60 Jahre Flucht durch den Tunnel 57

In the organizer's words:

On October 3 and 4, 1964, a total of 57 people fled under the Wall to West Berlin at Bernauer Strasse. The story of "Tunnel 57" became world-famous. The death of border guard Egon Schultz on the second night of the escape was subsequently used by the GDR for propaganda purposes. It was only after the fall of the Wall that the actual events of the night became public: Schultz was not shot by an escape helper, but by his own comrade.

To mark the 60th anniversary of Tunnel 57, the Berlin Wall Foundation is showing the award-winning documentary Heldentod - Der Tunnel und die Lüge by director Britta Wauer. Afterwards, contemporary witnesses Joachim Neumann and Hubert Hohlbein will talk to Sven Felix Kellerhof about the dramatic events of the tunnel construction and the escape in 1964. The filmmaker will also shed light on the eventful history of the film's creation.

Guests

• Hubert Hohlbein fled through the Jungfernsee (Potsdam) to West Berlin on November 21, 1963. There he joined a group of escape helpers. In order to catch up with his family, he was involved as an escape helper in Tunnel 57.
• Joachim Neumann fled to West Berlin on December 21, 1961 with a false Swiss passport. There he was involved in a total of six tunnel projects, including Tunnel 29 and Tunnel 57.
• Britta Wauer produces documentary films for cinema, exhibitions and new media and has already received the Grimme Prize for her work. Her film "Heldentod" was awarded the German Television Prize and the Central German Media Prize, among others.
• Sven-Felix Kellerhoff is a journalist and author and has been editor-in-chief for contemporary and cultural history at WELT since 2003. He has published more than 30 books, including "Die Fluchttunnel von Berlin" (2008) together with Dietmar Arnold.

In cooperation with Berliner Unterwelten e.V.