Chris Gueffroy

Chris Gueffroy (June 21, 1968- February 6, 1989 was the last person to die trying to escape across the Berlin Wall.

Together with his friend Christian Gaudian, Gueffroy attempted on the night of February 5 - 6, 1989 to escape from East Berlin to West Berlin, along the Britzer Verbindungskanal. In support of their attempted escape, they had befriended a border soldier, who had agreed not to follow the Schießbefehl, the standing order to shoot anyone who attempted to cross the wall. Before overcoming the last metal lattice fence, the two were discovered and came under fire from the NVA border troops. Gueffroy was hit in the breast by ten shots and died in the border strip. Gaudian, badly but not fatally injured, was arrested and was condemned May 24, 1989 to an imprisonment of three years by the Pankow district court for "versuchten ungesetzlichen Grenzübertritts im schweren Fall" ("attempted illegal border-crossing of the first degree").

In September 1989 Gaudian was freed on bail by the Bundesrepublik and 17. Oktober 1989 transferred to West Berlin.

The four involved border guards at first obtained a honorary award (Leistungsabzeichen der Grenztruppen) from the chief of the Grenzkommandos Mitte, Erich Wöllner, and a prize of 150 Mark each. However, after the reunion of East and West Germany they were prosecuted by the Berlin Landgericht. Two of them were released in January 1992, one got a Bewährungsstrafe. Ingo Heinrich, who was responsible for the mortal shot in the heart, was at first condemned to three and a half years of jail. In appeal to the Bundesgerichtshof (high court of justice) in 1994 the verdict was lowered to two years Bewährung.

On June 21, 2003, which would have been his 35th birthday, a monument to Gueffroy was erected on the bank of the Britzer Verbindungskanal. The monument was designed by Berlin artist Karl Biedermann.