Escape gives way to innovation

Over 5,000 people successfully escaped past the Wall between 1961 and 1989. In order to be able to overcome the constantly perfected GDR border security system, the means of escape always had to be refined. Many of them found their way to the Mauermuseum – Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie. These include multiple repurposed cars, a mini submarine that a refugee used to cross via the Baltic Sea, hot-air balloons, and self-made motorised hang-gliders.

The numerous escape tunnels are extensively documented. On two evenings in October 1964, 57 people escaped to West Berlin through the most successful one. Along with numerous photos of the approx. 140 metre long tunnel that was constructed over multiple months, visitors can also see the wagon that was used to transport the earth. For this we thank one of the accomplices, Reinhard Furrer, later one of the first Germans in space and who perished in a fatal plane crash in 1995.