Victims of the Wall

All 140 people

Horst Plischke

1939–1962

Horst Plischke, a 23-year-old from Potsdam, drowned on 19 November 1962 while trying to swim across the Havel north of the Glienicker Bridge to West Berlin; his body was found in the Jungfernsee four months later.

Tall orange column inscribed 'Horst Plischke · Herbert Mende' beside two grey panel posts, in front of a brick wall and autumn trees
Memorial for Horst Plischke and Herbert Mende on Berliner Straße 86 in Potsdam, photographed in 2020 Photo: OTFW, Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Horst Plischke was born on 12 July 1939 and lived in Potsdam. No archive documents or contemporary witnesses have yet been found that tell us who he was or why he wanted to leave. His identity card and a call-up notice for military service were later found on his body.

In the early hours of 19 November 1962 he went into the Havel north of the Glienicker Bridge, intending to swim to the West Berlin bank. Border soldiers noticed him at around 3:30 a.m. According to the West Berlin press, several shots were fired, and the water and the eastern shore of the Jungfernsee were then searched, continuing into the next day. He was not found.

At about 6:45 a.m. on 10 March 1963 border soldiers found the body of a young man in the Jungfernsee; it had come to the surface when the water thawed. The East German authorities concluded that it was the swimmer of 19 November, and that he had drowned without being hit by any of the guards' bullets.

Throughout the East German years the West knew nothing of his fate; his death was registered nowhere and his name appeared on no list of victims. Only in November 1994 did investigators find border troop records of his escape attempt and the recovery of his body. Further enquiries confirmed that he had drowned rather than been shot; the border guards involved could therefore not be prosecuted, and the Berlin public prosecutor's office discontinued its investigation on 3 May 1995.

Dark panel with a German and English text headed 'Horst Plischke', born 12 July 1939, drowned 19 November 1962
Memorial panel for Horst Plischke on Berliner Straße 86 in Potsdam, photographed in 2020 Photo: OTFW, Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Information panel on an orange column with an aerial photograph of a bridge over water and marked points, above text
Panel with a 1989 aerial photograph of the Glienicke Bridge area, marking the site where Horst Plischke's body was found Photo: OTFW, Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Read more

Also died on the outer ring between Berlin-Zehlendorf and Potsdam

Sources

This profile is a summary written for this site. Every fact in it is taken from source 1, which also gives the full account with archival references.

  1. Christine Brecht, “Horst Plischke”, biography in Chronik der Mauer, Federal Agency for Civic Education, Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam and Deutschlandradio. Accessed 23 September 2026. Read online. Basis for every fact in this profile, including the dates and place of death.
  2. German version of the same biography. Accessed 23 September 2026. Read online.
  3. Hans-Hermann Hertle and Maria Nooke (eds.), The Victims at the Berlin Wall, 1961–1989: A Biographical Handbook. Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam and Berlin Wall Foundation, Berlin 2011. The printed handbook from which the online biography is taken.
  4. Hans-Hermann Hertle and Maria Nooke, “140 Victims at the Berlin Wall, 1961–1989” (list), Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam and Berlin Wall Foundation, August 2017. PDF. Used to cross-check names and dates.
  5. Hans-Hermann Hertle and Maria Nooke, “The Victims at the Berlin Wall, 1961–1989: Findings of a Research Project”, August 2017. PDF. Source of the classification into escapees, people with no intent to escape, and border soldiers.

Further reading

Image credits

  • Memorial for Horst Plischke and Herbert Mende on Berliner Straße 86 in Potsdam, photographed in 2020. OTFW, Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.
  • Memorial panel for Horst Plischke on Berliner Straße 86 in Potsdam, photographed in 2020. OTFW, Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.
  • Panel with a 1989 aerial photograph of the Glienicke Bridge area, marking the site where Horst Plischke's body was found. OTFW, Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.

Cite this page

“Horst Plischke”, Victims of the Berlin Wall, Berlin Experiences. https://victimsofthewall.com/victims/plischke-horst/

Map

The pin position is based on the place of death described in source 1. Base map © OpenStreetMap contributors; course of the Wall in 1989 from Geoportal Berlin (dl-de/zero-2.0). Accessed 23 September 2026.