Buzz
Despite the East German authorities reinforcing the barrier with watchtowers, guard dogs, and even nail beds, some daring individuals found extraordinary ways to escape across the border.
1. Via a High-Wire Act
In early 1963, Horst Klein, an East German acrobat, executed one of the most audacious escapes over the wall. Utilizing his acrobatic expertise, Klein transformed an unused high-tension cable spanning the wall into his escape route. Suspended 60 feet above patrolling guards, he traversed hand-over-hand. When his arms tired, he hoisted his body onto the cable and painstakingly inched forward. Though his landing was less than elegant—a fall from the cable—he successfully reached West Berlin.
2. Via a Zip Line
On March 31, 1983, Michael Becker and Holger Bethke elevated Klein’s concept by harnessing gravity for their escape. They ascended to the attic of a five-story building on the eastern side of the wall and launched an arrow tied to a thin fishing line over a West Berlin building. An accomplice retrieved the arrow and pulled in the line, which was connected to a heavier fishing line and then to a quarter-inch steel cable. Once the cable was secured to a chimney on the western side, Becker and Bethke slid across using wooden pulleys.
3. No Windshield Needed
On May 5, 1963, Heinz Meixner, an Austrian lathe operator, approached Checkpoint Charlie in his red Austin Healey Sprite convertible, which was conspicuously missing its windshield. (A thorough inspection would have also revealed his mother concealed in the trunk.) When directed to stop at a customs shed, Meixner accelerated abruptly and ducked, allowing his low-profile car to glide under the three-foot-high barrier separating East and West.
4. A Passport Courtesy of Hef
A 1986 Los Angeles Times article by Gordon E. Rowley recounted Meixner’s daring car escape and also highlighted a surprisingly simple border-crossing tactic. Rowley noted that some individuals merely showed their Munich Playboy Club membership cards to the guards. These cards bore such a striking resemblance to diplomatic passports that the guards frequently allowed them to pass without further scrutiny.
5. Aboard a High-Speed Train
While ingenuity played a role in many escapes, sheer force was also effective in the wall’s early years. In December 1961, Harry Deterling, a 27-year-old train engineer, commandeered what he called 'the last train to freedom.' Instead of slowing down as the train neared the barrier, Deterling accelerated to full speed, smashing through the wall.
The train came to a halt in Spandau, a borough of West Berlin, enabling Deterling, seven family members, and 16 other passengers to stay in the West. However, the train’s engineer and six other passengers opted to return to East Germany.
6. Via a Hot Air Balloon
The 1979 escape by Hans Strelczyk and Gunter Wetzel seemed like a scene from a comic book. Strelczyk, a mechanic, and Wetzel, a mason, combined their skills to construct a hot air balloon engine using old propane cylinders. Their wives stitched together a balloon from canvas scraps and bedsheets. On September 16, 1979, the two couples and their four children ascended to 8,000 feet, drifting over the wall to freedom.
7. Through a Timeworn Tunnel
In May 1962, a group of twelve escaped East Germany via Der Seniorentunnel, or 'the Senior Citizens’ Tunnel.' Spearheaded by an 81-year-old, the elderly team spent 16 days digging a 160-foot-long, 6-foot-tall tunnel from an East German chicken coop to the other side of the wall. One digger remarked that the tunnel’s height allowed them to 'walk to freedom with our wives, comfortably and unbowed.'
8. Disguised in Uniform
While movies often depict East German border guards as unfeeling enforcers, many were equally eager to flee. A key advantage of their role was the ability to cross the border undetected, and numerous guards took this opportunity. Over 1,300 guards defected within the wall’s first two years.
The most renowned escape was executed by 19-year-old guard Conrad Schumann on August 15, 1961, merely three days after the wall’s construction began. At that time, the 'wall' consisted of barbed wire piles, which Schumann vaulted over in full uniform, carrying his machine gun. A photographer immortalized his mid-air leap, turning it into a defining Cold War image. Schumann later relocated to Bavaria, working as a machine operator, but tragically took his own life in 1998.
