page_title: List of deaths at the Berlin Wall
section_title: Deaths
hierarchical_section_title: List of deaths at the Berlin Wall / Deaths
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Gedenktafel für das Maueropfer Olga Segler; Berlin, Bernauer Straße. Der Text sagt: "Dem Opfer der Schandmauer Olga Segler, † 26.9.1961, gewidmet. Reproduktion 2006". English: Monument for the Berlin Wall victim Olga Segler; Berlin, Bernauer Strasse. The text says: "Dedicated to the victim of the wall of shame, Olga Segler, † 26-Sep-1961. Reproduced 2006".
context_page_description: There were numerous deaths at the Berlin Wall, which stood as a barrier between West Berlin and East Berlin from 13 August 1961 until 9 November 1989. Before the rise of the Berlin Wall in 1961, 3.5 million East Germans circumvented Eastern Bloc emigration restrictions, many by crossing over the border from East Berlin into West Berlin, from where they could then travel to West Germany and other Western European countries. Between 1961 and 1989, the Wall prevented almost all such emigration.
  The state-funded Centre for Contemporary History in Potsdam has confirmed at least 140 deaths, including people attempting to escape, border guards, and innocent parties. However, researchers at the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and some others had estimated the death toll to be significantly higher.
  The escape attempts claimed the lives of a wide variety of people, from a child as young as one to an 80-year-old woman, and many died because of the accidental or illegal actions of the guards.
context_section_description: The Centre for Contemporary History and the Berlin Wall Memorial Site and Documentation Centre identified 136 people who died at the Berlin Wall.  They detailed the event surrounding each death, stating where possible the role of the person.  This is listed here as:
  Escapee – a person who had clear signs of attempting to escape
  No intention – a person who showed no obvious intent to cross the border
  Guard – a border guard on duty
  Suicide – a person who approached the guards with the intention of being killed
  Note: Some deaths occurred days or even years after the event at the Berlin Wall, with all the victims later dying in hospital.
caption: Memorial to Olga Segler
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