Escape Tunnel 1971 markers crossing Berlin Wall poles to building with Conrad Schumann photo, Bernauer Strasse at Brunnenstrasse
The iconic photograph on the building shows 19 year old border guard, Conrad Schumann, jumping the first barbed wire border fence at this location 15 August 1961. On 25 February 1971 a tunnel dug from the West to the East, at the corner of Bernauer Strasse and Brunnenstrasse, was discovered by the border troops, one day before its completion, when it was already 120 m long. The tunnel markers are seen crossing the line of the border wall, marked by the steel poles, symbolising an 'iron curtain'. As the border became increasingly impervious to escape, escapees resorted to tunnelling, the tunnels often being dug from West to East. Some ten escape tunnels were dug along Bernauer Strasse, where the stable ground was ideal. Three tunnels were used for escapes. The Stasi, to deter tunnel escapes, mined the border zone and dug counter tunnels to intersect escape tunnels where the guards expected them to be.
Size: 3648px × 5104px
Location: 1971 Escape Tunnel, Bernauer Strasse at Brunnenstrasse, Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany
Photo credit: © robert harrison / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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