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49 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."
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If you have read this far and you are thinking thoughts about YOUR mother-in-law in the trunk of a car, you've missed the point of the story and need help!

Tim Collins
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12702006@N07/sets/

...GREAT STORY.....

To: spridgets@autox.team.net
Subject: Two Inches - But wait, there's more!


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

Tim Collins
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12702006@N07/sets/

...quick story...my uncle, who was a WW11 pacific vet, was riding the train as a tourist in E Germany and heading for West Berlin, he fell asleep on the train and missed his station, only to awaken back in E Germany. He asked where he was and said he wanted to go to the "free side". The guards promptly told him that he was IN the free side...he was a bit nervous for awhile before he returned...that was his favorite Christmas story after a few drinks, this was pre Berlin Wall.... he was a history teacher and very pro USA.....Ahhh the good ole days...

great story! I couldn't let that one pass by without checking for a photo from 1963.............found one. who doesn't love the internet!




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-05-05 08:47 PM by 1275midget.

Amazing!

....wrong photo...isn't that LaVerne sneakin two dates into the drive in???...and he's already got one top down...

Looks like they lied to Ma-in-law about the bricks to stop the bullets.

---

Chris Howells

1968 MGB Purchased already dis-assembled but which is largely back together so I'm a lot less ignorant.

You can get under a lot with a Sprite. Had a major road wash out because of a flash flood on the Colorado National Monument in the summer of 71. Me and my gal wanted to drive up and see it. They had the entrance closed and a logging chain across the road way. Just enough slack to lift it over the windshield and drive on up and have a look. Took em over a year to repair the washout.

Three in a Sprite is nothing. Had 5 of us crammed in there for a 12 mile drive to the ball park for our game with the cross town rivals. Think we won. Think I got a couple of hits. Think I was stoned too.

It's rare to see such an honest young man as Heinz.
Most men performing a such a measurement for their girlfriends would round up substantially.
"37.5? No love, it can't be as little as that... it's much more like something over 40..."



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012-05-06 01:27 AM by auctionwatch.