Themes · Where the record comes from
Filmed, photographed and watched
Escapes caught on film or camera, reported live, or watched by crowds.
17 events: 12 successful escapes, 1 partly successful escape, 3 failed attempts and 1 fatal attempt. At least 82 people reached the West in these events. The records span 1961–1989. Most used methods: over the wall 7, swimming 4, guards who fled 2.
Often together with: Shots fired (7), Barbed wire and fences (3), Group escapes (3), The first days (3), East Berlin police reports (2)
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.
13 August 1961
Manfred Roseneit leaves his scooter at the Kiefholzstraße fence
Turned back at the Dammweg after going home for his papers, and filmed by the Abendschau behind the wire, a 22-year-old radio mechanic found a gap in the mesh fence between the Kiefholzstraße allotments the same day.
13 August 1961
A young girl undresses and swims the Flutgraben
At about 10 a.m. on 13 August 1961 a young girl undressed to her underwear at the Flutgraben near Lohmühlenstraße, jumped in and swam to West Berlin, where the crowd there 'received' her.
15 August 1961
Conrad Schumann's leap to freedom
Two days after the border was sealed, 19-year-old border policeman Conrad Schumann jumped over the barbed-wire barrier at Bernauer Straße into West Berlin, dropping his submachine gun as he went.
15 August 1961
Married couple swims the Britz canal under police fire
On 15 August 1961 East German police fired at a married couple swimming across the 'Britz Canal'; both escaped the bullets and reached the West Berlin bank exhausted.
18 August 1961
Two policemen climb out of the Liesenstraße cemetery
At 17.45 on 18 August 1961 two Bereitschaftspolizei men on guard duty climbed from the Liesenstraße cemetery over the wall into Gartenstraße. A crowd and a film van from the West Berlin broadcaster SFB were on the other side.
30 August 1961
Under fire across the Teltow Canal at the Späthbrücke, a day after Roland Hoff
At 7.35 a.m. on 30 August 1961, less than a day after Roland Hoff was shot dead in the Teltow Canal, a guard at the Späthbrücke saw a man swimming the canal; despite warning shots and aimed fire he reached the western bank, probably wounded.
13 October 1961
Nine refugees run on when their lorry sticks in the wire
On 13 October 1961 nine East Germans tried to drive a lorry through the border into Zehlendorf. It got stuck in the barriers, but all nine ran on under constant fire and reached West Berlin unhurt.
24 January 1962
The Becker Tunnel ("Tunnel 28")
Twin brothers dug a tunnel from the cellar of the family home on the border, and 28 people crawled through it to Frohnau in West Berlin in a single night.
17 August 1962
Peter Fechter bleeds to death at Zimmerstraße
18-year-old bricklayer Peter Fechter was shot while climbing the Wall on Zimmerstraße and left to die at its foot for about 50 minutes in full view of West Berliners; his companion escaped.
14 September 1962 – 15 September 1962
Tunnel 29
Around 30 helpers, mostly students, dug a tunnel from a factory on Bernauer Straße to a cellar in East Berlin; 29 people escaped through it over two days while an American TV crew filmed.
February 1980
Two printers saw through a window and scale the Wall with grappling hooks
Two East German printers sawed through an iron-barred window in their newspaper building and climbed the Berlin Wall with grappling hooks and a rope, police said in February 1980.
25 September 1987
A couple's dump truck sticks in the barriers opposite Zehlendorf – and a friend films it
On the evening of 25 September 1987 a young woman and a man tried to break through the border opposite Zehlendorf with a truck. The attempt failed and East German border guards arrested them. A friend in West Berlin filmed it.
21 August 1988
Four swim the Spree by the Reichstag as West Berliners watch
Four East Germans fled through the Spree near the Reichstag in front of many West Berlin onlookers; the crew of the pursuing border patrol boat did not open fire and all four reached the West unhurt.
25 September 1988
Two young men run through the Brandenburg Gate and stop at a warning shot
On the evening of 25 September 1988 two young East Berliners ran through the Brandenburg Gate towards the West; they stopped when a guard fired a warning shot and were led away.
8 April 1989
Over the barrier at Chausseestraße in front of western cameras
Two young East Berliners jumped over the barrier at the Chausseestraße crossing; a passport controller fired a shot (a warning shot, according to the Stasi files) and both were arrested, while western journalists who had been tipped off recorded the attempt.
5 July 1989
Guards order a 24-year-old to halt but hold their fire as he scales the Wall
On Wednesday 5 July 1989 East German border guards ordered a 24-year-old man to halt as he scaled the Berlin Wall, but did not fire when he defied them; he reached the West.