The airport as a transit point for East German refugees
For many citizens of the GDR, West Berlin was the gateway to freedom before the Berlin Wall was built. Via Tempelhof, they made their way on to the Federal Republic of Germany. Between 1949 and 1961, hundreds of thousands left the GDR – often at great personal risk and in the hope of a fresh start in the West. An evening featuring personal accounts and reports on the current state of research.
Image gallery
Geflüchtete aus der DDR vor ihrem Abflug nach Westdeutschland, 1953
Guests:
- Ute Rauscher, eyewitness
- Sarah Bornhorst, Curator of Eyewitness Accounts and Oral History, Berlin Wall Foundation
- Thomas Werneke, Officer for Historical and Political Education and Culture of Remembrance, Tempelhof Airport
Moderator:
Irmgard Zündorf, Head of the Public History Department, Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History
The event is free of charge, but registration is required.
The event is being held in cooperation with Tempelhof Airport (Tempelhof Projekt GmbH) and the Berlin Commissioner for the reappraisal of the SED dictatorship (BAB), and forms part of the BAB’s series of events entitled ‘My Neighbourhood: Stories of Divided Berlin’.
IN GERMAN
Additional information
Meeting point:
Tempelhof Airport
Visitor Centre Check-In
Platz der Luftbrücke 5, C2
12101 Berlin
Dates
October 2026
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