1988
From 1 March 1988 West Berliners' day trips to East Berlin could last 48 hours, but on 23 February the Politburo had decided to handle GDR citizens' Western travel more restrictively, noting that 3,009 travellers had used such trips to flee in 1987.12 On 30 September the defence minister, Heinz Keßler, told Die Zeit there had "never" been an order to shoot; on 19 December Honecker told the departing Permanent Representative that if shots were still fired, they were warning shots (translated).34
Most of the 1988 records here date from August and September, and many ended without a shot: on 21 August four swimmers crossed the Spree by the Reichstag while the crew of a patrol boat held their fire,5 and in September two metalworkers set off the alarm lights at Buckow and were not stopped. Earlier, on 10 March, three men had driven a truck of gas cylinders through four barriers on the Glienicke Bridge, and no shots were fired.2
Sources for this text
- Chronik 1988: FebruarChronik der Mauer
- Chronik 1988: MärzChronik der Mauer
- Chronik 1988: SeptemberChronik der Mauer
- Chronik 1988: DezemberChronik der Mauer
- Chronik 1988: AugustChronik der Mauer
Checked October 2026. Facts taken from an escape record on this site link to that record, which lists its own sources.
12 events: 8 successful escapes, 1 partly successful escape and 3 failed attempts. At least 19 people reached the West in these events.
10 March 1988
Truck full of gas cylinders over the Glienicke Bridge
Three men drove a truck disguised as a hazardous-goods transport and loaded with 92 empty gas cylinders through four barriers on the Glienicke Bridge. It was the first successful escape over the bridge.
19 April 1988
Building cleaner's window-ladder escape
A 31-year-old building cleaner used a window-cleaning ladder to cross every barrier from Treptow into Neukölln while two guards fired 18 shots at him without a hit.
16 July 1988
Over the gate and into the control area at Checkpoint Charlie
A 23-year-old lorry driver working on Berlin building sites climbed a gate and a wire fence and tried to get through the control area at Checkpoint Charlie. People on the western viewing platform watched his arrest, and Western media published photos taken from there.
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.
31 August 1988
Guards shoot at a tipper truck approaching the Chausseestraße crossing
Two young men and a woman drove a tipper truck towards the Chausseestraße crossing; East German guards fired three to six shots and the three were led away, apparently unhurt.
2 September 1988
Two men swim the Havel with a patrol boat behind them
In the early hours of 2 September 1988 two men swam across the Havel in the north of Berlin and reached West Berlin unhurt, although a GDR border patrol boat chased them.
3 September 1988
Two border guards cross from the Potsdam district to Kladow
On 3 September 1988 two members of the GDR border troops on duty in the Potsdam district crossed into Kladow, in the south-west of West Berlin.
5 September 1988
Two young metalworkers set off the alarm lights and still get through at Buckow
At 3.20 a.m. on 5 September 1988 two metalworkers aged 18 and 21 climbed the barriers between the Groß Ziethen allotment colony and Buckow; they triggered the alarm lights but the guards did not stop them.
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.
28 September 1988
Two get over the Wall at Bethaniendamm under fire; their companion is caught
At about 12.30 p.m. on 28 September 1988 two East Berliners aged 20 and 21 climbed the Wall at Bethaniendamm into Kreuzberg despite shots; a 20-year-old woman who wanted to go with them was arrested.
29 September 1988
A man and a woman swim the Havel to Heiligensee in the dark
Before dawn on 29 September 1988 a 34-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman swam about 450 yards across the Havel from near Nieder Neuendorf to Heiligensee, eluding a GDR patrol boat; a passer-by took them to the nearest police station.
28 November 1988
A border guard disables his partner's gun and crosses at Ostpreußendamm
On 28 November 1988 a member of the GDR border troops fled to West Berlin with his weapon at the Ostpreußendamm in Steglitz, after removing the bolt from his patrol partner's submachine gun.