In May 1963, Austrian Heinz Meixner was 20. And he was gainfully employed.<\/p>\n
He worked in West Berlin, and had for about 15 months. As a foreigner, he was allowed to cross the border into East Berlin. He did so periodically.<\/p>\n
On one of his visits to East Berlin, he met a lady \u2013 Margarete Thurau. In September 1962, the couple had become engaged.<\/p>\n
The East German authorities weren\u2019t exactly pleased. They refused the couple permission to marry unless Meixner moved to the East.<\/p>\n
Meixner wasn\u2019t willing to do that. So he decided to spirit his fianc\u00e9e and her mother into West Berlin.<\/p>\n
One one of his trips to East Berlin, Meixner rode a motorbike. He faked engine trouble while crossing the checkpoint. <\/p>\n
While the guard was checking his passport, Meixner managed to measure the precise height of the bottom of the metal barrier gate used to block vehicular access until permission to depart East Germany was granted. The barrier gate’s bottom was 37 1\/2 inches above the road.<\/p>\n
Meixner then checked car rental agencies to find a small sports car that \u2013 without its windshield \u2013 would be low enough to pass under the barrier gate. He found one: an Austin-Healy Sprite. With its windshield removed it would be only 35 1\/2 inches high.<\/p>\n
Meixner arranged to rent the car. After removing the windshield, he also let out some air from the tires to provide additional margin. <\/p>\n
Meixner then drove the car into East Berlin. He met with his fianc\u00e9e and future mother-in-law.<\/p>\n
When it was time to leave, is fianc\u00e9e wedged into the small space behind the front seats. His mother in law curled up in the vehicle\u2019s tiny trunk. Meixner surrounded her with 30 bricks for protection in case the border Guards shot at them during their escape attempt.<\/p>\n
A bit after midnight on Sunday, 5 May 1963, Meixner approached Checkpoint Charlie from the East German side. The first East German border guard checked his passport and directed him to the customs shack \u2013 where from past crossings Meixner knew the vehicle would be inspected in detail.<\/p>\n
Instead, Meixner gunned the car\u2019s engine. Accelerating, he approached the final barrier gate and ducked.<\/p>\n
His car passed under the barrier. The East German guards were so surprised that they did not fire.<\/p>\n
After passing under the barrier, Meixner hit the brakes and skidded to a stop. The three had made it to West Berlin. <\/p>\n
Like the East German border guards, the American border guards at Checkpoint Charlie were also shocked at Meixner’s audacity. But after recovering the American guards welcomed them.<\/p>\n
Heinz Meixner and Margarete Thurau were now free to marry. And now they – and Maragarete’s mother – also possessed something else precious enough to be worth risking life itself: freedom.<\/p>\n
The East Germans later added vertical bars under the gate to prevent a repeat performance of Meixner\u2019s escape.<\/p>\n
—–<\/p>\n
Sources<\/u>:<\/p>\n
https:\/\/news.google.com\/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19630506&id=SLQyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RAEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3189,199390&hl=en<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n
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