Chronicle of the Berlin Wall 1964 | Chronicle of the Wall

3/4 October
1964

Transport von Flüchtlingen aus zwölf Meter Tiefe nach oben: Der „Tunnel 57“, 3./4. Oktober 1964 (Photo: BStU/Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer)

In the biggest tunnelling operation since the Wall went up, 57 people succeed in fleeing to West Berlin. Shortly before the escape is finished, GDR border guards discover the tunnel entrance. There is a firefight in which the border soldier Egon Schultz is killed. Egon Schultz, born on January 4, 1943, shot dead on October 5, 1964 in the courtyard of Strelitzer Strasse 55 on the sector border
6 October
1964

In East Berlin, there are ceremonies marking the 15th anniversary of the founding of the GDR. Walter Ulbricht announces an amnesty for some 10,000 prisoners, including political prisoners. - The GDR denies a report by the newspaper “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” that the GDR has for a long time been allowing political prisoners to leave for West Germany in return for economic assistance.
14 October
1964

The Soviet party and state leader Nikita S. Khrushchev is toppled in the CPSU Central Committee. The main criticisms levelled at him are regarding his failed economic policies and the troubled relations with the People's Republic of China. His successor is Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev.

Chronicle 1964