Hidden in vehicles
Hidden compartments in cars and lorries, driven through the checkpoints by escape helpers.
Car boots were used from the first day. On 13 August 1961 the same car carried a woman through Heinrich-Heine-Straße in its boot, and a man the next morning. The Chronik der Mauer lists hiding places built into vehicles among the escape helpers' methods and says that by 1962/63 it was not unusual for refugees to be charged between three and five thousand Deutschmarks.1 Checkpoint Charlie was reserved for Allied military personnel, diplomats and people from abroad,2 and many of the cars in these records belonged to foreigners, diplomats or members of the Allied forces.
A friend was smuggled out in a converted BMW Isetta in May 1964; escape helper Burkhart Veigel ran a Cadillac with a hiding place behind the dashboard; and a trusted meat-transport driver took fifteen people through Heinrich-Heine-Straße behind pig carcasses. Heinz Schöneberger was shot at that crossing on 26 December 1965 after one of the two women hidden in his Ford Taunus was found.
The 1972 transit agreement between the two German states gave escape help a temporary new momentum; the Stasi tried to stop it with ever closer surveillance of the transit routes, informers and murder attempts on helpers.1 Nearly every hidden-vehicle record from the 1970s on this site is at a checkpoint. At Drewitz the baby Holger H. suffocated in a crate in January 1973; Hartmut Richter, who had already helped 33 people escape, was caught there in March 1975 with his sister and her fiancé in the boot; a sealed van of the Mierendorff organisation was stopped at Staaken in 1976. From 1984 the GDR approved more exit applications, and that and the exodus that followed largely removed the basis for escape help.1 The last case here is from 18 August 1989, when a teacher and his seven-year-old daughter crossed Checkpoint Charlie in a young American's car boot.
Sources for this text
- Flucht, Fluchthilfe, WiderstandChronik der Mauer
- The Border Crossing (Checkpoint Charlie, historical site)Stiftung Berliner Mauer
Checked October 2026. Facts taken from an escape record on this site link to that record, which lists its own sources.
63 events: 20 successful escapes, 2 partly successful escapes, 40 failed attempts and 1 fatal attempt. At least 59 people reached the West in these events.
Related methods: false papers and disguises, guards who fled
13 August 1961 – 14 August 1961
The same car carries two people through Heinrich-Heine-Straße in its boot
On the evening of 13 August and the morning of 14 August 1961 the same car twice carried an East Berliner through the Heinrich-Heine-Straße crossing hidden in its boot.
7 September 1961
A dental assistant from Leipzig is taken to West Berlin in a car boot
A Stasi case file records that on 7 September 1961 a dental assistant from Leipzig was taken to West Berlin in the boot of a car; she later returned to the GDR.
4 May 1963
Two Swiss typesetters and the hidden railwayman from Dresden
Two Swiss men had built a hiding place into their Chevrolet to smuggle out a woman from Dresden; when she would not come, they took her colleague instead – and all three were caught at Checkpoint Charlie.
1964 – November 1967
The Cadillac with a dashboard hideout
Escape helper Burkhart Veigel used a Cadillac DeVille with a hiding place behind the dashboard to smuggle refugees out of the GDR for about three years.
23 May 1964
Smuggled out in a BMW Isetta
Klaus-Günter Jacobi hid his friend Manfred Koster in a modified BMW Isetta, the smallest car ever used for an escape; a student friend drove it across the border into West Berlin.
12 July 1964
The Lloyd 600 with a secretary hidden in the back
An Egyptian geology student drove a Lloyd 600 back to West Berlin through Checkpoint Charlie; in a hiding place at the back was a secretary from the GDR Building Academy.
19 August 1964
Two Spanish workers and a hidden Pankow man at Checkpoint Charlie
At a quarter to one in the morning two Spanish workers employed in West Berlin drove up to Checkpoint Charlie in a Renault. The controllers found a man from Pankow, born in 1939, in a hiding place built into the car.
9 September 1964
Fifteen people behind the pig carcasses
A trusted meat-transport driver took his wife, their eight children and his brother-in-law's family of five through the Heinrich-Heine-Straße checkpoint hidden among pig carcasses.
10 October 1964
A sleeping pill for the four-year-old: the American's Ford at Checkpoint Charlie
An American Lufthansa loader built a hiding place behind the back seat of a Ford to bring out a colleague's cousin and her four-year-old child, who was given a sleeping pill. They were caught at Checkpoint Charlie.
11 December 1964
Hidden in the airport bus's spare-wheel box
The driver of the Interflug shuttle bus to West Berlin simply did not come back one morning; his girlfriend rode with him through the Invalidenstraße checkpoint inside the spare-wheel box.
31 January 1965
Kuo Ying-Hu's Mercedes: three people in the boot
A Chinese journalist living in East Berlin, who had permission to drive his Mercedes into West Berlin, tried to take three people from Pankow, born in 1904, 1934 and 1960, out in his boot.
March 1965
A bookshop assistant leaves in the boot of two French officers' car
In March 1965 a 19-year-old East Berlin bookshop assistant asked two French military officers for help; the next evening they drove her to the West in the boot of their car.
19 September 1965
A Teltow schoolgirl behind the dashboard of a Peugeot
A teenage girl from Teltow, whose parents had already fled, was hidden behind the dashboard of a Peugeot by two Americans living in West Berlin. She was found at Checkpoint Charlie.
26 December 1965
Heinz Schöneberger – escape helper shot at Heinrich-Heine-Straße
Two West German brothers tried to smuggle two East Berlin women out in a Ford Taunus; when one hiding place was discovered, Heinz Schöneberger tried to force the barrier and was shot just before reaching the West.
9 September 1966
A Syrian consul's Mercedes, stopped with a couple in the boot
The Stasi stopped the white Mercedes of the Syrian consulate general in the Friedrichstraße and found a couple from Lauchhammer in the boot. By its own count the consul and a colleague had driven 64 East Germans to West Berlin in two consulate cars since March 1966.
1968
A fiancée in a suitcase on a motorcycle at the old Drewitz crossing
Around 1968 a young man from West Germany brought his East German fiancée across the old Drewitz crossing into West Berlin hidden in a suitcase on his motorcycle. The suitcase is now in the collection of the Checkpoint Bravo memorial at Dreilinden.
7 July 1969
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.
1972
Hidden in a freighter's ballast room from Magdeburg to West Berlin
In 1972 a person got aboard a cargo ship in Magdeburg and was hidden by the crew in the ballast room until the ship reached West Berlin; the ZZF counts it among the escapes known despite the checks at the Nedlitz water crossing.
5 October 1972
A West Berlin police sergeant with a woman under his back seat
Shortly after midnight a West Berliner tried to drive a mother of four from Oberschöneweide out under the back seat of his car. Only when he was identified did the Stasi realise he was a serving West Berlin police officer.
8 October 1972 – 9 October 1972
Two cars stopped in one night at Heinrich-Heine-Straße
Within three hours GDR controllers at the Heinrich-Heine-Straße crossing stopped two cars. In one was a schoolgirl from Lichtenberg, born in 1956, with four West German helpers; the other carried a lathe operator born in 1949 and a couple from Hamburg.
14 October 1972
A head waiter hidden in a car trailer at Drewitz
Two West German helpers, one a Free University student, tried to bring a head waiter from Friedrichshagen, born in 1927, into West Berlin hidden in a single-axle car trailer. The Stasi says the pair had already smuggled out several people over the transit routes.
29 December 1972
Ellen Thiemann's escape car stopped at the border
The journalist Ellen Thiemann planned to leave the GDR with her eleven-year-old son Carsten in a specially prepared car. On 29 December 1972 she and her husband were arrested and she was later sentenced to three years and five months; after the Wall fell she learned from her Stasi files that her husband had been an informer.
22 January 1973
15-month-old Holger H. suffocates during his parents' escape
A young couple hid with their baby son in crates on a West Berlin acquaintance's truck. They passed the Drewitz checkpoint undetected, but when the crates were opened in the West, 15-month-old Holger was no longer breathing.
27 January 1973
A Magdeburg family in the boot of a Kuwaiti press attaché's Opel
At about 7 p.m. on 27 January 1973 a Kuwaiti travelling as press attaché of Kuwait's embassy in Italy and two other Arab men from West Berlin were arrested at Checkpoint Charlie as they tried to take a construction engineer from Magdeburg, his wife and their child to West Berlin hidden in the boot of an Opel.
30 March 1973
A mother and her four-year-old son in a prepared van at Drewitz
Four West Berliners were arrested at Drewitz with an East Berlin academy employee and her four-year-old son hidden in a small van that two of them had bought and prepared; the other two were to use a car as a feeder vehicle and cover the operation.
7 May 1973
A Bauknecht driver is caught at Drewitz with East Germans hidden in his vehicle
Karl Glaser, a driver for the Bauknecht company of Baden-Baden, was arrested at Drewitz on the transit route into West Berlin while trying to take East Germans hidden in his vehicle.
3 June 1973
A cleaning-firm owner with East Germans in his car boot at Drewitz
Georg Burggraf, owner of a West Berlin building-cleaning firm, and a young assistant were arrested at Drewitz with East Germans hidden in the boot of his car.
24 June 1973
Three West Germans with a woman in the boot at Bornholmer Straße
Three West Germans working at a West Berlin plastics firm were arrested at the Bornholmer Straße crossing with an East German woman hidden in the boot of the car Wolfgang Prange was driving.
1 July 1973
Two Turkish West Berliners with an East German hidden in their car at Drewitz
Two Turkish citizens living in West Berlin were arrested at Drewitz trying to bring an East German into West Berlin hidden in their car.
17 July 1973
An East German doctor hidden in a car at Drewitz
A West German born in 1955 and a nurse from Wedding, travelling into West Berlin on the transit route, were arrested at Drewitz with a GDR woman doctor hidden in their car.
22 July 1973
An East German in a car's engine compartment at Heinrich-Heine-Straße
A West Berliner was arrested at the Heinrich-Heine-Straße crossing trying to take an East German out hidden in the engine compartment of a car.
3 August 1973
A Telefunken worker with a man in his boot at Staaken
A West Berliner employed by Telefunken tried to bring an East German into West Berlin through the Staaken crossing in his car boot and was arrested.
5 August 1973
Two East Germans in a hiding place in a West Berlin student's van at Drewitz
A Free University student from West Berlin was arrested at the Drewitz crossing with two East Germans in a hiding place built into his small van.
12 August 1973
A doctor couple and their child in the boot of a Guinean embassy car
The cook of the Guinean embassy, using his exemption from customs checks, tried to drive a GDR doctor couple and their four-year-old child through Checkpoint Charlie in his car boot.
13 August 1973
A courier of the Jensch organisation is caught at Staaken with a woman in the boot
A West Berliner working for the escape organisation of Jensch was arrested at the Staaken crossing with a woman hidden in his car boot; the Stasi said he had already taken at least seven East Germans out on the Horst–Staaken transit route since June.
14 August 1973
A woman under the back seat of a piano maker's Mercedes at Drewitz
A West Berlin master piano maker on the transit route into West Berlin was caught at Drewitz with an East German woman hidden under the back seat of his Mercedes.
24 August 1973
A teacher and her two children in a Ford boot at Drewitz
A West Berlin television technician working for the Jensch organisation was caught at Drewitz with a Friedrichshain teacher and her children, aged nine and six, in the boot of his Ford.
26 August 1973
An engineer in the boot of an Opel at Drewitz, for 5,000 DM a head
Two West Berliners recruited by an escape organisation were arrested at Drewitz with an East German engineer in the boot of their Opel.
10 September 1973
Siegmar Fröhlich hidden among ornamental shrubs on a lorry trailer at Drewitz
A West Berlin haulier and his driver were caught at Drewitz with a young mechanic from near Dresden hidden among a load of ornamental shrubs on their trailer.
15 December 1973
Four East Berliners in the cabinets of a US soldiers' VW bus
On 15 December 1973 a doctor, his wife, their small child and another woman crossed Checkpoint Charlie hidden in cabinets inside a Volkswagen bus with US Army number plates. The East German guards missed them; US military police found them on the western side.
10 September 1974 – 17 September 1974
A US soldier is stopped at Checkpoint Charlie with two East Germans
On the night of 10 September 1974 East Berlin guards stopped a US Army specialist's private car at Checkpoint Charlie and led a woman away from it. The Soviets held the soldier for a week and said he had tried to smuggle two GDR citizens into West Berlin.
1975
Peuker's brother hidden in the tank of a converted car at Drewitz
In the mid-1970s Detlef Hubert Peuker, who had himself escaped in 1969, helped smuggle his brother out of the GDR through the Drewitz–Dreilinden crossing, hidden in the tank of a converted car.
1 February 1975
The Swiss embassy cook's Mini: caught at Bornholmer Straße
A young Swiss cook at the Swiss embassy in East Berlin had already taken his East Berlin girlfriend to the Kurfürstendamm and back in the boot of his Mini. On 1 February 1975, after two Stasi informers had reported on him, the boot was opened at Bornholmer Straße.
4 March 1975
Escape helper Hartmut Richter caught at Drewitz with his sister in the boot
After smuggling 33 people out in the boot of his car, escape helper Hartmut Richter was stopped at the Drewitz crossing with his own sister and her fiancé hidden inside, and sentenced to 15 years.
9 March 1975
A family of three in the boot of a West Berlin car at Drewitz
Three members of one family lay hidden in the boot of a car with West Berlin plates. At the Drewitz crossing the Stasi found them, arrested them and then made them climb back in so the scene could be photographed.
30 May 1975
A doctor's family in the boot of a US sergeant's Cadillac
On the evening of 30 May 1975 a US Army staff sergeant drove an East German doctor, his wife and son through Checkpoint Charlie in the boot of his 1969 Cadillac. The East German guards apparently noticed nothing; US military police found the family and took the sergeant into custody on the western side.
15 August 1975
A pregnant woman and her husband behind the back seat of a US sergeant's Chevrolet
Late on 15 August 1975 a US Army sergeant brought an East German couple, the wife pregnant, through Checkpoint Charlie in a hollowed-out space between the back seat and the boot of his Chevrolet. The East German guards looked closely but let him pass; US military police found the couple.
1976
Edith Fiedler is found in a car hideout at Drewitz
Edith Fiedler, an architect from East Berlin born in 1935, was discovered in a hiding place in a car at the Drewitz border crossing on her second attempt to flee to the West and was arrested; she was imprisoned in the women's prison at Hoheneck for 'Republikflucht'.
10 April 1976
Refugees in the boot of an embassy car: the Zaire attaché and the ARAMCO network
An administrative attaché of Zaire's embassy in East Berlin used his diplomatic car to drive at least eight East Germans to West Berlin in the boot. The operation ended when his courier was arrested at the Friedrichstraße crossing.
July 1976
Marina Prüfer and her son in a car boot
In July 1976 Marina Prüfer, a building draughtswoman from Neuenhagen whose exit application had put her under Stasi surveillance, reached West Berlin with her four-year-old son in the boot of a West German car.
16 July 1976
Sealed van of the Mierendorff escape organisation stopped at Staaken
An escape helper from near Hamburg picked up a man, his wife and a drugged child on the transit motorway and hid them in a customs-sealed van with a manipulated seal fitting; followed by two Wartburgs, he was stopped at the Staaken crossing and the van was opened.
21 September 1977
Two brothers in the luggage hold of a French army tour bus
On 21 September 1977 two young East German brothers crawled into the unlocked luggage hold of a French military tour bus parked at the Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park, and rode in it to West Berlin.
2 October 1977
Two young women in a car boot at Staaken
A West Berliner working for an escape-helper group tried to take two women in their early twenties out in his boot through the Staaken crossing – one of them the daughter of an SED factory director, who wanted to marry her Turkish boyfriend in West Berlin.
7 October 1978
Eva Röser in the petrol-tank space of a Lotus Seven
A pregnant 27-year-old East Berliner was driven through the Heinrich-Heine-Straße crossing by her West German boyfriend, hidden in the cavity left by the removed petrol tank of his Lotus Seven.
3 December 1978
Heide-Marie H. is found in a car boot at Drewitz at midnight
On 3 December 1978 the photographer Heide-Marie H. climbed into the boot of a West German friend's car at an agreed spot on the transit route. At midnight at the Drewitz crossing the friend had to open the boot; both were arrested. The day before, the same friend had brought her partner over the border in the boot.
July 1979
Kerstin Land and her partner in a car boot
In July 1979 Kerstin Land, a Leipzig student watched by the Stasi after a leaflet action over Wolf Biermann's expatriation, reached West Berlin with her partner in the boot of a West German car.
25 August 1979
The US ambassador's chauffeur smuggles his family out in the official car
Joerg Habermann, an East German driver assigned to the US ambassador in East Berlin, hid his wife and six-year-old daughter in the boot of the ambassador's car, drove them through Checkpoint Charlie, went back to work – and walked across to the West himself that evening.
11 July 1980
Family E. in the boot of a Burmese diplomat's Mercedes
On the night of 11 July 1980 Renate E., her husband Andreas and their 13-year-old son climbed into the boot of a dark-blue Mercedes near Ostkreuz station. The driver, a Burmese doctoral student and diplomat's son working for the West Berlin escape network of Norbert Franzke, drove off towards Checkpoint Charlie, and the escape succeeded.
26 May 1981
A Costa Rican diplomat's Ford Escort at Checkpoint Charlie
A urologist from San José who had studied medicine in Halle tried to use his diplomatic passport to drive an East German woman out in his boot – for a promised 10,000 Deutschmarks.
28 June 1981 – 29 June 1981
An Erfurt dentist family in a US Army Ford – the six-hour stand-off at Drewitz
Two US soldiers picked up two dentists from Erfurt and their ten-year-old son on the transit motorway. At Drewitz the Soviet commander refused to let the car through; after more than four hours of negotiation the American commander agreed to a joint check of the car.
26 September 1981
Caught in the boot at Checkpoint Charlie: Marita Ulbricht, Paul S. and the Burmese driver
On 26 September 1981 Marita Ulbricht, a Charité secretary, and Paul S., a dentist from Königs Wusterhausen, climbed into the boot of Leonard Vum Ko Hau's Mercedes near Ostkreuz station. At Checkpoint Charlie the check took longer than usual and the driver had to drive into a garage. The Stasi had an informer in the West Berlin network; the driver and Marita Ulbricht were sentenced to prison.
25 April 1982
Two dentists and their son in the boot of a US Army Volvo
Two American soldiers picked up a dentist couple from Cottbus and their four-year-old son at a transit car park and hid them in the boot. The GDR had noticed – and the Soviets held the car at Drewitz until the US military police opened the boot.
18 August 1989
Hans-Peter and Peggy Spitzner in an American's car boot through Checkpoint Charlie
In August 1989 a teacher from Chemnitz and his seven-year-old daughter crossed Checkpoint Charlie hidden in the car boot of a young American, Eric Yaw. A Saxon memorial foundation calls them the last known Wall refugees.