Gedenkstätte Günter Litfin

A former watchtower, named after Günter Litfin, a tailor from Weissensee, who was the first person to be shot dead by border guards while trying to flee East Berlin. The tower was restored by Günter’s brother, Jürgen Liftin who also conducts tours there today.

On 24 August 1961, just eleven days after the wall went up, 24-year-old Günter Litfin attempted to swim across the Spandau Ship Canal near Lehrter Bahnhof to reach West Berlin. Transport police border guards opened fire, hitting him in the head. He became the first person to be shot dead while trying to flee to the West, and his death sent shockwaves far beyond Berlin.

The watchtower is a Führungsstelle (command post) of the type used to coordinate border patrols along the inner-city wall. After reunification, Günter’s brother Jürgen Litfin fought tirelessly to preserve the tower as a memorial. He personally conducted tours for decades, sharing his family’s story and the details of his brother’s death with visitors from around the world, until his own death in 2017. The memorial continues to operate in his memory.

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