Some methods of crossing the border were astoundingly low tech, instead, they relied on steady nerves and a bit of luck. After realising that Munich Playboy Club membership cards remarkably resembled diplomatic passports, some East Germans were able to cross the border by flashing these cards at East German border patrol.
Flying in a hot air balloon
Aircraft mechanic, Hans Peter Strelczyk and his friend Gunter Wetzel, used a hot air balloon to carry themselves and their families over the wall.
Through secret tunnels
Two secret tunnels were used to get to freedom. A group of 12 people, most of them elderly, dug for 16 days until their 32-meter long tunnel brought them into the West. In 1964, 57 people escaped using another tunnel over two nights.
By Zip-line
In a similar, circus-style escape, friends Michael Becker and Holger Bethke, snuck up to the attic of a five-story building and shot an arrow over to the West. Bethke’s brother, who had previously escaped to the West, then secured the line to a chimney and the pair zip lined down it using woolen jumpers.
On a Tight Rope
In December 1962, trapeze artist, Horst Klein used his skills to escape East Berlin. Climbing high above the East German border patrol guards, he scaled a disused power cable to balance his way to freedom. During his escape, Klein fell from the line, breaking both his arms, however, fortunately he landed in West Berlin. Once in the West, he told newspapers, that he had to escape after he had been banned from performing for his anti-communist beliefs.
Swimming across the canal
In 1966, 18-year-old Hartmut Richter successfully made the long journey swimming from the East to the West. Swimming for four hours across the Teltow Canal, he was able to evade the border patrol and make it to the other side.
Using an air mattress as a raft
Brother of Holger Bethke, Ingo Bethke, was the first in the family to make a daring escape. While he was serving as an East German guard, he became familiar with the banks of the River Elbe, north of Berlin. Knowing where the barbed wire and trip wires were positioned, Bethke and a friend returned to the bank in 1975 with an air mattress to silently paddle to the West
The soldier who stole a tank
In 1963, East German soldier Wolfgang Engels, stole a tank and drove it through the wall. Smashing the tank into the concrete barrier, as he cried out: “I’m getting out of here to the West, anyone wants to come along?” However, it failed to break through the wall, forcing Engels to climb out of the tank and over the Berlin Wall. He got stuck in barbed wire along the way and was shot by border guards, miraculously he was still able to make his great escape to Western soil when some West Germans came to his aid.
Video of Escapes
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The First Great Leap
The first daring escape was by a 19-year-old East German border guard, Corporal Conrad Schumann. He leapt over a 3-foot high wall of barbed wire just two days after the wall was erected.
