Oranienburger Chaussee Tunnels

Site of some of the earliest successful escape tunnels beneath the Berlin Wall. On 24 January 1962, 28 people escaped through a tunnel dug by brothers Günter and Bruno Becker from their basement – an event that inspired the film “Tunnel 28.” In May 1962, twelve senior citizens dug a 32-metre tunnel from a chicken coop. In March 1963, a family of three and ten others fled through a tunnel starting in a living room.

The area around Oranienburger Chaussee in Glienicke/Nordbahn, at the northern edge of the Berlin Wall, saw a remarkable concentration of escape tunnels in the early years of the Wall. The border ran along the street, separating the East German municipality of Glienicke from the West Berlin district of Frohnau – and the proximity of houses on both sides made tunnel digging feasible.

The first major success came on 24 January 1962, when brothers Günter and Bruno Becker completed a tunnel from the basement of their home at Nr. 13. That night, 28 people crawled through to Frohnau and freedom. The escape became famous internationally and inspired Robert Siodmak’s film “Tunnel 28: Escape from East Berlin,” released later that year.

Just months later, in May 1962, an even more remarkable escape took place nearby. Twelve senior citizens – most aged between 70 and 80 – spent 16 days digging a 32-metre tunnel from inside a narrow chicken coop on Oranienburger Chaussee. On 5 May, seven men, four women, and a 16-year-old boy emerged in Frohnau. It became known as the “Senioren-Tunnel” (Senior Tunnel).

In March 1963, 11-year-old Detlef Aagard, his parents, and ten other people escaped through yet another tunnel, this one beginning in the living room of his parents’ house, which stood right next to the border. These three escapes within fourteen months made Oranienburger Chaussee one of the most successful tunnel locations of the entire Berlin Wall era.

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