# Olga Segler (1881–1961)

> Olga Segler, an 80-year-old resident of Bernauer Strasse 34, jumped from her window into a rescue net held by firemen on 25 September 1961, with her daughter waiting below; she injured her back and died the next day.

- Born: 31 July 1881
- Died: 26 September 1961
- Age at death: 80
- Cause of death: Fatal fall or accident
- Circumstances: Died trying to escape
- Place and circumstances as recorded: While fleeing from her apartment at Bernauer Strasse 34; At the sector border between Berlin-Mitte and Berlin-Wedding
- Map position (exact): 52.53872, 13.39834
- Area: inner-city border between East and West Berlin
- Web page: https://victimsofthewall.com/victims/segler-olga/

## Story

Olga Segler was born on 31 July 1881, to parents of German descent, in a town called Prischt that later became part of Ukraine. No official records of the rest of her life appear to have survived. By 1961 she was 80 years old and had her home at Bernauer Strasse 34 in Mitte, on the eastern side, near Brunnenstrasse. The buildings on her side of the street themselves formed the border with the western half of the city.

When the border was sealed, she was cut off from her daughter, who lived only a short distance away on the West Berlin side. For almost six weeks she lived in a barricaded building, with guards in the corridors and stairwells watching the residents around the clock to prevent escapes. In the first three months after the Wall went up, more than 150 people reached Wedding by jumping from the border houses into fire brigade nets or climbing down the façades; many were hurt, and on 22 August Ida Siekmann died after jumping from her flat.

On the morning of 24 September the East German authorities began clearing the buildings on Bernauer Strasse; two thousand people were to be moved out, most against their will. On the evening of the following day, 25 September 1961, Olga Segler jumped from the window of her second-floor flat, with her daughter waiting below on the pavement and urging her on. Firemen caught her in their rescue net, but she injured her back as she landed and was taken by ambulance to the nearby Lazarus Hospital. She died there the next day of a heart condition that the agitation of the escape had made fatal.

The East German authorities registered her escape as a "Grenzdurchbruch" (border breach), and official reports accordingly stated that her "Republikflucht" (flight from the republic) had succeeded. As a result, an investigation was opened in East Berlin against the old woman who had died.

In the West she was mourned publicly. Her funeral took place at the municipal cemetery in Reinickendorf, and in November 1961 a memorial was dedicated where she fell, resembling the wood and barbed-wire monuments to Ida Siekmann and Rudolf Urban, who had also lived on Bernauer Strasse and died trying to escape. For decades, wreaths and flowers were laid there on days of remembrance. Her building was torn down in 1966 except for its ground-floor façade, which, with its windows bricked up, served as the border wall until 1980.

## Sources

1. Christine Brecht, “Olga Segler”, biography in Chronik der Mauer, Federal Agency for Civic Education, Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam and Deutschlandradio. Accessed 23 September 2026. https://www.chronik-der-mauer.de/en/victims/180483/segler-olga
2. German version of the same biography. Accessed 23 September 2026. https://www.chronik-der-mauer.de/todesopfer/171439/segler-olga
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.
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. https://www.chronik-der-mauer.de/system/files/dokument_pdf/2017_08_08_140%20Victims_at_the_Wall_List_Internet_engl_FINAL.pdf
5. Hans-Hermann Hertle and Maria Nooke, “The Victims at the Berlin Wall, 1961–1989: Findings of a Research Project”, August 2017. https://www.chronik-der-mauer.de/system/files/dokument_pdf/2017_08_08_Hertle_Nooke_140_Victims_Berlin_Wall_FINAL_0.pdf

This profile is a summary written for this site; every fact in it is taken from source 1.

Cite as: “Olga Segler”, Victims of the Berlin Wall, Berlin Experiences. https://victimsofthewall.com/victims/segler-olga/