On January 29, 1962 a young man fled from the attic of the building at Bernauer Straße 13. Dressed as a chimney sweeper, he was able to approach the border houses from the Elisabeth parish cemetery without difficulty.
The border soldiers thought he was working there. From the attic of Bernauer Straße 13 he broke through a window that had already been walled up and used his chimneysweep rope to let himself down to Bernauer Straße uninjured. The border guard posted at Bernauer Straße 6 did not notice the escape until the man was running across the street. Disciplinary action was taken against two squad leaders.