Victims of the Wall

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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.

Granite slab in the pavement engraved "Dem Opfer der Schandmauer Olga Segler † 26.9.1961 gewidmet"
Memorial plaque for Olga Segler on Bernauer Strasse (reproduced 2006) Photo: Katzenmeier, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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.

Rusted steel stele with a historical photo of a memorial and white cross and text headed "Olga Segler"
Memorial stele for Olga Segler in front of where her home stood at Bernauer Strasse 34 Photo: Brewer Bob, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Dark plate set in concrete in grass inscribed "Olga Segler 31.7.1881 26.9.1961 Maueropfer"
Grave and memorial stone for Olga Segler at the Friedhof Reinickendorf Photo: Mutter Erde, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Large granite boulder on cobbles engraved with a list of names and dates under "Den Opfern der Mauer"
Memorial stone "Den Opfern der Mauer" at Bernauer Strasse 69-70, Berlin-Gesundbrunnen, listing Olga Segler Photo: OTFW, Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Read more

Also died on the sector border between Berlin-Mitte and Berlin-Wedding

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, “Olga Segler”, 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 plaque for Olga Segler on Bernauer Strasse (reproduced 2006). Katzenmeier, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
  • Memorial stele for Olga Segler in front of where her home stood at Bernauer Strasse 34. Brewer Bob, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
  • Grave and memorial stone for Olga Segler at the Friedhof Reinickendorf. Mutter Erde, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
  • Memorial stone "Den Opfern der Mauer" at Bernauer Strasse 69-70, Berlin-Gesundbrunnen, listing Olga Segler. OTFW, Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.

Cite this page

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

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.