Honoring the Last to Die Crossing the Berlin Wall

On Thursday, February 5 a service was held to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the last death that resulted from an attempt to cross the Berlin Wall. 

Karin Gueffroy, the mother of Chris Gueffroy, lit a candle in his honor at a commemorative service held at Berlin's Chapel of Reconciliation. The chapel is located on the former "death strip". 

20-year-old Chris Gueffroy unwittingly made history on the night of Feb. 5, 1989 when he became the last victim of the Berlin wall "death strip." Gueffroy, attempting to avoid an upcoming mandatory enlistment in the military, was shot and killed attempting to cross the wall. Gueffroy and his friend, Christian Gaudian, attempted the crossing mistakenly believing that the standing order to "shoot to kill" had been revoked. 

The pair successfully avoided detection when making their way through the first sets of barriers, however their luck ran out when they set of an alarm at a steel-lattice fence. The border guards opened fire and Gueffroy was reportedly shot ten times with the fatal bullet piercing his heart, Gaudian was shot in the foot and later sentenced to 3 years in prison for attempting an "illegal border crossing". In September 1989 the West German government paid for his release from prison and expulsion from East Germany. 

As a result of East German state manipulation of records there is no universally accepted number to accurately show how many died trying to escape from East Germany but the number is believed to exceed 1100. 

When the obituary for Chris Gueffroy appeared in East German newspapers it would be the first time a death notice for someone killed trying to escape East Germany was allowed.