The Secret Site Where East Germany's Stasi Perfected The Berlin Wall
Photos held in a German archive reveal how barriers were tested to prevent East German citizens attempting to flee to freedom, even by killing them.
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A vehicle smashes into a steel barrier at a secret testing location in East Germany where obstacles to prevent people speeding to freedom through East Berlin's checkpoints were tested.
This 1980 photo is one of several held in Germany's Stasi Records Archive that reveal the lengths to which East Germany's authorities went to ensure anyone trying to escape the communist state would be stopped, or killed in the process.
This 1980 photo is one of several held in Germany's Stasi Records Archive that reveal the lengths to which East Germany's authorities went to ensure anyone trying to escape the communist state would be stopped, or killed in the process.
![The aftermath of a barrier test at the secret East German facility Dr. Gerhard Salter, the head of research at The Berlin Wall Foundation, told RFE/RL these photos were taken at a site in Soviet-backed East Germany that remains secret to this day. "We have files from the Federal Archives that mention [the testing sites], but we know nothing more about them," he said. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/7c1977fd-26c9-4ae6-a426-da579de827eb_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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The aftermath of a barrier test at the secret East German facility
Dr. Gerhard Salter, the head of research at The Berlin Wall Foundation, told RFE/RL these photos were taken at a site in Soviet-backed East Germany that remains secret to this day. "We have files from the Federal Archives that mention [the testing sites], but we know nothing more about them," he said.
Dr. Gerhard Salter, the head of research at The Berlin Wall Foundation, told RFE/RL these photos were taken at a site in Soviet-backed East Germany that remains secret to this day. "We have files from the Federal Archives that mention [the testing sites], but we know nothing more about them," he said.
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A couple look over the wall into East Berlin in April 1983.
Salter says the testing of anti-vehicle barriers was only one part of a vast research-and-development effort to trap people inside the police state. The Berlin Wall design itself, he says, was trialled "for its resistance to attacks with vehicles, explosives, and how it would withstand natural events such as being washed away by water during heavy rainfall."
Salter says the testing of anti-vehicle barriers was only one part of a vast research-and-development effort to trap people inside the police state. The Berlin Wall design itself, he says, was trialled "for its resistance to attacks with vehicles, explosives, and how it would withstand natural events such as being washed away by water during heavy rainfall."
![A truck is driven into a barrier at the secret research facility. Harald Jager, a former Stasi lieutenant colonel, told German journalists in 2010: "Each time the border was penetrated [by a fugitive] it was followed up by an analysis. That's why the Ministry for State Security formed working groups to design technologically improved facilities, which were then tested."](https://gdb.rferl.org/5775aeb1-f59d-47cd-bc16-1364d61b15f0_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A truck is driven into a barrier at the secret research facility.
Harald Jager, a former Stasi lieutenant colonel, told German journalists in 2010: "Each time the border was penetrated [by a fugitive] it was followed up by an analysis. That's why the Ministry for State Security formed working groups to design technologically improved facilities, which were then tested."
Harald Jager, a former Stasi lieutenant colonel, told German journalists in 2010: "Each time the border was penetrated [by a fugitive] it was followed up by an analysis. That's why the Ministry for State Security formed working groups to design technologically improved facilities, which were then tested."
