Tunnel 37 – Brunnenstraße

A memorial plaque at Brunnenstraße 141 marks the site of an escape tunnel through which 37 people reached freedom from East to West Berlin. The tunnel was one of at least seven dug within a 350-metre stretch near Bernauer Straße. Today, Berliner Unterwelten e.V. maintains an access point here, allowing visitors to see the only original escape tunnel still visible beneath the former Wall.

The stretch of Bernauer Straße and its surrounding streets was the most intensively tunnelled section of the entire Berlin Wall. Between 1962 and 1971, at least seven escape tunnels were attempted within just 350 metres of each other – a density unmatched anywhere else along the border. The terrain favoured it: the sandy Berlin soil was relatively easy to dig, and the row of buildings along the border provided convenient starting points.

Tunnel 37 – named for the number of people who escaped through it – ran from the cellar of Brunnenstraße 141 in the West to a building on the eastern side of the border. Today the site has a second life: the non-profit Berliner Unterwelten e.V. (Berlin Underworlds Association) has constructed a visitor access point in the cellars beneath the building. Their “Tour M” takes visitors underground to see the only original escape tunnel still visible beneath the former Wall – a rare chance to experience the claustrophobic conditions that hundreds of people endured in their dash to freedom.

 Show me on the map

Gallery