[Spridgets] 52 years ago

Tim Collins thcollin at mtu.edu
Tue May 5 11:09:22 MDT 2015


52 years ago today. . .

TIME Magazine

Friday, May. 17, 1963
Two Inches to Safety

Since the hated Wall went up in 1961, escapees 
have ingeniously gotten past it by tunneling, 
climbing, jumping, or by just knocking it down. 
Last week a young Austrian outdid them all, 
smuggling out his pretty fiancée and her mother 
through the simple expedient of keeping his head 
down. Heinz Meixner, 20, had moved to West Berlin 
two years ago to take a job as a lathe worker. As 
a foreigner, he was able to cross the line freely 
into East Berlin, where, at a students' dance 
last September, he fell in love with tiny, 
attractive Margarete Thurau. When Margarete 
applied for permission to emigrate to Austria, 
Communist police told her that she should marry 
her young man in East Berlin and settle down 
there. "As soon as I heard that," says Meixner, 
"I made up my mind to get her out." Last Exit. He 
laid his plans with meticulous care. To get a 
good look at the Communist side of the 
Friedrichstrasse crossing point for foreigners, 
Meixner stalled his motor scooter near the 
peppermint-striped steel beam that closes the 
last exit in the Wall. Pretending to have engine 
trouble, he measured the height of the barrier, 
found that it was only 37½ in. from the ground. 
His next step was to search the car rental 
agencies in West Berlin for a sports car small 
enough to slip under the beam. He finally decided 
on an Austin Healey Sprite, which, without its 
windshield, measured 35½ in. high. Meixner 
confided in another young Austrian, gave him an 
exact timetable of his plans and asked him to 
prevent any cars on the Western side from 
starting into the barrier area at the critical 
moment. At last, when his plans were complete. 
Meixner drove his little sports car back into 
East Berlin to Margarete's house. Margarete 
crouched in the narrow space behind the driver's 
seat; her mother was wedged into the luggage 
compartment. "Luckily," says petite Margarete, 
"Mother is just like me." Leaving nothing to 
chance, Meixner also let air out of his tires to 
lower the car. Shortly after midnight, Meixner 
drove to the entrance of the frontier area, 
showed his Austrian passport to a guard, who 
waved him on to the customs officer. Bricks for 
Mamma. It was the time for action. Instead of 
pulling up at the customs shed, Meixner gunned 
his motor, skidded around the slalom barriers, 
and shot past the startled guard. Looming before 
him was that last bar. For one terrifying moment, 
it seemed too low to clear. But he had measured 
well. Jamming his foot on the accelerator, 
Meixner ducked his head and whizzed into West 
Berlin. By the time he got there, he was going so 
fast that he left a 96-ft. skid mark when he 
jammed on the brakes. Safe with his passengers, 
Meixner explained his escape plan to startled 
West Berlin police: "I figured it would take the 
Vopos three seconds to draw their weapons once 
they realized what I was doing. But I thought I 
could make it in those three seconds. Besides, we 
had 30 bricks behind Mrs. Thurau to protect her if firing started."

and It is incredible that one man took his bride 
to safety in an Austin Healey Sprite, but TWO - with the SAME Sprite!!! WOW
I like the line about the defective exhaust. LOL
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 


The House At Checkpoint Charlie
A Little West Berlin Museum Celebrates The 
Ingenuity Of Those Who Conquered The Wall

December 07, 1986|By Article by Paul Martin, a 
freelance writer based in Riverside.

The exploit, and the Sprite, received 
international publicity. Several months later 
Norbert Konrad tried the same stunt. Although 
born in Germany, Konrad had an Argentine 
passport. He had fallen in love with an East 
German woman, Helga Werner, but the authorities 
refused permission for her to emigrate. Although 
concerned that the guards at Checkpoint Charlie 
might be particularly suspicious of sports cars, 
Konrad rented an Austin-Healey Sprite at a West Berlin agency.

As Helga huddled in the trunk, Konrad drove 
toward the East Berlin checkpoint. En route, an 
East Berlin policeman stopped him; Konrad was 
certain he had been discovered. He relaxed when 
the policeman pointed to a loose fitting on the 
exhaust pipe and told him to have it repaired. 
Konrad gladly fixed it, then resumed his drive.

At the checkpoint Konrad showed his passport, and 
the guard directed him to the customs office. 
Instead, Konrad stepped on the gas, raced for the 
barrier, ducked his head under the 37 
1/2-inch-high horizontal pole and skidded into 
West Berlin. Konrad later returned the car to the 
rental agency and was incredulous when he learned 
it was the same vehicle Heinz Meixner had used. 
Several weeks later Konrad and Werner were married.

The trick worked twice, but no more. To prevent a 
third Sprite escape, the East Germans embedded 
steel bars in the concrete beneath the barrier.

<the article continues>

<http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1986-12-07/features/8604010562_1_rainer-hildebrandt-west-berlin-east-berlin/3>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1986-12-07/features/8604010562_1_rainer-hildebrandt-west-berlin-east-berlin/3 

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