STIFTUNG BERLINER MAUER

Topic

EscapetotheWestfromMühlenstraße

1961
– 1989
Location at the East Side Gallery
Deutsch Leichte Sprache
Additional information:
Getting Out of the GDR

Escape from the GDR

For some people, staying in the GDR was not an option. Some tried to escape across the guarded border, risking arrest and imprisonment, serious injury, and even their lives. By 1977, several men had managed to get from Mühlenstraße to West Berlin. After that, the border installations were further extended so that escape was almost impossible. The exact number of escape attempts is not known.

One man fled through this house to the river and then to West Berlin in 1965
© BArch DVH 59 / 16934, fol. 27
One man fled through this house to the river and then to West Berlin in 1965
The same section of border, cleared after 1977 and almost impossible to cross unnoticed, 1989
© BArch, MfS HA IX, photo 479, Bild 36
The same section of border, cleared after 1977 and almost impossible to cross unnoticed, 1989

"Border violation was not prevented because of deficiencies in the system."

Quote: Report from an inquiry by the National People’s Army into a successful escape attempt at Mühlenstraße in August 1965

Guarding the border

Soldiers monitored the border at Mühlenstraße from watchtowers and patrolled the area on land and on the water. Many of the border guards were conscripts performing military service. Though usually uneventful, service was also nerve-wracking: The guards were under orders to prevent escape attempts by force of arms. This photo by the Ministry for State Security shows the view of the border strip that only the soldiers had.

Route taken by a border guard on duty at Oberbaumbrücke, deserting to West Berlin in 1969, sketched by border soldiers, 1969
© BArch, MfS HA IX, photo 479, Bild 31
Route taken by a border guard on duty at Oberbaumbrücke, deserting to West Berlin in 1969, sketched by border soldiers, 1969
© BArch, MfS HA IX, Foto 479, Image 4

Closed from view

Ceremonious opening of the protocol route on 30 September 1977
© Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-S0930-0030, photo: Horst Sturm
Ceremonious opening of the protocol route on 30 September 1977

"It was all very, very grey. A street with no life in it."

Thomas Klingenstein, 2021 (artist: Umleitung in den japanischen Sektor)

Mühlenstraße was on East Berlin’s protocol route, i.e., the route taken by guests of state from the airport into the city.The East German authorities wanted the border here to be both inconspicuous and attractive. For this reason, a wall was built from 1977 onwards using elements of the border wall 75. This was thought to be smarter than the inner wall through the rest of East Berlin. It ensured the river, and the border strip, were no longer visible from the street.

May Day parade 1987 on Mühlenstraße
© photo: Gerd Danigel, CC BY-SA 4.0
May Day parade 1987 on Mühlenstraße

Umleitung in den japanischen Sektor

Thomas Klingenstein, Umleitung in den japanischen Sektor, 2009 © Stiftung Berliner Mauer, photographer: Günther Schaefer
Thomas Klingenstein, Umleitung in den japanischen Sektor, 2009 © Stiftung Berliner Mauer, photographer: Günther Schaefer

Thomas Klingenstein grew up in East Berlin. Aged 19, he was arrested on political grounds and exiled to West Germany. There, he was able to realise his dream of travelling to Japan, where he lived for several years. Via imprisonment and expatriation, Klingenstein was forced to take a Detour to the Japanese Sector.

Thomas Klingenstein: „Umleitung in den japanischen Sektor“
Additional information:
Getting Out of the GDR
Topic overview