# Hans-Joachim Wolf (1947–1964)

> Hans-Joachim Wolf, a 17-year-old apprentice from Berlin-Friedrichshain, was shot dead by border guards on 26 November 1964 in the Britzer Zweig Canal while trying to escape to West Berlin, after calling on them to stop firing.

- Born: 8 August 1947
- Died: 26 November 1964
- Age at death: 17
- Cause of death: Shot
- Circumstances: Died trying to escape
- Place and circumstances as recorded: In the Britzer-Zweig Canal; At the sector border between Berlin-Treptow and Berlin-Neukölln
- Map position (approximate): 52.45909, 13.477
- Area: inner-city border between East and West Berlin
- Web page: https://victimsofthewall.com/victims/wolf-hans-joachim/

## Story

Hans-Joachim Wolf was born on 8 August 1947 and lived with his parents, a petrol station attendant and a shop assistant, in Berlin-Friedrichshain. In September 1964 he began an apprenticeship at the cable works in Köpenick. His mother later thought he might have been driven to flee because he was refused the apprenticeship he wanted as a radio and telecommunications technician, despite good school reports, because he was not involved in the state youth organisations. His sister, four years older, remembered him as very sociable and cheerful, with many friendships kept up in person and by letter, and on good and open terms with his parents.

He told his parents he thought life was better in the West but never spoke of escaping; he probably wanted to protect them from the Stasi and to spare them worry, since his sister had fled to West Berlin in 1961 and still suffered health problems as a result. Only to his grandmother did he hint at a possible route. On 9 December 1963 he had been caught at Friedrichstrasse station trying to reach West Berlin by train, but was evidently believed when he said he had boarded the wrong train, as he was not prosecuted. In November 1964 his mother saw him sorting his belongings and burning letters from friends in West Berlin.

On the morning of 25 November 1964 he left home for vocational school but never arrived. Instead he took a room at the Hotel Adlon near the Brandenburg Gate, apparently considering a descent by rope, and his worried parents reported him missing that night. The next day he decided against this presumed plan. That evening he made his way through the "Silberlinde" allotments in Treptow and climbed a barbed wire fence of about 2.5 metres on the southern bank of the Britzer Zweig Canal.

At 6:30 p.m., in darkness and a temperature of four degrees, he jumped into the canal. Border guards nearby saw him and fired without warning. He called out to them to stop shooting, abandoning his attempt, but they continued, firing 61 shots. One struck him in the chest and killed him. On the West Berlin side, police closed the nearby Sonnenallee crossing for half an hour because of the shooting.

Two days later his parents were told that he had accidentally drowned while crossing the border. They were not told where, not allowed to see his body, and not permitted a large memorial service. He was cremated at Baumschulenweg and his urn buried in the Parochial Cemetery in Friedrichshain. His parents did not believe the account: he was a good swimmer, and his father found blood on the watch returned to them. His sister, by then in Munich, reported the case in February 1965 but withdrew her statement for fear of consequences for her parents.

What happened was clarified only in 1994, when the guards were tried in Berlin. Proceedings against one ended when he died in March 1996; in September that year the court gave the other a suspended sentence of one year and four months for manslaughter. His parents had died by then.

## Sources

1. Lydia Dollmann, “Hans-Joachim Wolf”, 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/180525/wolf-hans-joachim
2. German version of the same biography. Accessed 23 September 2026. https://www.chronik-der-mauer.de/todesopfer/171397/wolf-hans-joachim
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: “Hans-Joachim Wolf”, Victims of the Berlin Wall, Berlin Experiences. https://victimsofthewall.com/victims/wolf-hans-joachim/