The Plan to Dig Beneath Division
In 1963, a group of West German students in Berlin set out to dig a tunnel under the Berlin Wall. Among them was Joachim Neumann, who had escaped from East Germany two years earlier using a borrowed Swiss passport. When he fled, he left behind family and his girlfriend, Christa Gruhle.
Many of the students digging the tunnel had similar reasons: they wanted to help loved ones trapped in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The Berlin Wall, built in 1961, had divided families and neighborhoods, and attempts to cross were met with extreme risk, including imprisonment or death.
From Bakery Floor to Tunnel Passage
Neumann and his group began digging from an abandoned bakery in West Berlin. They tunneled eleven meters underground, beneath Bernauer Strasse, under the 12-meter-high Berlin Wall, past the signal fences and the “Death Strip,” a dangerous no man’s land covered in spikes and guarded by towers.
For five months, they worked in mud, removing dirt in flour sacks and resting inside the bakery during long shifts. In October 1964, they broke through into an old outhouse at Strelitzer Strasse 55, on the East Berlin side.
The Night of the Escape
On October 3, 1964, the diggers sent word to relatives and friends, giving them a code word: “Tokyo.” Those arriving at the apartment would whisper the word and be led through the building to the outhouse, where they crawled into the narrow tunnel.
Over two nights, 57 people crossed through, including Neumann’s girlfriend Christa, who had recently been released from prison. The group included sisters, brothers, parents, and friends, all slipping under the heavily guarded wall to West Berlin.
Gunfire, Loss, and Aftermath
On the second night, border guards noticed unusual activity. Plainclothes officers approached the building, and shots were exchanged.
A young border guard, Egon Schultz, was hit and died on the way to the hospital. The East German government blamed the diggers, but years later, after the fall of the wall, it was confirmed that Schultz had been struck by friendly fire. After the escape, the tunnel was destroyed. Neumann and Christa married, and other diggers, like Reinhard Furrer, continued to help people escape.
Tunnel 57 became the most successful tunnel escape in Berlin Wall history. When the Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989, its history came under new examination, and the records were re-opened, revealing the details long hidden by the East German secret police.
In 1963, West German students, led by escapee Joachim Neumann, began digging a tunnel under the Berlin Wall.
Their goal: reunite families separated by the GDR.
Using a bakery as cover, they dug under walls, fences, and the deadly Death Strip into East Berlin…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/nYEf0g5PJu
— Detective Tiger’s Stories (@TigerDetective) July 18, 2025