1961
In the night of 12 to 13 August 1961 units of the People's Police, the border police and the army strung barbed wire along the sector boundary; in the following days they began building the Wall, at first of large blocks and smaller hollow blocks capped with concrete beams that held barbed wire.1 The Brandenburg Gate crossing was closed to West Berliners on 14 August, and from 23 August West Berliners needed a permit to enter the eastern sector.2 On 24 August Günter Litfin was shot in the Humboldthafen, the first refugee shot dead at the Wall.3
From late August a second, sometimes a third, barbed-wire fence was added on the outer ring, and houses near the line were cleared.2 On 15 September the border police became the border troops under the Ministry of National Defence; on 20 September the GDR authorities counted 216 forcible breakthroughs by 417 people since 13 August, and 20 apartment houses in Harzer Straße were forcibly cleared that day alone.4 Order 76/61 of 6 October laid down rules for the use of firearms.5 In November a second, tank-proof wall rose at the Brandenburg Gate, and on 8 December barrier gates went up at the seven crossings.67
Most of the 1961 records collected here are climbs over the first wire, jumps from the border houses of Bernauer Straße and desertions: Conrad Schumann on 15 August, Ida Siekmann on 22 August. Vehicles were used from the first days; among them were an armoured Opel through the Chausseestraße crossing on 14 November and Harry Deterling's train on 5 December.
Sources for this text
- Building and development of the Berlin WallLandesdenkmalamt Berlin
- Chronik 1961: AugustChronik der Mauer
- "Grenzverletzer sind festzunehmen oder zu vernichten" (Hans-Hermann Hertle)Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung
- Chronik 1961: SeptemberChronik der Mauer
- Chronik 1961: OktoberChronik der Mauer
- Chronik 1961: NovemberChronik der Mauer
- Chronik 1961: DezemberChronik der Mauer
Checked October 2026. Facts taken from an escape record on this site link to that record, which lists its own sources.
220 events: 187 successful escapes, 9 partly successful escapes, 12 failed attempts and 12 fatal attempts. At least 400 people reached the West in these events.
August 1961
A border policeman steals patrol boat G-65 on the Havel
When the boatman left the boat for a short time, a soldier of the Groß Glienicke border unit deserted in the patrol boat G-65, taking a carbine, a machine pistol and a flare pistol with him.
August 1961
Rita Bergemann and Michael Reck swim the Havel from Sacrow
A good two weeks after the Wall went up, a young Potsdam couple swam roughly 300 metres across the narrowest part of the Havel from Sacrow to Moorlake, just as a patrol boat turned away.
August 1961
Peter Mindorf flees from his post in Klein Glienicke
An Oberwachtmeister of the Potsdam riot-police training unit, on guard in Klein Glienicke, used a toilet break to flee with his submachine gun and 80 rounds.
August 1961
A hairdresser cuts the wire at the Kiefholzstraße allotments for his daughter
When the border closed, a hairdresser who had fled in 1958 cut the new wire at his allotment so that his married daughter could crawl across, and then kept cutting holes for others.
13 August 1961
Through the graveyard and the church gate: Hildegard K. and her son
On the night the border closed, a radio singer and her eldest son crept through back yards and the Elisabeth cemetery to the Reconciliation Church, whose gate to West Berlin was still open.
13 August 1961
A VW Beetle races through the barbed wire at Ackerstraße
On the day the border was sealed, a Beetle from East Berlin drove at full speed through the single roll of barbed wire across Ackerstraße.
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
An inflatable dinghy across the Britzer Zweigkanal
On the afternoon of 13 August 1961 two young people crossed the Britzer Zweigkanal in Johannisthal in an inflatable dinghy. About twenty minutes later a third youth swam across at the same spot.
13 August 1961
Manfred Wenzel swims the Teltow Canal on the first evening
On the evening the border was sealed, a father slid into the Teltow Canal at Johannisthal and swam to Rudow with a briefcase in one hand. His wife and children followed a year later in an escape helper's car.
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
Helga W. gets through during the identity check at Lohmühlenstraße
In a report logged at 5.30 a.m. on 13 August 1961 the Treptow police recorded that Helga W., born in 1939, had got into West Berlin during the identity-card check at the Lohmühlenstraße crossing; her identity card stayed with the police.
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.
13 August 1961
Three youths swim the Landwehrkanal in their clothes
At 1.30 p.m. on 13 August 1961 three youths swam fully clothed across the Landwehrkanal from Lohmühlenstraße to West Berlin.
13 August 1961
A family walks out at the Heidekampweg before the fence goes up
At 10.30 a.m. on 13 August 1961 a man, a woman and a child left East Berlin over the Heidekampweg, where no barrier had yet been built.
13 August 1961
Over the sports ground in Dresdner Straße with a child and a suitcase
On 13 August 1961 a woman with a child and a suitcase left for West Berlin across the sports ground in Dresdner Straße.
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.
13 August 1961
About eighteen people cross the Teltow Canal on the first evening
On 13 August 1961 about eighteen people left East Berlin across the Teltow Canal between the Massante and Wrede bridges. The police saw young people swimming across, some using air mattresses, while about 400 West Berliners gathered on the far bank.
14 August 1961
The works locomotive that stopped on the line
On 14 August 1961 the driver of a works locomotive at VEB Bergmann-Borsig drove out of the plant towards Wilhelmsruh, stopped on the line and got away to West Berlin.
14 August 1961
Dr. G. rides an ambulance through the Brunnenstraße crossing and stays in the West
In the first night after the border was sealed, a doctor accompanying an ambulance from East to West Berlin through the Brunnenstraße crossing did not go back.
14 August 1961
Peter Hohmann sprints past the guards at Brunnenstraße
A waiter who had gone back East on the night the border closed tried the Sophien cemetery the next day, then slipped past the first soldiers in Brunnenstraße and ran when the guard holding his identity card chased another refugee.
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
Renate Reich crosses at Harzer Straße on a forged identity card
Her West Berlin father came for her with a forged identity card. Finding the checks at Heinrich-Heine-Straße too thorough, they found a lone guard in the Harzer Straße who looked at their papers under a street lamp and let them through.
15 August 1961
Two youths flee over the fence of the Eternit works
At about 5.55 p.m. on 15 August 1961 a GDR customs commissioner on patrol found that two male youths had fled over the fence of the 'Eternitwerk'.
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.
15 August 1961
Erika Schallert walks across Bernauer Straße with her wedding-dress fabric
Two days after the border was closed, a student whose fiancé lived in West Berlin talked her way past men outside a house on Bernauer Straße by pointing to the fabric for her wedding dress, then walked across the street into West Berlin while helpers distracted them.
16 August 1961
Two policemen vanish from the Kobold works
The day after Conrad Schumann's jump, two Volkspolizei officers said to be his friends disappeared from their post on the Kobold works site at Bernauer Straße and went to the West.
16 August 1961
The flower-box lorry at Köpenicker Straße
At 6.30 on 16 August 1961 a driver loaded flower boxes in front of a florist's in Köpenicker Straße and drove back and forth, faking delivery trips. Then he drove straight over the crossing into West Berlin.
16 August 1961
Four riot-police cadets slip away from the barrier works at Schönefeld
On 16 August 1961 four NCO cadets of a riot-police training unit, deployed on engineering work near the Schönefeld control point, crossed into West Berlin. Their unit only noticed when children said they had seen riot policemen on the western side.
16 August 1961
Two men at the Späthbrücke: one swims, one walks over the bridge
At 6.15 p.m. on 16 August 1961 two men went to West Berlin at the Späthbrücke – one swimming, the other on foot over the bridge – without the police on duty there stopping them.
16 August 1961
Two men leave through the allotments at the Dammweg
At 6.10 p.m. on 16 August 1961 the guards at control point 64 on the Dammweg watched two men go to West Berlin, probably through the allotment gardens.
16 August 1961
Three jump from the works yard into the Flutgraben
At 11.05 a.m. on 16 August 1961 three people jumped from the grounds of the OLW works in Treptow into the Flutgraben and reached West Berlin.
16 August 1961
Ulrich H. goes into the bushes and does not come back
On the evening of 16 August 1961 Ulrich H., born 1942, a riot policeman on patrol between the Rudower Chaussee control point and the Kiesberg, said at about 8.30 p.m. that he was going into the bushes to relieve himself. He did not come back: he had deserted with his carbine, leaving his helmet and raincoat.
16 August 1961
Four men are caught on the timber yard in Wildenbruchstraße
On 16 August 1961 riot police caught four men born in 1943 and 1944, from Oberschöneweide, Kaulsdorf and Mahlsdorf, as they tried to get into West Berlin over the timber yard in Wildenbruchstraße, Treptow.
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.
17 August 1961
Three young men crash a truck through the new barrier at Ruppiner Straße
Late on 17 August 1961 three young men drove a truck through the border barrier at Ruppiner Straße; the guards fired, but no one was hurt.
17 August 1961
Overboard from an excursion boat at the Schillingbrücke
On the morning of 17 August 1961 a man jumped from an East Berlin passenger boat near the Schillingbrücke and swam to the West Berlin bank.
17 August 1961
Across the Spree behind the Charité
On 17 August 1961 a person swam the Spree from behind the Charité hospital towards West Berlin. The Stasi said the confusing terrain there made the border very hard to secure.
17 August 1961
Günter D. crawls under the wire while his partner sleeps
On 17 August 1961 the police found that riot-police cadet Günter D. had crawled under the barbed wire at Grüneck in Altglienicke while the second guard on the post was asleep, taking a pistol without ammunition. It was discovered at 6.05 a.m.
17 August 1961
Out of No. 79, over the fence and into the soap shop opposite
In a report logged at 11.30 a.m. on 17 August 1961 the Treptow police recorded that a man had run out of Heidelberger Straße 79, jumped the barrier fence and gone into a soap shop on the opposite, West Berlin side of the street.
17 August 1961
A tipper lorry from the building site drives through the Sonnenallee crossing
At about 7.15 p.m. on 17 August 1961 a tipper lorry coming from the building site on the Heidekampweg drove through the Sonnenallee control point into West Berlin.
17 August 1961
A swimmer from Stralauer Allee is caught by works guards
In a report at 1.35 a.m. on 17 August 1961 the Friedrichshain police recorded that a man had jumped into the Spree at the level of Stralauer Allee to reach the western side, but had been caught by the works security on the grounds of 'VE BAW Treptow'.
18 August 1961
Two 'postal workers' cycle to the West
Five days after the border was sealed, two men in postal service uniforms told the guards at the Brunnenstraße crossing they had to check cable lines at the border, were let through, and simply cycled into West Berlin.
18 August 1961
A police sergeant swims the Teltow Canal
At 10.00 on 18 August 1961 Kurt Sch., an Oberwachtmeister in the Volkspolizei's Rummelsburg pioneer platoon, swam across the Teltow Canal to West Berlin, about 200 metres west of the Massante Bridge.
18 August 1961
Three wires cut at the Heidekampgraben
On 18 August 1961 a youth cut three strands of barbed wire at the Heidekampgraben near the Sonnenallee crossing and escaped. A family of three who tried to follow him through the gap was arrested.
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.
18 August 1961
Pulled out of the Spree at the Osthafen gate
At about 1 a.m. on 18 August 1961 a man jumped into the Spree at the gate of the Osthafen to swim to West Berlin; the works guards pulled him out.
18 August 1961
Gerhard B. is injured with a bayonet at Alte Jakobstraße
On the evening of 18 August 1961 Gerhard B., born 1942, tried to break through at control point 43 in Alte Jakobstraße; he resisted when being taken in and was injured with a bayonet.
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.
19 August 1961
A policeman crawls under the wire at mealtime
On 19 August 1961 Volkspolizei Wachtmeister Manfred B. crawled, while food was being handed out, under the barbed wire near the Sonnenallee crossing, in full kit and carrying a submachine gun. His fellow guard's weapon jammed.
19 August 1961
A Konsum delivery van rolls through the wire at Staaken
The guards knew the van – it regularly delivered to the Volkshaus restaurant – so nobody checked it until it sped up and drove over the wire barrier into West Berlin.
19 August 1961
Two policemen leave their carbines in Onckenstraße, then wave from a VW
Late on 19 August 1961 two riot policemen deserted from Onckenstraße in Treptow to West Berlin, leaving their carbines behind. Three days later they turned up at the Wiener Brücke in a Volkswagen and waved to a guard of their old unit.
19 August 1961
Two people caught at the cemetery wall in Scharnhorststraße
On 19 August 1961 two people were stopped trying to get over the wall of the cemetery in Scharnhorststraße into West Berlin.
20 August 1961
A militia man deserts from the wire detail at Zimmerstraße
On the morning of 20 August 1961 a member of a workers' militia unit, a DBD party official, left the wire detail he was working with at the corner of Zimmerstraße and Wilhelmstraße and went over to West Berlin without his weapon.
20 August 1961
Out of the window at the Brunnenstraße corner
At about 10.50 a.m. on 20 August 1961 two people left their flat on Bernauer Street at the Brunnenstraße corner through the windows and reached West Berlin.
20 August 1961
A married couple climbs out at the Wolliner Straße corner
At about 11 a.m. on 20 August 1961 a married couple escaped through the windows of their flat at the corner of Bernauer Straße and Wolliner Straße.
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.
20 August 1961
A man of about 19 jumps the wall and the wire at control point 17
At 7.30 p.m. on 20 August 1961 a man aged about 19 broke through at control point 17 in Prenzlauer Berg, jumping over the wall and the wire obstacle.
20 August 1961
Three people at Adalbertstraße turn back when the guards come
At 10.25 p.m. on 20 August 1961 three people tried to overcome the border fortifications in Adalbertstraße; when the guards approached they fled back into East Berlin and got away.
21 August 1961
The person in the white coat from the Charité
On 21 August 1961 a person in a white coat came out of the last gate of the Charité and jumped over the barrier into West Berlin while the guard had been called to the telephone.
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.
21 August 1961
From a lorry's radiator over the wire near control point 4
On the afternoon of 21 August 1961 a Hauptwachtmeister of the civil air-defence service, who was helping to build the border fence between control points 3 and 4, jumped from the radiator of a vehicle over the barbed wire towards West Berlin.
21 August 1961
Under the wire on the sewage fields between control points 3 and 4
At 9.10 p.m. on 21 August 1961 a riot-police post leader born in 1942, on duty on the sewage fields between control points 3 and 4, said he needed to relieve himself, pushed up the border wire and crawled through, taking his submachine gun and the post's logbook with him.
21 August 1961
A 63-year-old climbs out of her window as Harzer Straße is cleared
During the resettlement of residents in Harzer Straße, Treptow, in August 1961, a 63-year-old woman from No. 109 used the opportunity to climb out of the window and go to West Berlin.
22 August 1961
Ida Siekmann, first death at the Berlin Wall
Nine days after the border was sealed, 58-year-old Ida Siekmann 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.
22 August 1961
Over the wall at Boyenstraße, then a photo
On 22 August 1961 a man waited in the hallway of Boyenstraße 43 until a patrol had passed, then pulled himself up the new wall and jumped over. From the West Berlin side, he took photographs.
22 August 1961
A patrolman excuses himself at Kiefholzstraße and does not come back
Shortly after midnight on 22 August 1961 an Unterwachtmeister on patrol at the corner of Kiefholzstraße and Dammweg left his unit, saying he needed to relieve himself, and deserted.
22 August 1961
Two pioneers go through the fence they were building at Grüneck
On 22 August 1961 two riot-police pioneers who were putting up fences at the Grüneck allotments in Altglienicke went through the wire into West Berlin; the superior present could not stop them.
22 August 1961
The lorry with an unloading permit that did not stop
At about 11.50 a.m. on 22 August 1961 an old private lorry with a permit to unload at the Zimmerstraße/Wilhelmstraße control point was let through, did not stop, and drove on into West Berlin.
22 August 1961
A brewery tractor driver leaves the border works at Chausseestraße
On 22 August 1961 the driver of a tractor from the Schultheiss brewery, used for building the border fortifications at Chausseestraße, fled to West Berlin.
22 August 1961
A railway-works employee lowers himself on a rope in Onckenstraße
According to a Stasi report of 22 August 1961, a man who had worked at the Treptow railway repair works left his flat in Onckenstraße by means of a rope and went to West Berlin.
22 August 1961
Three surveyors near Wilhelmsruh station are collected by West Berlin customs
According to a Stasi report of 22 August 1961, three employees of the surveying office who were doing survey work near Wilhelmsruh S-Bahn station fled to the West, where a West Berlin customs vehicle picked them up.
22 August 1961
Belongings out of the window first: an escape from Bernauer Straße 3 or 4
On the evening of 22 August 1961 an unknown person threw belongings out of a window of Bernauer Straße 3 or 4 and fled to West Berlin.
23 August 1961
A painter runs from the doorway and jumps the Wall
Renovation work in the border houses carried on after 13 August; a painter working at Brunnenstraße 139 ran from the doorway and jumped the Wall four metres away.
23 August 1961
Two guards use a piece of fence as a ladder
Just after midnight on 23 August 1961 two Bereitschaftspolizei men posted in the courtyard of Kremmener Straße 5 leaned a piece of fence against the wall and climbed over to West Berlin with their weapons.
23 August 1961
The chauffeur who was looking for his ring
On 23 August 1961 a workers' militia driver in uniform pulled up at the Dresdner Straße checkpoint and told the police he had lost his ring there. While pretending to look for it, he jumped over the wall.
23 August 1961
Sent to put flower bowls on the Wall
At 11.05 on 23 August 1961 a 30-year-old worker who was supposed to set up flower bowls on the barrier wall at the Brandenburg Gate escaped to the West, hidden from view by a lorry.
23 August 1961
Both legs broken: a jump from Harzer Straße 110
On the evening of 23 August 1961 a young man slipped into Harzer Straße 110 by a back entrance and jumped from the second-floor stairwell window into West Berlin, breaking both legs.
23 August 1961
An engine driver uses the night shunting at Staaken station
At 2.30 a.m. on 23 August 1961 an engine driver from Wustermark took advantage of shunting work at Staaken station, then on the GDR side of the border, and crossed into West Berlin.
23 August 1961
Two volunteer firemen from Groß Kreuz leave the border works at Kleinmachnow
Two members of the Groß Kreuz volunteer fire brigade, who had signed up to help build the border fortifications, went over to West Berlin near the Kleinmachnow/Ost control point on the morning of 23 August 1961.
23 August 1961
A man with a bicycle climbs the barrier at Glienicke/Nordbahn
On 23 August 1961 an unknown man approached the border at Glienicke/Nordbahn with a bicycle and was over the barrier before the guard could react.
23 August 1961
Over the wire with a ladder at Groß Ziethen
On 23 August 1961 an unknown man used a ladder to climb the border barrier at Groß Ziethen, south of Berlin, and got into West Berlin.
23 August 1961
A breakthrough from a garden on Am Waldrand, Klein Glienicke
On 23 August 1961 the border was broken through from the property Am Waldrand 2–3 in Klein Glienicke, a garden that directly adjoined West Berlin.
23 August 1961
A train on the bridge: a guard slips away at control point 4
Late on 23 August 1961 an Unterwachtmeister guarding the railway bridge at control point 4 used the moment his partner went under the bridge and a train passed over it to desert to West Berlin, where West Berlin police radio cars picked him up.
23 August 1961
A lorry driver delivering building material jumps the barrier wall
At 7.30 a.m. on 23 August 1961 a lorry driver born in 1940, who was bringing building material to a control point, left his cab and jumped over the barrier wall into West Berlin.
23 August 1961
A bricklayer painting the wall's coping stones jumps down on the other side
At 9 a.m. on 23 August 1961 a bricklayer born in 1942, who had been sent to paint the coping stones of the wall at control point 51, was standing on top of it – and jumped down into West Berlin.
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.
23 August 1961
Two men of about 18 climb the wall to the goods yard at Eberswalder Straße
At 12.30 a.m. on 23 August 1961 two men of about 18 climbed over the wall to the goods yard at Eberswalder Straße, heading west.
23 August 1961
Horst P. and Wolfgang R. are caught swimming at the Treptower Brücke
Before 4.20 a.m. on 23 August 1961 two men born in 1940 were found swimming in the water at the Treptower Brücke, trying to get to West Berlin, and were arrested.
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.
24 August 1961
Two masons sent to measure the wall climb it
On the morning of 24 August 1961 two masons who had been sent to take measurements at the wall of the Liesenstraße cemetery climbed over it into West Berlin. A third was stopped.
24 August 1961
Detlef M. and Herbert Z. try the Wall at Ruppiner Straße
Eleven days after the border was sealed, two men tried to climb the new Wall at the corner of Schönholzer and Ruppiner Straße and were arrested.
24 August 1961
Three jump from the second floor of Bernauer Straße 20
At about 2.10 a.m. on 24 August 1961 two men and a woman jumped from a second-floor window of Bernauer Straße 20 directly onto West Berlin ground; the woman was hurt.
24 August 1961
Posing as bricklayers at the Fritz-Heckert-Straße wall
Early on 24 August 1961 two people in bricklayers' clothes told the guards at the Fritz-Heckert-Straße control point that they belonged to the bricklayers' brigade or had been sent to repair the border fortifications – and then got over the wall.
24 August 1961
Allowed to chat at the border, two people cross
On 24 August 1961 a riot-police lieutenant at the Chausseestraße control point let two GDR citizens talk to West Berliners right at the border line. They used the chance to cross.
24 August 1961
Günter Litfin – shot swimming the Humboldthafen
On 24 August 1961 tailor Günter Litfin, born 1937, tried to swim across the Humboldthafen and became the first refugee killed by targeted shots at the Berlin Wall.
25 August 1961
A volunteer fireman slips away through the Eiskeller
A member of the Nauen volunteer fire brigade, which was doing engineering ('pioneer') work in the area, fled to West Berlin through the Eiskeller exclave on the morning of 25 August 1961.
25 August 1961
A young man mingles with the builders at the Oberbaumbrücke
On 25 August 1961 a young man of 18 to 20 slipped in among the construction workers at the Oberbaumbrücke control point and got away to West Berlin while the guards were not paying attention.
25 August 1961
Two unsworn policemen leave with their carbines between Dammweg and Karpfenteichstraße
Between 7.57 and 8 a.m. on 25 August 1961 two riot policemen who had not yet been sworn in deserted together from their post between Dammweg and Karpfenteichstraße, taking their carbines and ammunition.
25 August 1961
Put back on the front line against advice, a policeman deserts at Harzer Straße
At about 3 p.m. on 25 August 1961 a riot policeman deserted from a patrol at Harzer Straße and Onckenstraße. Three days earlier the Stasi had told his battalion commander to keep him out of the front line, but the commander had put him back there against his company commander's advice.
25 August 1961
A group leader sends his partner away at the Britzer Brücke
At about 0.30 a.m. on 25 August 1961 a riot-police group leader at the Britzer Brücke control point sent his second man off after an officer on a flimsy excuse and used the moment to desert.
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.
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.
26 August 1961
A Bewag worker who had spent ten days at the border crosses at Chausseestraße
At about 10.45 a.m. on 26 August 1961 a Bewag worker, who had been doing jobs right at the border for ten days, fled at Chausseestraße.
26 August 1961
A man and a woman swim the Teltow Canal near the Späthbrücke
At about 4.30 p.m. on 26 August 1961 a woman and a man swam across the Teltow Canal near the Späthbrücke into West Berlin.
26 August 1961
Round the guards at Heidelberger Straße
At about 6.15 p.m. on 26 August 1961 a man and a woman got into West Berlin in Heidelberger Straße by going round the posts; at the same time another woman broke through the barrier there.
27 August 1961
An unknown man over the wall at Swinemünder Straße
At about 4.10 p.m. on 27 August 1961 an unknown man climbed the barrier wall at the Swinemünder Straße control point and escaped into West Berlin.
27 August 1961
A railway policeman at Bornholmer Straße asks to relieve himself and is gone
At about 3.30 a.m. on 27 August 1961 an Oberwachtmeister of the railway police on duty at the Bornholmer Straße control point told his superior he needed to relieve himself and did not return, taking his carbine, pistol and truncheon.
28 August 1961
Dieter R. jumps from Bruno P.'s 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.
28 August 1961
A policeman sends his partner to watch the West Berlin police car, then climbs the fence
At 1.25 a.m. on 28 August 1961 a riot policeman on double patrol in Heidelberger Straße told his partner to go and see what a West Berlin police car was doing, climbed the fence while he was gone and was driven away by the West Berlin police. He was probably Burghardt A., born in 1943.
28 August 1961
A night patrol at Kiefholzstraße does not come back
At about 3 a.m. on 28 August 1961 two riot policemen patrolling Kiefholzstraße in Treptow deserted together, half an hour after their last check.
29 August 1961
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.
29 August 1961
A building worker at Melchiorstraße jumps the wall
On 29 August 1961 a man who was taking part in building work at the corner of Melchiorstraße and Adalbertstraße jumped over the wall.
29 August 1961
A mother climbs the wall at Lohmühlenstraße with her child, helped from the West
On 29 August 1961 a woman climbed over the wall at Lohmühlenstraße in Treptow with her child while people on the West Berlin side helped her.
29 August 1961
Called over from the West, a guard at Sebastianstraße goes
On 29 August 1961 a riot policeman guarding Sebastianstraße, urged from the West Berlin side to come over 'before it is too late', deserted as soon as his partner turned away.
29 August 1961
Roland Hoff – shot in the Teltow Canal
Five days after Günter Litfin's death, 27-year-old Roland Hoff jumped into the Teltow Canal with a briefcase under his arm and was killed by border police gunfire.
30 August 1961
Two 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.
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.
30 August 1961
A gardener breaks through from the unguarded water-authority site on the Teltow Canal
At about 6.40 a.m. on 30 August 1961 a gardener working on a water-authority site right on the Teltow Canal in Baumschulenweg crossed into West Berlin; the site had neither guards nor barriers.
30 August 1961
A pioneer crawler driver uses his job in the Tanneberg allotments
At about 9.30 a.m. on 30 August 1961 the driver of a pioneer crawler tractor who was working in the 'Tanneberg' allotment colony in Johannisthal, on the Britzer Zweigkanal, used the job to cross into West Berlin.
30 August 1961
Out of the corner pub and over the wall at Markgrafenstraße
At about 1 p.m. on 30 August 1961 a man walked out of the pub on the corner of Zimmerstraße and Markgrafenstraße and climbed over the wall while the patrol was on the other side of the street.
30 August 1961
Standing 150 metres from his partner, a policeman crosses at the Köllnische Heide
At about 1 p.m. on 30 August 1961 a riot policeman who, against orders, was standing about 150 metres from his partner in broken ground at the Köllnische Heide deserted to West Berlin.
30 August 1961
Two patrolmen at Kiefholzstraße had told their comrades the day before
At about 8.35 a.m. on 30 August 1961 two riot policemen deserted during a patrol on Kiefholzstraße. They had told two comrades of their plan the day before; the two had kept quiet and were arrested afterwards.
31 August 1961
A patrol leader at Schönwalde deserts with his carbine
On the morning of 31 August 1961 a Border Police lance corporal born in 1940 deserted from his post near Schönwalde with his carbine and 60 rounds; the Stasi listed him among the desertions to West Berlin.
31 August 1961
Two youths leave the Volkshaus Staaken through the cloakroom window
At 3.45 p.m. on 31 August 1961 two youths climbed out of the cloakroom window of the Volkshaus in Staaken, made for the border fence and were over it before the guard alerted by a signal device arrived.
31 August 1961
A former FU student cuts the fence at the Nibelungenweg
At about 6.50 p.m. on 31 August 1961 a man born in 1939 who had been a student at the Free University in West Berlin cut through the wire fence at the Nibelungenweg in Altglienicke; the guards noticed only when he was already in the West.
31 August 1961
Alone on his post at Schönholz, an unsworn recruit leaves his weapon and helmet
At about 8 p.m. on 31 August 1961 a riot-police recruit born in 1943, not yet sworn in and standing a post on his own at Provinzstraße in Schönholz, left his weapon, ammunition and helmet behind and deserted.
September 1961
Eight people escape over the Flutgraben from the VEB OLW works
According to a Stasi report of 14 September 1961, eight people had fled 'in recent days' from the grounds of VEB OLW in Treptow across the Flutgraben to West Berlin, and two more were arrested trying. The works' building on the channel was itself part of the border.
September 1961
Sent to help build the Wall, Albrecht Roos crawls under the fence from Falkensee to Spandau
Sent by the Kalinin engineering school for agricultural technology to help build the Wall, Albrecht Roos used a meal break, said he felt sick and crawled under the barbed wire through a ditch, crossing from Falkensee into Spandau in September 1961.
September 1961
Ingrid crosses at Friedrichstraße on her fiancé's sister's US passport
In late September 1961 a graduate student in West Berlin walked his East Berlin fiancée, her hair dyed to match the photo, through the Friedrichstraße/Zimmerstraße crossing on his sister's US passport.
1 September 1961
Three teenagers from Legebruch run for the border – one gets through
Shortly after midnight on 1 September 1961 three young people from Legebruch tried to break through at Hennigsdorf; guards fired 27 shots, arrested a girl and a boy, and the third youth reached West Berlin.
1 September 1961
A farmer's family leaves horse, cart and bicycles at the cut wire
On the evening of 1 September 1961 a farmer, his wife and their two children cut through the wire in the Groß Glienicke border sector and reached West Berlin, leaving a horse and cart and three bicycles behind.
2 September 1961
Over the barbed wire and the stone wall at Markgrafenstraße
At about 4 p.m. on 2 September 1961 a man of about 20 got over the barbed-wire obstacle and the stone wall at the corner of Markgrafenstraße and Zimmerstraße while the guard was not paying attention.
2 September 1961
Two air-defence men building the second line at Klemkestraße cross over
At the beginning of September 1961 two members of the civil air-defence service who were building barriers behind the first line at the Klemkestraße control point deserted to West Berlin; the guards could not stop them.
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 were already in the West and jumped from its window.
3 September 1961
A woman rides her bicycle up to the fence at the Rudower Chaussee and climbs over
At about 1.30 p.m. on 3 September 1961 a woman from Adlershof cycled up to the wire fence at the Rudower Chaussee control point and was over it before the guards could step in, leaving her bicycle, handbag and identity card behind.
3 September 1961
A policeman crawls through the fence at Treptower Straße
At 11.20 p.m. on 3 September 1961 a riot-police Unterwachtmeister crawled through the barrier fence at Treptower Straße onto West Berlin ground.
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.
5 September 1961
Two women and a child jump from a first-floor flat in Waldemarstraße
On 5 September 1961 two women with a child jumped from a first-floor flat in Waldemarstraße onto West Berlin territory.
6 September 1961
Günter Tr. climbs the Wall with a company ladder
An employee of the Murante firm in the border zone went to work as usual and then, with a woman smuggled in by a colleague, climbed the Wall on a company ladder; the colleague was arrested.
6 September 1961
Two guards let a woman with a baby through at the Puschkinallee
A woman whose husband was waiting on the other side asked a guard to let her through. He told her to come back after dark – and at 8.30 p.m. she crossed with a four-month-old child and a boy.
6 September 1961
Down a rope from the third floor of Dresdener Straße 114
On 6 September 1961 two people let themselves down on a rope from their third-floor flat at Dresdener Straße 114 onto West Berlin ground.
8 September 1961
A young man dashes from a bakery while a photographer distracts the guards
While sentries were checking the papers of an East Berlin magazine photographer, a young man stepped out of a bakery by the Wall and climbed over.
8 September 1961
A Barkas van breaks through at the Brandenburg Gate
At 2.50 in the morning a Barkas van drove at about 70 km/h through the right-hand side of the Brandenburg Gate, which was secured with metal poles, and stopped on the western side.
10 September 1961
A couple from Potsdam swims the Havel with their infant son in a rubber tub
Early on 10 September 1961 a young couple from Potsdam swam across the Havel into West Berlin, pushing their 18-month-old son across the river in a rubber tub, the New York Times reported.
10 September 1961
A lorry feints a turn, then ploughs through the Wall at Adalbertstraße
Two men in an H 6 lorry signalled a turn into Fritz-Heckert-Straße, then accelerated, forced a guard to jump aside and broke through the Wall into Kreuzberg.
10 September 1961
Four riot-police pioneers walk off during the breakfast break at Stolpe-Süd
On 10 September 1961 four men of the pioneer platoon of the Potsdam riot-police training unit, deployed on engineering work at Stolpe-Süd, crossed into West Berlin during their breakfast break; a fifth turned back and reported them.
10 September 1961
Policeman Gerd Sommerlatte flees at the Brandenburg Gate and is kidnapped back
Posted to the Brandenburg Gate after the border closed, an 18-year-old policeman fled across the wire with his weapon rather than risk having to shoot at people. Less than three weeks later the Stasi had him abducted back to East Berlin.
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.
12 September 1961
A 56-year-old jumps from the third floor of Harzer Straße 113 into the fire brigade's sheet
At about 9.20 a.m. on 12 September 1961 a 56-year-old woman jumped from the third floor of Harzer Straße 113 into a jumping sheet held ready by the West Berlin fire brigade.
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.
13 September 1961 – 14 October 1961
'Glockengasse 4711': the sewer route under the Alte Jakobstraße
In the weeks after the Wall went up, student escape helpers led East Berliners through a sewer from Mitte to Kreuzberg. A memorial plaque puts the number at about 500; other research counts about 150.
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 tried to stop her with a warning shot and West Berlin police fired tear-gas cartridges at him, 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
Truck driver Heinz K. over the glass-topped wall
A driver for the Murante firm, which lay inside the border area, hid his truck between site huts and climbed a five-metre wall topped with broken glass.
22 September 1961
Selma P. and her son Peter W. jump from the third floor
After telling 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 jumps from the second floor of Bernauer Straße 16
On two consecutive days in September 1961 a man jumped from the second floor of Bernauer Straße 16 into the West: an unknown man on the 23rd, another man into a fire brigade net on the 24th.
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.
24 September 1961
West Berlin youths cut the fence at the Dammweg for a woman and her child
On 24 September 1961 young West Berliners cut through the border fence at the Dammweg control point from the western side, allowing a woman and her child to escape.
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.
25 September 1961
Out in American uniform jackets on a US sightseeing bus
On 25 September 1961 several young people boarded American buses at the Soviet War Memorial in Treptow, put on American uniform jackets inside and were taken into West Berlin unhindered.
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.
27 September 1961
US Army helicopters fly seven refugees out of Steinstücken
Seven people who had slipped into the tiny West Berlin exclave of Steinstücken were flown out to West Berlin in two US Army helicopters.
28 September 1961
Joachim Rudolph through the Tegeler Fließ
On 28 September 1961 the student Joachim Rudolph and a friend crossed a green field from Schildow in the GDR and waded through the Tegeler Fließ, the border stream, into Lübars in West Berlin. A year later he helped dig Tunnel 29.
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 pair 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.
October 1961
Peter Hertel's forged BEWAG order and a gas worker's ladder
An East Berlin electricity worker talked his way into a border house with a forged order to remove meters, let himself down on a rope from the third floor and, when the rope ran out, climbed onto a ladder a gas-company worker propped against the wall.
October 1961
Michael Synowzik through the sewer under Checkpoint Charlie
In October 1961 the schoolboy Michael Synowzik escaped from East Berlin with his father through the sewers under the Zimmerstraße at Checkpoint Charlie, a month after his older brother had fled through the sewers.
2 October 1961 – 3 October 1961
Helgard Bromberger and four others through a rainwater sewer from Spittelmarkt
In the night of 2 to 3 October 1961 Helgard Bromberger, her friend Helga and three young men climbed into a rainwater sewer near Spittelmarkt, went through a hole in a grating that blocked the pipe and came up near Moritzplatz in West Berlin.
3 October 1961
A Tatra crane lorry breaks through at Heinrich-Heine-Straße
Just before the checkpoint a building firm's crane lorry swung into Dresdner Straße, crashed through the border wall between two new blocks and raced into Kreuzberg under machine-pistol fire.
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.
4 October 1961
Three men try to escape through the sewer under Ackerstraße
Border policemen arrested three men who had already opened a manhole cover on Ackerstraße; two of them were already inside the sewer.
5 October 1961
Udo Düllick – drowned under fire in the Spree
Railway worker Udo Düllick tried to swim the Spree at the Oberbaumbrücke around midnight; chased by gunfire, he drowned just short of the western bank.
6 October 1961
Sewer escape helper Carl-August von Halle walks into a Stasi trap
A West Berlin architecture student who had helped East Germans escape through the sewers was lured into a trap by a Stasi informer and arrested at Friedrichstraße station.
6 October 1961
Anita L. and Erna M. are caught in the attic with a washing line
Two women who planned to let themselves down to the West on a washing line were arrested in the attic of Swinemünder Straße 24.
7 October 1961
Klaus Sch. comes through the cemetery and is caught in Bernauer Straße 10
A Swinemünder Straße resident got into the border house at Bernauer Straße 10 through the Elisabeth cemetery, meaning to flee, and was arrested there.
12 October 1961
A policeman who fled in the night is searched for in a railway keeper’s house at Wilhelmsruh
At about 3 a.m. on 12 October 1961 ten East German Vopo men crossed into West Berlin at Wilhelmsruh S-Bahn station to search an inhabited railway keeper's house for a Vopo who had fled during the night; West Berlin police sent them back.
12 October 1961
Eleven try the sewer pipe at Wolfswerder 3 – three get through
On 12 October 1961 a group of eleven people tried to escape from the property at Wolfswerder 3 in Kleinmachnow through a sewer pipe that led into West Berlin. Three reached the West; eight were arrested.
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; none of them was hit.
14 October 1961
Werner Probst – shot at the West Berlin ladder
Truck driver Werner Probst swam the Spree at night near the Schillingbrücke and was hit by gunfire as he climbed the ladder on the West Berlin quay wall.
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, called West Berlin police over, who directed 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, whose fiancée lived in the West, jumped from a first-floor window in an unguarded moment.
18 October 1961
A doctor from Hohen Neuendorf cuts both fences and drives through
On 18 October 1961 a woman doctor who lived right at the border in Hohen Neuendorf cut through both barrier fences and the concertina wire and drove her car, with two other people, into West Berlin.
21 October 1961
Hasso Herschel leaves on a Swiss passport
Weeks after the Wall went up, the later tunnel builder Hasso Herschel left East Berlin on someone else's Swiss passport and immediately began looking for a way to get his sister out.
22 October 1961
Dog handler Werner K. slips away over the cemetery wall
While training his successor as a dog handler in the Sophien cemetery, Private Werner K. made an excuse to leave his comrade and disappeared over the wall.
23 October 1961
Border policeman Lutz M. jumps from Bernauer Straße 2
A border policeman who found the prospect of shooting at refugees unbearable slipped away from his post, broke into an evacuated flat at Bernauer Straße 2 and jumped to the western pavement.
24 October 1961
Through the sewer from the stadium yard to Chausseestraße
On 24 October 1961 three people sawed through the grate of a sewer shaft in the service yard of East Berlin's Walter-Ulbricht-Stadion, went down, and climbed out of a manhole in Chausseestraße on the West Berlin side.
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.
4 November 1961
Günter A. climbs the Wall under machine-pistol fire
While three guards stood together 40 metres from the Wall, Günter A. ran from the Kobold works to the Wall at Brunnenstraße; possibly hit by a burst of fire, he fell back, got up, climbed again and dropped into the West.
5 November 1961
Nine get through the wire between the Pankow cemetery and Schönholz
On 5 November 1961 thirty East Germans tried to get through the barbed wire between the Pankow cemetery and the Schönholz freight yard into West Berlin. A border guard's fire disrupted the attempt, and only nine, five men and four children, got across, the New York Times reported.
14 November 1961
Armoured pre-war Opel at Chausseestraße
Five East Berliners drove an armoured pre-war Opel P4 through the Chausseestraße crossing under heavy fire and reached West Berlin unhurt.
20 November 1961
Swimmers under fire at the Schillingbrücke reach the West Berlin bank
Shortly before 1 a.m. on 20 November 1961 the Spree was swum under fire at the Schillingbrücke. A Stasi report speaks of one man, injured by shots from the water police boat 'Toni 132'; the West Berlin police recorded three men who reached West Berlin, one of them wounded, and the fire brigade took them to hospital.
22 November 1961
Bernd Sp. leaves only his briefcase behind
Unseen by the guards, Bernd Sp. came from the Kobold works, used a door propped against a yard wall and climbed the Wall; the briefcase he left behind, found the next morning, allowed the guards to reconstruct his escape and identity.
26 November 1961
Lothar Lehmann – a young policeman swims from Sacrow
A 19-year-old member of the Groß Glienicke readiness police slipped into the Havel at Sacrow wearing a life jacket; the cold water caused a shock and he died after being pulled out by guards.
3 December 1961
Two adults and three children cut the wire near Dreilinden
On 3 December 1961 two adults and three children escaped near the Dreilinden control point on the autobahn at Drewitz after cutting through the barbed wire unnoticed by the guards; the breakthrough was discovered at about 6.50 p.m.
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 jumped down about seven metres.
5 December 1961
The last train to freedom
Locomotive driver Harry Deterling drove a passenger train at speed through the terminus at Albrechtshof and across the border into West Berlin.
6 December 1961
Gefreiter K. climbs the Wall behind a sight screen at Strelitzer Straße
Posted directly at the Wall, out of his squad leader's sight behind a screen, a transferred riot policeman climbed over just after midday.
9 December 1961
Dieter Wohlfahrt, escape helper shot at Staaken
A 20-year-old West Berlin resident with Austrian citizenship was shot while cutting through the border fence at Staaken to help a woman escape; he had been lured into an ambush and lay for more than an hour in the border strip without help.
10 December 1961 – 11 December 1961
Ingo Krüger – a diver's attempt to reach his fiancée
Separated from his West Berlin fiancée by the Wall, a 21-year-old cook and sport diver entered the Spree in diving gear near Friedrichstraße station; he drowned, and she watched from the far bank as a body was pulled from the water.
19 December 1961
Georg Feldhahn – a border policeman's escape at the Massante Bridge
A 20-year-old border policeman on patrol at the Teltow Canal slipped away towards the bridge to West Berlin and vanished; the GDR assumed he had escaped, until his body was found in the canal in March 1962.
19 December 1961
The Pankow Cemetery Tunnel
A young East Berlin bride, separated from her West Berlin husband by the Wall, crawled to freedom through a short tunnel whose entrance was hidden behind a gravestone.
21 December 1961
Joachim Neumann's Swiss passport
Engineering student Joachim Neumann dyed his hair, filled his pockets with Swiss odds and ends and played an aloof Swiss tourist to pass the Friedrichstraße checkpoint on a Swiss passport supplied through West Berlin student escape helpers.
25 December 1961
Michael Mara and a fellow patrol leader climb the wire at Kohlhasenbrück on Christmas morning
A young editor called up for border duty after 13 August 1961 fled on Christmas morning 1961 with a fellow soldier, climbing the wire away from the Kohlhasenbrück checkpoint and running into a West Berlin police hut still carrying his carbine.
29 December 1961
The boot left in the barbed wire
A border guard climbed the Sophien cemetery wall into West Berlin; when he got stuck in the barbed wire, two West Berlin policemen pulled him over, leaving one of his boots behind.
