Under the Berlin Wall with eyewitness Eveline Rudolph

Please note that this guided tour takes place in German!

With the construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961, the people of East Berlin were suddenly and unexpectedly separated overnight from their families, spouses, partners, friends, jobs, and places at university or school in West Berlin. As a result, many people attempted to burrow beneath the deadly barriers through tunnels they had dug themselves in order to reach freedom.

In the immediate vicinity of Bernauer Straße – the epicentre of tunnel-building activity – we recount the gripping history of Berlin’s escape tunnels and, as a highlight, offer a glimpse into the only original escape tunnel from 1970–71, situated nine metres below the surface. This tunnel is accessible via a visitor tunnel, approximately 30 metres long, built by Berliner Unterwelten e.V.

The first escape tunnel was dug in October 1961; the last one failed in 1982. In total, more than 75 escape tunnels are known to have been dug, though only 19 of them were successful. Through them, up to 450 GDR citizens made their way from East to West Berlin and into freedom. During the guided tour, we recount spectacular successes, acts of betrayal and bitter failures, as a ‘cat-and-mouse game’ quickly developed between the tunnel-diggers and the GDR authorities, with conditions becoming increasingly difficult for those helping escapees and for those seeking to flee.

In 1962, the focus of escape tunnel construction was on Heidelberger Straße between Neukölln and Treptow, but it soon shifted to Bernauer Straße and the surrounding area due to counter-measures taken by the GDR border troops. Over a stretch of just 350 metres, the border defences at this point were tunnelled under seven times. Bernauer Straße became a hotspot for tunnel construction, as the road itself – including both pavements – lay in West Berlin, whilst the houses bordering it to the south belonged to East Berlin. Here, at the junction with Brunnenstraße, we follow in the footsteps of the tunnel-builders in the historic vaults of the former Oswald-Berliner Brewery, using full-scale replicas of the tunnels, and recount, amongst other things, the stories of the two most successful projects: ‘Tunnel 29’ and ‘Tunnel 57’.

Eyewitness Eveline Rudolph will recount her escape through the famous ‘Tunnel 29’, through which she reached freedom on 14 September 1962 at the age of 21, together with her then husband Horst Schmidt, her one-year-old daughter Annett and 26 other people. The tunnel, in the planning and construction of which the escape organiser Hasso Herschel and Eveline Rudolph’s future husband Joachim Rudolph played a key role, was approximately 130 metres long and ran from the basement of Bernauer Strasse 78 (West Berlin) to the basement of Schönholzer Strasse 7 (East Berlin). A key reason for their escape was that, following the construction of the Wall on 13 August 1961, her husband Horst Schmidt was unable to continue his studies at the University of the Fine Arts in West Berlin – and as a result, his and his family’s prospects in the GDR were severely limited.

Duration: approx. 2.5 hours

Price: 26 euros

Notes:

• Sturdy, closed-toe footwear is required to take part (no high heels, sandals, flip-flops, ballet flats, etc.).
• We recommend bringing warm clothing, as the indoor temperature on part of the tour is only around 10°C all year round.
• Children under the age of 7 are not permitted on this tour! The tour is aimed at an adult audience in terms of both content and difficulty, and is recommended for young people from Year 10 onwards at the earliest.
• Due to the nature of the buildings, the premises are not accessible to people with disabilities. You will be walking or standing for most of the tour. Seating is scarce or non-existent. There are numerous staircases, some of which are steep.
• There are no visitor toilets on site.
• We reserve the right to arrange for another of our eyewitnesses to stand in at short notice in place of the one originally scheduled for the tour, in the event of illness or other unforeseeable circumstances.

Tickets are available up to 30 days in advance.

Venue:
Berliner Unterwelten e.V.
Brunnenstraße 141, 10115 Berlin