From flying in a hot air balloon to moving
on a tightrope, here’s how these 8 people
escaped the Berlin Wall.
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From 1961 to 1989, the Berlin Wall was both
a physical and ideological barrier between
East and West Germany.
After World War II, Germanys capital city
was divided into occupation zones by the Allied
forces.
The US, the UK, France and the Soviet Union
each took their share of the land.
As tensions rose between the Soviet Union,
which controlled East Germany, and the allies
in the West, the Berlin Wall was built.
Families and friends found themselves separated
and free movement across the border became
a virtual death sentence.
Number 8 Flying a Hot Air Balloon
After watching a documentary on hot air ballooning,
aircraft engineer Hans Peter Strelczyk was
inspired.
Alongside friend, Gunter Wetzel, he built
an engine from propane cylinders.
The balloon itself was made from bedsheets
stitched together by their wives.
Their first attempt failed, but Wetzel and
Strelczyk were determined to get their families
to West Berlin.
On September 16, 1979, they took off, soared
over the Wall and landed on West German soil.
The hot air balloon flight that changed the
lives of the two men and their families lasted
roughly half an hour.
Before we move on, answer this question.
What does “Mein Kampf”, the title of Hitler’s
most famous book, mean?
a.
My Camp
b.
I, the Champ
c.
Mining Camp
d.
My Struggle
Let us know what you think in the comments
below and stay tuned to find out the right
answer.
Number 7 Crashing a Tank
Wolfgang Engels was an East German soldier
who’d helped build the Wall in 1961 but
who soon realized that life in the West was
more alluring.
In April, 1963, Engels stole a tank and drove
towards the wall as he cried out “I’m
getting out of here to the West, anyone want
to come along?”
Unfortunately the tank wasn’t powerful enough
to break through the concrete barrier.
That’s when Engels got out and tried to
climb the wall but got stuck in the barbed
wire.
He was shot twice by patrolling guards before
West Germans, who’d been drinking in a bar
nearby, helped him down.
Engels said that he knew he’d made it because,
as he awoke on the bar counter, he saw all
the Western brands of liquor.
Why Was It Built?
West Berlin was a capitalist presence deep
within communist East Germany, something which
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev said “stuck
like a bone in the Soviet throat.”
They began maneuvering to take full-control
of the city.
In 1948, they tried to starve out West Berlin
by blocking the influx of supplies from the
Allies.
To counter this move the Allies began dropping
supplies by air, which became known as the
Berlin Airlift.
The following year the Soviets cancelled the
blockade and a decade of relative peace followed.
During this time, over 3 million refugees
fled from the eastern German Democratic Republic
to the western Federal Republic of Germany.
This was cause for Soviet embarrassment and
the main reason why the Wall was built.
The Soviet government claimed it to be a way
of keeping capitalist influence out but it
was rather a way of keeping East Germans in,
mostly against their will.
Crossing the border could only be done through
checkpoints alongside the wall.
Number 6 Paddling on an Air Mattress
In 1975, Ingo Bethke decided to flee East
Berlin by using an air mattress.
He used to work as an East German border guard
and knew the terrain on the banks of the River
Elbe.
He also knew how to safely cross the mine
field, navigate through the metal fencing
and avoid the trip wires.
Bethke and a friend made their way to the
river and used an air mattress as a raft.
They followed the course of the Elbe and quietly
paddled to West Germany.
Number 5 Using a Zip Line
After Ingo Bethke defected to West Germany,
his family was tightly monitored by East German
authorities.
However, that didn’t stop his younger brother
Holger planning a daring escape.
A trained archer, Holger found a tall building
overlooking the other side of the wall.
In 1983, he snuck into the attic and used
a bow and arrow to fire a cable to West Berlin.
Ingo, who’d gotten word from his brother,
was waiting on the other side and attached
the cable to his car.
Holger then rode the zip line using a metal
pulley and was reunited with his brother on
the other side.
How Did It Kill You?
The Berlin Wall was a 12-foot-tall, 4-foot-wide
structure made of reinforced concrete with
a giant pipe at the top that made climbing
it next to impossible.
The wall zig-zagged across the country for
96 miles, separating East and West Germany,
with about 27 miles running across the capital
city.
The East German side featured a “Death Strip”,
a gauntlet of vicious dogs, trip-wire, machine
guns, floodlights and guards ordered to shoot
on sight.
The wall stood for nearly three decades, and
over 171 people were killed trying to cross
it.
Number 4 Driving a Stolen Train
Four months after the wall was built, 27-year-old
railway engineer Harry Deterling found a disused
train track that still stretched from East
to West Berlin.
His escape plan would subsequently become
known as “the last train to freedom”.
Deterling signed on as a conductor on the
route nearest to the disused track.
In early December, 1961, Deterling’s friends
and family climbed aboard the train.
After disabling the emergency brakes, Deterling
drove the train at full speed towards West
Berlin and, implicitly, to freedom.
The train drove through the wall at 50 mph,
taking border guards completely by surprise.
As soon as the train skidded to a halt in
a West Berlin suburb, one of the fugitives
called the police to explain what they were
doing with a stolen East German train.
How Did It End?
1989, a series of revolutions in Eastern Bloc
countries unleashed a chain reaction in East
Germany that ultimately brought down the wall.
As people began crossing the border through
Hungary to Austria mass demonstrations followed
in East Germany.
Tensions grew and, in the wake of political
instability, waves of refugees found their
way to West Germany.
On November 9, 1989, the East German government
announced its citizens could visit the West.
In a celebratory atmosphere, thousands of
Germans crossed or climbed over the Wall to
embrace those on the other side.
The Berlin Wall, in its ideological form,
had fallen and Germany was whole again.
The physical demolition of the Wall was completed
from 1990 to 1992.
Number 3 Driving a Convertible
While working in East Berlin, Heinz Meixner
fell in love with Margarete Thurau.
Meixner was Austrian but East German authorities
wouldn’t allow him to marry Thurau in his
native country.
Meixner then rented a convertible and modified
it by removing its windshield and deflating
its tires.
In 1963, with Thurau and his future mother-in-law
in the trunk, Meixner approached a border
checkpoint.
He then ducked and stepped on the gas, driving
under the barrier and into West Berlin.
Number 2 Swimming
When he was only 18 years old, in 1966, Hartmut
Richter swam across the Teltow Canal to reach
West Berlin.
It took him four hours in which he had to
duck underwater many times to avoid being
detected by patrols or guard dogs.
Exhausted and close to hypothermic shock,
he reached the West German shore and passed
out.
Richter would later return to the East, several
years later, and start to smuggle people to
the other side in the trunk of his car.
He helped over 30 people get out until he
was arrested.
He was later released with West German help.
So, what does “Mein Kampf” mean?
The right answer was d, “My Struggle”.
His 720-page manifesto describes his political
ideology and plans for the future of the country
as well as the process by which he became
antisemitic.
It became a best-seller in Germany in 1933,
after Hitler’s rise to power, and a notable
tool for gathering further support to his
cause.
Number 1 Moving on a Tightrope
Horst Klein was a trapeze artist with anti-communist
beliefs, unable to perform on the Soviet side
of the Wall.
Driven by his passion and love of the circus
he plotted an escape by doing what he was
best at…climbing the tightrope.
In the winter of 1962, he climbed an electricity
pole adjacent to the wall and started moving
hand-over-hand across a disused power cable.
As he dangled from the wire, 60 feet below
were the Death Strip and patrolling guards.
When his arms got tired, he pulled his body
on the cable and inched his way across.
As the cold took hold of him, he fell from
the top and fractured both his arms.
The shock and pain he’d felt hadn’t been
in vain, as he did land on the western side
of the wall.
Thanks for watching!
Suppose you were trapped in East Germany but
with access to the technology we use today,
how would you approach escaping the Berlin
Wall?
Let us know in the comments section below!
