Winfried Freudenberg | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1956-08-29)29 August 1956 |
| Died | 8 March 1989(1989-03-08) (aged 32) |
| Cause of death | Home-made gas balloon crash whilst attempting to leaveEast Berlin 52°25′47″N13°13′26″E / 52.4297°N 13.2239°E /52.4297; 13.2239 (Empty balloon found in branches of a tree) |
| Body discovered | Backyard of a garden villa in Zehlendorf 52°26′22″N13°13′54″E / 52.4394°N 13.2318°E /52.4394; 13.2318 (Vicinity of Winfried Freudenberg crash site) |
| Occupation | Electrical Engineer |
| Known for | Last fatality in an attempt to defect from East Germany across theBerlin Wall |
Winfried Freudenberg (29 August 1956 – 8 March 1989) was thelast person to die in an attempt to escape fromEast Germany toWest Berlin across theBerlin Wall as he fell from an improvised gas balloon at high altitude over West Berlin.[1][2][3]
Freudenberg was born inOsterwieck and grew up in theSaxony-Anhalt town ofLüttgenrode, near what was then the border betweenWest Germany and his nativeEast Germany, a part of thecommunistEastern Bloc, as asatellite state of theSoviet Union. After completing an apprenticeship as an electrician, he obtained his secondary education diploma innight school, then trained in information technology and received a diploma as an electronics engineer. In the autumn of 1988 he married his wife Sabine, a chemist he had met while both were students atIlmenau University.
With the erection of The Wall, East Germany cut them off from the professional opportunities that existed in the West, and the couple, especially Winfried, had become increasingly disappointed about being unable to cross the border.[1] Immediately after the wedding the two began planning their escape to the West via a homemadeballoon filled withnatural gas[1] (because its main component,methane, islighter than air, natural gas can serve as alifting gas).
As part of their plan, Freudenberg took a job in a public utility that supplied natural gas, and the couple took an apartment in theEast Berlin neighborhood ofPrenzlauer Berg. In January and February 1989, they began assembling a 13-metre (43') tall by 11 metre (36') diameter balloon envelope out ofpolyethylene, which they cut into strips, taped together, and engirded with a string net. There was no basket, only a narrow wooden beam.
On the evening of 7 March, they decided that the wind conditions were favourable for their escape. They drove to a pressure regulating station in theBlankenburg neighborhood to which Freudenberg had the keys and at midnight began to fill their balloon with gas. From some time after 1:00 a.m. the balloon was visible from a distance. A waiter on his way home from work, which had ended at 1:30 a.m., noticed the balloon and called theVolkspolizei.
When the couple heard a patrol car arriving shortly after 2:00 a.m., the balloon was not yet completely filled. Because they feared it would not lift both of them, and Sabine was always doubtful, they quickly decided Freudenberg would escape alone.[4] He occupied the beam and cut the tethers. With only one person aboard, the balloon had a very highbuoyancy and rose fast. Ballast bags hanging down on ropes severed a power line shortly after launching, and caused it to short-cut and spark. Although East German security had often shot and killed citizens attempting to escape, they decided against shooting because of the possibility of triggering an explosion of the natural gas now leaking. Also, they believed Freudenberg had been killed by the current (which was not the case). 23-year-old Sabine was able to get back home, where theStasi were already waiting for her.[1]
The improvised balloon had too muchbuoyancy and, because it lacked a properly working valve, it rose quickly and much higher than planned. Freudenberg couldn't sink and spent more than five hours aloft. At first, his course was west-south-west. With wind velocities of about 20 km/h (12 mph) at the time he must have reachedWest Berlin after about 20 minutes. Later, Freudenberg passed over theBerlin Tegel Airport where he lost or dropped some ballast. His altitude must at this point have increased to more than 2,000 meters (6,500 feet), as his course now changed to south due to different direction of higher altitude winds. The balloon was sighted overTeufelsberg hill at dawn, where it was mistaken for a weather balloon. Shortly before flying into East German territory again, at 7:30, Freudenberg fell into the garden of a villa in the suburb ofZehlendorf. The remains of the balloon came down about one kilometer (1000 yards) away on the median strip of a thoroughfare. Freudenberg's body was discovered hours later in the garden of a villa on Limastrasse.[1] He evidently died instantly from injuries sustained in the crash.[5] Nearly every bone in his body had been broken, and virtually every internal organ had been damaged.[6]
The direct cause of the crash is unclear. West Berlin police supposed that Freudenberg climbed the net to cut the envelope, obviously succeeded, and in the ensuing events lost his hold.[1]
After the incident, East German police investigated Freudenberg's friends, family, acquaintances, colleagues, and wife, to determine whether any had participated in the escape attempt. Because of international attention and pressure over the recent shooting ofChris Gueffroy, the last refugee to be shot by East German border guards, Sabine was given the relatively lenient sentence of three years of probation and then grantedamnesty in October 1989. The next month, East Germany began allowing its citizens to travel to the west, and several months later, theBerlin Wall was dismantled and the two countriesreunified.[1]
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