1989
13 January 1989
Ingolf Diederichs dies jumping from an S-Bahn at Bösebrücke
The 24-year-old climbed out of a moving S-Bahn train with a home-made folding ladder near the Bornholmer Straße crossing, got caught on the train and was killed.
5 February 1989
Chris Gueffroy, the last person shot dead at the Wall
Chris Gueffroy, 20, and his friend Christian Gaudian tried to climb the border fences at the Britzer Zweigkanal, believing the order to shoot had been lifted; Gueffroy was shot through the heart and Gaudian was wounded and arrested.
8 March 1989
Winfried Freudenberg's fatal gas balloon flight
The last person to die at the Berlin Wall: Winfried Freudenberg crossed into West Berlin in a home-made natural-gas balloon but was killed when it came down in Zehlendorf.
10 March 1989
Tipper truck and ladder in Staaken
Three men tried to flatten the border fences in Staaken with a tipper truck and climb the Wall with a ladder, but the truck stuck in the second fence and one of them was shot.
8 April 1989
Jan-Michael G.'s truck is caught in a cable barrier
Seven months before the Wall fell, a heavy truck smashed through both service gates at Ruppiner Straße but was stopped by a cable barrier designed to catch lorries.
26 April 1989
Stolen truck stuck in the death strip at Glienicke
A 21-year-old steelworker broke through the inner wall with a stolen truck but got stuck in the sand of the death strip after hitting a lamp post.
9 May 1989
Citroën at the Stolpe crossing
A 27-year-old fitter drove a Citroën through the first barrier at Stolpe at 80 km/h, losing the car's roof, before crashing into the base of a second barrier.
26 May 1989
Ultralight flight from Treptower Park to the Reichstag
Two brothers who had already fled flew ultralight aircraft from West Berlin into Treptower Park at dawn, picked up their youngest brother Egbert and landed in front of the Reichstag.
29 June 1989
Škoda through three barriers at Mahlow
A 27-year-old electrician approached the Mahlow crossing at walking pace, then accelerated through three barriers before crashing into a heavy crash barrier.
8 August 1989
Trabant caught by a steel cable at Drewitz
Three months before the Wall fell, a 33-year-old man from Belzig drove his Trabant into the Drewitz crossing, where a steel cable barrier stopped him.
15 August 1989
Army truck overturned at Stolpe
A 28-year-old man drove a ZIL-131 truck through several gates at the Stolpe crossing until it overturned against another barrier.
