Window jumps
In 1961 the house fronts on Bernauer Straße were the border itself. Residents climbed down or jumped to the West Berlin pavement.
Related methods: over the wall, ziplines and cables, aircraft and balloons
17 August 1961
The Mathern family leaves by the ground floor
Alarmed when the first front doors on Bernauer Straße were locked, the Mathern family fled from their ground-floor flat on 17 August 1961.
19 August 1961
Rudolf Urban's rope descent from Bernauer Straße 1
Rudolf Urban and his wife let themselves down on a rope from their first-floor flat; he was badly injured and died in hospital four weeks later.
22 August 1961
Ida Siekmann, first death at the Berlin Wall
Nine days after the border was sealed, the 58-year-old nurse jumped from her third-floor window onto the West Berlin pavement and died of her injuries.
22 August 1961
A pretend visitor jumps from Bernauer Straße 7
Claiming to be visiting someone, a young woman talked her way past the rear guard posts, then jumped from a first-floor window two hours later.
24 August 1961
Parents and 14-year-old daughter rope down from Bernauer Straße 10
Probably on 24 August 1961 a married couple and their 14-year-old daughter let themselves down on a rope from a first-floor window.
24 August 1961
Max W.'s rope breaks at Bernauer Straße 24
Max W. let himself down from his first-floor flat; the rope snapped and he fell to the pavement, where West Berlin police picked him up.
26 August 1961
A woman jumps from the first floor of Bernauer Straße 2
On 26 August 1961 a woman jumped from a first-floor window of Bernauer Straße 2; she was hurt and taken to safety by West Berlin police.
28 August 1961
Dieter R. jumps from Bruno P.'s empty flat
Unseen by the guards, Dieter R. got into the flat of Bruno P. – who, investigators found, had already fled – and jumped from a second-floor window.
30 August 1961
Two rope escapes in one night from Bernauer Straße 2
At 1.30 a.m. a tenant and two friends roped down from Bernauer Straße 2; at about 4 a.m. five more people fled through a window of the same house.
3 September 1961
Ulla D. and Hans K. break into an empty flat and jump
Using a pretext to get through the checks, the pair broke into the flat of a family who had already fled and jumped from its window.
5 September 1961
Karl-Heinz S. climbs down a fire brigade ladder while police hold the guards at bay
At 3 a.m. West Berlin police drew pistols and dazzled the guards with mirrors while the fire brigade set a ladder against the corner house for four escapees.
11 September 1961
69-year-old Ella K. escapes with the fire brigade's help
Shortly after midnight the West Berlin fire brigade helped 69-year-old Ella K. out of her first-floor flat; the guards noticed only when she was already safe.
12 September 1961
Down a telephone cable from Bernauer Straße 47
An unknown man broke into the Sch. family's first-floor flat and let himself down from the window on a telephone cable.
13 September 1961
Fire-net escapes at Harzer Straße, Treptow
Two men escaped from Harzer Straße 109 into a fire brigade net, but two hours later East Berlin police used a water cannon and tear gas to stop two women jumping from No. 117.
17 September 1961
Three people rope down from the corner house Brunnenstraße 138
On the evening of 17 September 1961 three people let themselves down on a rope from the corner house at Brunnenstraße 138.
19 September 1961
Heavily pregnant Helga Knittel jumps first
The Knittel family called the West Berlin fire brigade, then jumped one after another from their second-floor window into its net: first the heavily pregnant mother, then the daughter, then the father.
19 September 1961
Five escapees rope down from the roof of Bernauer Straße 43
Four men and a woman crossed the rooftops, tied a rope to a chimney and let themselves down to the western pavement; the woman fell from the third-floor level and was badly hurt, and another woman was caught in the attic.
19 September 1961
Three generations jump into the net at Bernauer Straße 10
At about 11.30 p.m. Mrs K., her daughter-in-law and her grandson Detlef jumped from the second floor into a West Berlin fire brigade net.
19 September 1961
A young man misses the window frame and falls three storeys
Discovered on a roof by the border, a young man swung over the edge, missed his foothold and fell three floors; West Berlin paramedics picked him up with several broken bones.
19 September 1961
Erich B.'s family jumps from Bernauer Straße 42
A family of five from Swinemünder Straße 23 jumped from the first floor of the neighbouring house into a fire brigade net; the father broke his thigh.
20 September 1961
Five fire engines for two jumpers at Bernauer Straße 10
Just after midnight guards watched five fire engines take up position with jumping sheets; shortly afterwards two people jumped.
22 September 1961
Family F. jumps under fire from the third floor
While a border policeman fired a warning shot and West Berlin police answered with tear gas, a mother jumped into the fire brigade's net; her husband threw down their five-year-old son and then jumped himself.
22 September 1961
Selma P. and her son Peter W. jump from the third floor
After warning relatives in the West, mother and son barricaded their door and waited for the fire brigade; both jumped into the net before the guards could break in.
23 September 1961 – 30 September 1961
Horst K. jumps, and a week later his wife follows with their baby
After a row with a party secretary, Horst K. jumped into a fire brigade net from a friend's lower flat; a week later his wife and five-month-old child escaped from the same flat.
23 September 1961
Irma B. barricades her door and climbs down a fire brigade ladder
At 2 a.m. Irma B. barricaded her flat door, and the West Berlin fire brigade set a ladder against the house for her.
23 September 1961 – 24 September 1961
Two night-time jumps from the second floor of Bernauer Straße 16
On two consecutive days in September 1961 an unknown man jumped from a second-floor window of Bernauer Straße 16 into the West.
24 September 1961
Frieda Schulze's tug-of-war at the window
As forced evictions began, a 77-year-old widow climbed onto her window ledge while East Berlin police tried to pull her back and West Berliners tried to help her down; she fell into the fire brigade's net.
24 September 1961
Evacuation-squad member jumps from Bernauer Straße 6
A doctoral candidate who had been sent with a militia unit to clear the border houses used a moment when a guard stepped away to jump from a first-floor balcony door into the West.
24 September 1961
Marianne S. flees as the eviction squads arrive
On the morning the forced evictions began, Marianne S. roped down from a window on a washing line and fell five metres; her disabled partner was left behind.
25 September 1961
Olga Segler's jump into the fire brigade net
Encouraged by her daughter waiting below, 80-year-old Olga Segler jumped from her second-floor window into a fire brigade net. She died the next day.
25 September 1961
Rudolf B., his wife and son rope down from Bernauer Straße 5
A family let themselves down on a rope from their second-floor flat; the guards only noticed when a crowd gathered and the fire brigade arrived.
27 September 1961
Anni M.'s rope tied round the sofa
Returning from holiday to find the border houses being cleared, Anni M. roped down the same evening with her valuables; guards found only a rope wound round the sofa.
29 September 1961
Gerhard D.'s family escapes through a bricked-up cellar window
A neighbour reported West Berlin police loading things into a car; East Berlin police found the family's walled-up cellar window broken open and the four of them gone.
29 September 1961
The couple who came to rent a cellar
A woman and a man posing as would-be tenants of an 89-year-old's cellar ran straight to her window and jumped.
4 October 1961
Bernd Lünser's fatal rooftop jump
Chased across the rooftops by border guards, 22-year-old student Bernd Lünser jumped from the roof of Bernauer Straße 44 and missed the fire brigade net by a few metres.
15 October 1961
The rope snaps at Ackerstraße 43
A man lowering himself from a second-floor staircase window fell when his rope broke; passers-by carried him across the street.
16 October 1961
Family D. jumps onto a truck's tarpaulin
A long-planned escape: at 12.30 a truck pulled up and a couple, their 15-year-old son and a friendly couple jumped onto its canvas cover.
17 October 1961
Removal worker jumps onto a waiting truck
A removal worker clearing flats under police guard slipped into a front room, signalled West Berlin police to bring a truck under the window and jumped onto it.
18 October 1961
Bricklayer Norbert Raasch jumps while walling up windows
Sent to brick up the windows of Bernauer Straße 44 under guard, construction worker Norbert Raasch waited for an unwatched moment and jumped to his fiancée in the West.
27 October 1961
Over the roofs from Ackerstraße 41 with a washing line
Two men climbed across the roofs, let themselves down on a washing line to the roof of the corner house and waited for morning; one jumped into a fire brigade net, the other was never noticed.
5 December 1961
Through a hole in a bricked-up window at Bernauer Straße 2
A 27-year-old man crept through back yards into the cleared border houses, knocked bricks out of a walled-up window and dropped about seven metres to the pavement.
29 January 1962
Fake chimney sweep abseils from Bernauer Straße 13
Dressed as a chimney sweep, a young man walked past the guards into an emptied border house, broke through a bricked-up attic window and let himself down on his sweep's rope.
19 February 1962
Scraping out the mortar by candlelight at Bernauer Straße 46
Guards found a hole broken through a bricked-up first-floor window; a man had apparently scratched out the joints with nails by candlelight and jumped.
17 September 1962
West Berlin police open a cellar window for three young men
While a West Berlin officer held the guards' observation post at gunpoint, police broke open a walled-up cellar window and three young men climbed out.
3 March 1965
Clothesline rope escape from a Treptow border house
A 26-year-old engineer tied a knotted 50-metre clothesline to a fourth-floor window, lowered himself down, swung over the Wall and dropped into Neukölln.