The Ten Greatest Berlin Wall Escapes

On November 9th, 1989 the famous wall that divided East and West Berlin was finally removed, reuniting families, friends and countrymen that had been apart for 28 years. The wall had gone up almost overnight, isolating a small part of West Germany inside the Soviet run East Germany. The wall was a 155 km in length and included segments of concrete dividers, wire mesh fencing, anti-vehicle trenches, 20 bunkers and 302 watchtowers.

For 28 years, defectors of East Germany sought to escape to West Berlin by making their way over, under and even through the blockade. Once they arrived in West Berlin, they were able to fly to other democratic states in Europe, effectively escaping the Sovietization of East Germany. The daring few that made it across were seen as escape heroes, with many having their stories immortalized on film.

This week Krakit, Vancouver's Escape Game, would like to highlight ten, incredibly brave, successful escape attempts made by East Germans defecting to West Berlin:

10. End of the Line

On December 5th, 1961, Harry Deterling drove a passenger train across an unused portion of track into West Berlin. His immediate family and a few friends accompanied Harry. The railway line was blocked the following day.

9. Water Bed

Ingo Bethke used an air mattress to make his watery escape across the River Elbe. To get to the river, Bethke and a friend had to navigate a minefield, a metal fence and a trip wire installation. Sounds like the mattress rafting was the least dangerous element to their escape.

8. Love in a Convertible

Heinz Meixner, an Austrian working in East Berlin, came up with a plan to get his girlfriend out of the country. He rented a small convertible and removed the front windshield. He then lowered the air on all the tires. With his German sweetie beside him, Heinz drove to the Checkpoint Charlie border. At the inspection point, Heinz was briefly detained before he stepped on the gas, sliding easily underneath the lowered gate crossing and into West Berlin. Part of the deal to get his girlfriend out was that her mother accompanies them. His future mother-in-law was smuggled across in the trunk of the car. 

7.  Guard Duty

1,300 guards skipped over the border in the first two years of the wall's existence. One of most famous guards to do so was Conrad Schumann. He jumped the wall on its third day of construction, when the wall was just a line of razor wire. Peter Leibing immortalized Schumann’s jump. The iconic photograph is now a part of the UNESCO Memory of the World program. Sadly, Schumann, suffering from depression, took his own life nine years after the fall of the wall.

6. Tank You

Wolfgang Engels used a tank as a battering ram to facilitate his escape to West Berlin. Unfortunately, the wall was too much for the tank. But Engels wouldn't be stopped. Using the tank as a stepladder, he scaled the wall, only to get stuck on the barbed wire crown. After being shot twice, Engels passed out. After being helped by passer-bys on the Western side, Engels woke up in a bar and immediately noticed the Western liquor bottles on the shelves; He had made it!

5. Zippy

Holger Bethke followed in his brother's footsteps (see #9), when he escaped in 1983. But instead of a watery getaway, Holger took to the skies. Using a zip line, he descended from one of East Berlin's taller buildings to the ground in West Berlin.

4. Retirement Tunnel

In 1962, a dozen senior citizens escaped through a tunnel that they had dug themselves. The group was lead by an 81-year-old gentleman. The group had spent 16 days digging the tunnel that covered a distance of 160 feet. One of the impressive features of the escape route was that the entire tunnel had a height of six feet. When asked about the height, one of the escapees quipped: "(we wanted) to walk to freedom with our wives, comfortably and unbowed."

3. Playboy

Hugh Hefner was responsible for the freedom of more than a handful of East Germans. Apparently the Munich's Playboy Club issued membership cards that were incredibly similar to the passports used in West Germany. A quick flash of the Playboy membership often fooled border guards.

2. Balancing Act

One of most death-defying escapes was made by Horst Klein in 1963. Klein was an East German circus performer who used a high-tension cable to cross the expanse. Horst dangled 60 feet above the ground and moved hand over hand until he was over the wall. Unfortunately Horst had nowhere to properly dismount. He was forced to drop to his freedom.

1. Balloon Ride

Hans Strelczyk and Gunter Wetzel built a hot air balloon to carry their two families over the wall in 1979. The balloon portion was made of canvas scraps and bed sheets and the engine portion of old propane canisters. The balloon reached a height of 8,000 feet before sailing over the border. The flight lasted thirty minutes and was immortalized in the Disney film, Night Crossing.