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1990: a couple reads the memorial crosses for East Germans who died trying to escape over the Wall. A watchtower still stands behind it.Photo: U.S. Department of Defense, 1990. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

The dead of the Berlin Wall

At least 140 people died at the Berlin Wall. 90 of them died in its first decade

The deadliest year was 1962, when 22 died, among them Peter Fechter, 18, who bled to death in Zimmerstraße in full view of the West. After 1966 the toll never again reached double figures. The last to die, Winfried Freudenberg, fell from a balloon on 8 March 1989.

140
people died at the Wall, 1961–1989
90
died in the 1960s: 64% of all
22
died in 1962, the deadliest year
17
died in its last decade, the 1980s

01Bernauer Straße, 22 August 1961

The first death came nine days after the border was sealed

The Wall went up on 13 August 1961. On 22 August 1961, Ida Siekmann jumped from an upper window of Bernauer Straße 48. On Bernauer Straße the house fronts were the border, and the pavement in front of them was West Berlin. She died of her injuries. She was the first of the 140.

By the end of 1961, 12 people had died at the Wall, between August and December alone.

A street with pedestrians and cars seen from above; the border strip runs along its right-hand side.
Bernauer Straße at the corner of Ackerstraße, 1966. Here the house fronts themselves were the border: walled-up façades, vehicle barriers and a watchtower.Photo: ELAB, Archiv der Versöhnungsgemeinde, 1966. Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.

Deaths at the Wall, 1961–1989

Deaths at the Berlin Wall per year, 1961 to 1989, one square for each person, with the three decades shaded behind.

Each square is one person.

Workers and cranes on top of a long block wall in winter mist; a truck stands at left.
East German construction workers building the Wall, 20 November 1961. Photo: U.S. National Archives, 1961. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

1961

12 dead between August and December

The first deaths came within days of the sealing of the border. Ida Siekmann was the first, on 22 August.

A tall dark wooden cross stands in a small planted bed in front of a graffiti-covered section of the Wall.
The cross for Peter Fechter at the Wall, photographed on 1 December 1989. Photo: Aad van der Drift, 1989. Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 2.0.

1962

The deadliest year: 22 dead

No year was worse than 1962. On 17 August, Peter Fechter, 18, was shot crossing Zimmerstraße and left to bleed to death.

1961–1966

Double figures every year until 1966

In each of the Wall’s first six years, ten or more people died. After 1966 it never happened again: the worst later year was 1970, with 9.

Decade by decade

90 in the 1960s, 33 in the 1970s, 17 in the 1980s

90 of the 140 died before 1970: 64%. In the Wall’s last decade, 17 died.

A man in a dark suit and glasses stands among others at a formal session.
Erich Honecker, SED leader, at the first sitting of the newly elected Council of State, 29 October 1976. Photo: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-R1029-031 / Koard, Peter / CC BY-SA 3.0 de

3 May 1974

The order to shoot, restated

In the National Defence Council, Honecker said firearms must still be used “rücksichtslos”, ruthlessly. That restated the order; it did not create it. 4 people died at the Wall that year.

1976, 1978, 1985 and 1988

Four years without a death

In 1976, 1978, 1985 and 1988 nobody died at the Wall. They are the only such years in its history.

A row of white crosses with names fixed to a green fence under trees, beside a gravel path.
The white crosses for people killed at the Wall, near the Reichstag, 2011. Photo: JoJan, 2011. Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 3.0.

1989

The last shot, and the last death

Chris Gueffroy was shot on 5 February, the last person shot dead at the Wall. On 8 March, Winfried Freudenberg fell from a home-made balloon over West Berlin: the last death, eight months before the Wall opened. Gueffroy’s name is among the white crosses near the Reichstag.

02Zimmerstraße, 17 August 1962

Peter Fechter bled to death at the foot of the Wall while the West watched

Peter Fechter was 18. On 17 August 1962 he was shot while trying to cross the Wall in Zimmerstraße, a few steps from Checkpoint Charlie. He bled to death at the foot of the Wall, in full view of people in West Berlin.

He died in 1962, the year more people died at the Wall than in any other: 22.

How long he lay there, as accounts give it

The white Allied checkpoint hut with an American flag and an “Allied Checkpoint” sign; the road runs on towards East Berlin.
Checkpoint Charlie, the Allied crossing on Friedrichstraße, seen from the western side in 1982.Photo: Lyricmac at en.wikipedia, 1982. Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0.

031967–1989

Fewer died each decade, but the dying never stopped

After 1966 no year reached ten deaths. 33 people died at the Wall in the 1970s, and 17 in the 1980s. In only four of its 29 calendar years did nobody die.

The pictures below show what a person trying to escape faced in those years, seen from the West.

Over a graffiti-covered wall, a wide strip with lamps and guards on patrol.
The death strip seen from West Berlin, 1986, with guards on patrol.Photo: Lklundin, 1986. Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.
Steel anti-tank obstacles on a sandy strip in front of a concrete guard tower.
The death strip in 1977: anti-tank obstacles and a guard tower.Photo: George Garrigues, 1977. Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0.
A smooth concrete wall topped with a round pipe, covered with graffiti, running along a street.
The last wall, at Bernauer Straße and Bergstraße, about 1985, painted on the western side.Photo: ELAB, Archiv der Versöhnungsgemeinde, 1985. Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.

04Who they were

Most were trying to escape. Not all of them were

The ZZF Potsdam and the Stiftung Berliner Mauer count three groups among the 140. 101 were trying to escape. 31 had no intention of escaping: 22 from the West and 9 from the East, one of them a Soviet soldier. And 8 were GDR border soldiers killed on duty.

The dead of the Berlin Wall: one square for each person

  • 101EscapersEscapees shot, killed in accidents or who took their own lives
  • 31No intent to escapePeople from East and West with no intent to escape: 22 from the West, 9 from the East, including one Soviet soldier
  • 8Border soldiersGDR border soldiers killed on duty

05The count

For decades nobody agreed how many died. Now every one of them is documented and dated

Earlier counts ranged from 78 (Salzgitter) to 245 (Arbeitsgemeinschaft 13. August), depending on who was counted. The research project of the ZZF Potsdam and the Stiftung Berliner Mauer examined each case. It reached 136 in 2009 and 140 in its results paper of August 2017, and it dates every one of them.

Counts of the dead of the Berlin Wall

“At least” is the project’s own wording: 140 is the number of cases it could document. The per-year figures in this story are its table, and they add up to the same 140.

06Remembering

Where Ida Siekmann died, a stretch of the border strip has been kept

On Bernauer Straße, where the first of the 140 died, the Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer preserves a section of the strip between its two walls. Steel rods mark where the rest of the Wall stood.

Near the Reichstag, white crosses carry the names of people who died at the Wall.

From above: a strip of raked sand and lamp posts between two walls, a cemetery beyond, and the television tower on the skyline.
The Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer: the preserved strip at Bernauer Straße, seen from the memorial’s tower, 2005.Photo: AarhusJ, 2005. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
Rows of thin upright steel rods on a lawn in front of apartment blocks.
At the Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer, rust-brown steel rods mark where the Wall stood along Bernauer Straße, 2014.Photo: Tony Webster, 2014. Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 2.0.
A long weathered concrete wall topped by a round pipe, its surface scarred by vertical gouges, beside a path.
A remaining section of the Wall at Bernauer Straße, 2016.Photo: Ansgar Koreng, 2016. Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 3.0 de.

The Wall stood from 13 August 1961 to 9 November 1989. 140 people died at it, the last of them eight months before it opened.

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Berlinfographics (2026). “The dead of the Berlin Wall, 1961–1989”. Berlin Experiences. https://berlinfographics.com/wall-casualties/

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{{cite web |title=The dead of the Berlin Wall, 1961–1989 |url=https://berlinfographics.com/wall-casualties/ |website=Berlinfographics |publisher=Berlin Experiences |date=2026-11-05 |access-date=2026-11-05}}