Jungfernsee in a diving suit
The Havel at the Glienicker Brücke on 1 May 1989, seen from West Berlin; the border ran across the middle of the bridge, with the Wall and a watchtower on the Potsdam side
Photo: Lothar Weber. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Hubert Hohlbein – under the Jungfernsee in a diving suit
The brightly lit Wall along the Spree bank at Mühlenstraße, Friedrichshain, seen from the Gröbenufer in West Berlin in 1985 – the stretch now known as the East Side Gallery
Photo: Lothar Weber. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on A miner swims the Spree at Mühlenstraße
The Teltowkanal at Albrechts Teerofen in March 1988, with the former Dreilinden autobahn bridge blocked by a section of wall
Photo: Roehrensee. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Hartmut Richter swims the Teltow Canal
The Teltowkanal at Albrechts Teerofen in March 1988, seen from the West Berlin bank towards the former Dreilinden autobahn bridge
Photo: Roehrensee. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Hartmut Richter swims the Teltow Canal
Memorial plaque on the May-Ayim-Ufer in Kreuzberg, on the Spree near the Oberbaumbrücke, listing people killed at the Wall's water border, including Bernd Lehmann (photographed 2012)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Bernd Lehmann – caught in underwater barbed wire
The former border watchtower at Am Flutgraben 3 (Schlesischer Busch), beside the Flutgraben in Alt-Treptow (2011)
Photo: Tx0h. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Bernd Lehmann – caught in underwater barbed wire
The brightly lit Wall along the Spree bank at Mühlenstraße, Friedrichshain, seen from the Gröbenufer in West Berlin in 1985 – the stretch now known as the East Side Gallery
Photo: Lothar Weber. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Two border guards take a patrol boat across the Spree
Memorial plaque on the May-Ayim-Ufer in Kreuzberg, on the Spree near the Oberbaumbrücke, listing people killed at the Wall's water border, including Manfred Weylandt (photographed 2012)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Manfred Weylandt – shot in the Spree
Köpenicker Straße looking towards the Schillingbrücke on 11 April 1990, when the crossing was still a checkpoint in the months after the Wall opened
Photo: Roehrensee. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Manfred Weylandt – shot in the Spree
Villa Starck on Bertinistraße in Potsdam (2012), where the East German border boat company on the Jungfernsee was based
Photo: Writtenby. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on A water police officer sails his patrol boat to the West
Former East German border watchtower for shipping on the Jungfernsee, Bertinistraße, Potsdam (2007)
Photo: Writtenby. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on A water police officer sails his patrol boat to the West
Memorial plaque for Rainer Liebeke on Kladower Straße, Sacrow, Potsdam (2020)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Sacrower See – one friend makes it, Rainer Liebeke drowns
The Sacrower See near Potsdam in 2024; while the Wall stood, the lake lay on the border between the GDR and West Berlin
Photo: Neuköllner. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 · Used on Sacrower See – one friend makes it, Rainer Liebeke drowns
Former East German border watchtower at the Nedlitz water crossing on the Jungfernsee, Bertinistraße, Potsdam (2007)
Photo: Writtenby. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on A landscape architect dives through the Jungfernsee barrier
East German border buoy No. 13 on the Jungfernsee, one of the buoys marking the water border between the GDR and West Berlin, 1 May 1989
Photo: Lothar Weber. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on A landscape architect dives through the Jungfernsee barrier
The surviving section of the Wall on Niederkirchnerstraße with the former Haus der Ministerien (today Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus) behind it (2019)
Photo: Pymouss. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on The Holzapfel family's cable slide from the Haus der Ministerien
View from the Martin-Gropius-Bau in West Berlin over the Wall to the Haus der Ministerien, 2 October 1987
Photo: Willy Pragher. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 · Used on The Holzapfel family's cable slide from the Haus der Ministerien
Schmollerstraße at Schmollerplatz in Alt-Treptow (2011); in 1983 Holger Bethke and Michael Becker escaped from the attic of a house on this street
Photo: Lotse. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Holger Bethke and Michael Becker slide over the Wall on a steel cable
The Reichstag building photographed from the west in January 1985; in May 1989 the Bethke brothers landed their microlights in front of it
Photo: Kuebi = Armin Kübelbeck. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Ultralight flight from Treptower Park to the Reichstag
Memorial stele for Winfried Freudenberg on Erdmann-Graeser-Weg in Berlin-Zehlendorf, where he died (2012)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Winfried Freudenberg's fatal gas balloon flight
Winfried Freudenberg's portrait in the Window of Remembrance at the Berlin Wall Memorial, Bernauer Straße (2015)
Photo: Brewer Bob. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Winfried Freudenberg's fatal gas balloon flight
An East German Zlin Z-42M light aircraft (DDR-WOH) shortly after landing at RAF Gatow in West Berlin, July 1987. The photo is not captioned with the pilot’s name, but it very probably shows the aircraft used in this escape.
Photo: Fbg162. Wikimedia Commons, CC0 · Used on 18-year-old flies a light aircraft from Potsdam to RAF Gatow
Bernauer Straße 1 on 19 August 1963, with the memorial to Rudolf Urban in front of the house
Photo: Roger Wollstadt. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Used on Rudolf Urban's rope descent from Bernauer Straße 1
Memorial plaque for Rudolf Urban on Bernauer Straße, Berlin-Mitte (2021)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Rudolf Urban's rope descent from Bernauer Straße 1
Bernauer Straße 48 on 6 June 1965, the house bricked up, with the memorial to Ida Siekmann in front
Photo: Willy Pragher. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 · Used on Ida Siekmann, first death at the Berlin Wall
The memorial for Ida Siekmann on Bernauer Straße, Berlin-Mitte (2022)
Photo: Singlespeedfahrer. Wikimedia Commons, CC0 · Used on Ida Siekmann, first death at the Berlin Wall
Bernauer Straße 37 to 33 on 19 August 1963, including No. 34 where Olga Segler lived, with the windows bricked up
Photo: Roger W from Sarasota, Florida, U.S.A.. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Used on Olga Segler's jump into the fire brigade net
Memorial stele for Olga Segler in front of the site of Bernauer Straße 34 (2015)
Photo: Brewer Bob. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Used on Olga Segler's jump into the fire brigade net
The corner house Bernauer Straße 44 / Wolliner Straße in January 1978; Bernd Lünser tried to escape from its roof in 1961
Photo: John Spooner. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 · Used on Bernd Lünser's fatal rooftop jump
Memorial plaque for Bernd Lünser at Bernauer Straße 44, Berlin-Mitte (2019)
Photo: OTFW, Berlin. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Bernd Lünser's fatal rooftop jump
The corner house Bernauer Straße 44 / Wolliner Straße in January 1978
Photo: John Spooner. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 · Used on Bricklayer Norbert Raasch jumps while walling up windows
Harzer Straße on the Neukölln–Treptow border in November 1986
Photo: Roehrensee. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Fire-net escapes at Harzer Straße, Treptow
The Wall at the corner of Bouchéstraße and Harzer Straße on 18 November 1989
Photo: Florian Schäffer. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Used on Fire-net escapes at Harzer Straße, Treptow