Ida Siekmann

Ida Siekmann

This photo of Ida Siekmann appeared in the Berlin newspaper Bild Zeitung on 23 August 1961, the day following her death
Born (1902-08-23)23 August 1902
Gorken
Died 22 August 1961(1961-08-22) (aged 58)
Berlin, Germany
Cause of death Leapt from fourth floor apartment window on Bernauer Straße to reach West Berlin
Body discovered Bernauer Strasse 48
52°32′25″N 13°24′10″E / 52.5402°N 13.4029°E / 52.5402; 13.4029 (Site of Ida Siekmann fatality)
Resting place Urnenfriedhof Seestraße Berlin-Wedding
52°33′08″N 13°21′16″E / 52.5521°N 13.3544°E / 52.5521; 13.3544 (Location of Ida Siekmann's grave)
Monuments "Window Of Remembrance", Berlin
Residence Bernauer Strasse 48, Berlin N58, GDR
Known for First casualty at the Berlin Wall

Ida Siekmann (23 August 1902 – 22 August 1961) was the first person to die at the Berlin Wall, only 9 days after the beginning of its construction.

Biography

Ida Siekmann, at the Window of Remembrance, Berlin Wall Memorial, Bernauer Straße (2011)
Makarios III , President of Cyprus, at the Siekmann memorial (1962)
Ida Siekmann, at the Urnenfriedhof Seestrasse, Berlin-Wedding (2011)
Bernauer Straße in November 1955, including Bernauer Straße 48, with annotations (on the Wikimedia Commons version of this page) showing Ida Siekmann's front door and the fourth-floor window that she jumped from
Bernauer Straße 48 (and 47c to the far right) in June 1965. Annotations (on the Wikimedia Commons version of this page) show Ida Siekmann's front door and the fourth-floor window that she jumped from.

Ida Siekmann was born in Gorken near Marienwerder (West Prussia) (now Górki, Kwidzyn County, Poland). She had moved to Berlin where she worked as a nurse,[1] and lived at Bernauer Straße 48 in the center of Berlin.[2] She had a sister, Martha L., who lived only a few blocks away, on Lortzingstraße.[3] As of August 1961, she was already a widow;[4] it is not known when she was actually widowed.

After World War II, Berlin was divided in four Allied sectors. While the street and the sidewalk of the Bernauer Straße lay in the French sector of West Berlin, the frontage of the buildings on the southern side lay in the Soviet sector of East Berlin. Until 13 August 1961, the day the Berlin Wall was built, Siekmann crossed the sector’s border just by leaving her house.[2] Her sister's apartment was also in the French sector of West Berlin.[3]

Death

Immediately after the border between East and West Berlin was closed on 13 August 1961, numerous families and individuals from 50 Bernauer Straße addresses fled to the West.[5] On 18 August 1961, Walter Ulbricht ordered the East German border troops to brick up the entrances and windows on the ground floor of the houses on the southern side of the street. Members of the Combat Groups of the Working Class and police controlled every person who tried to enter the houses and the residents were subject to rigid controls, even in the hallways. Many residents of such tenements still fled to West Berlin: residents of the upper floors were often rescued by jumping-sheets of the West Berlin fire department.[2] On 21 August, the entrance and windows of Bernauer Straße 48 were barred. In the early morning of 22 August, Siekmann, living on the fourth floor (by North American standards, third floor/dritter Stock/Obergeschoss by German standards), threw eiderdowns and some possessions down onto the street and jumped out of the window of her apartment before the firefighters were able to open the jumping-sheet.[6][7][8] She fell on the pavement and was severely injured. Siekmann died shortly after on her way to the Lazarus Hospital, thus becoming the first casualty at the Berlin Wall.[5][6]

Burial

Siekmann was buried at the Seestraße cemetery on 29 August; in September a memorial was erected at Bernauer Straße 48. The memorial was often visited by foreign politicians (including Robert Kennedy and Archbishop Makarios) to honour the victims of the Berlin Wall.[2]

The houses on the southern side of Bernauer Straße were torn down in 1963 and replaced by a concrete wall.

Literature

References

  1. ↑ Peter Galante and Jack Miller, "The Berlin Wall" (pgs 79–80), 1 January 1965, Arthur Baker Ltd., ASIN B0000CMM6U
  2. 1 2 3 4 Biography at Chronik der Mauer.de (German)
  3. 1 2 Hamburger Abendblatt article "In der Tasche der Toten fand man die Adresse der Schwester", 23 August 1961(German)
  4. ↑ Bild Zeitung article, "Dem Opfer der Unfreiheit", 29 August 1961(German)
  5. 1 2 Die Erste und der Letzte Die Welt, 13 August 2010 (German)
  6. 1 2 Sprung in den Tod Deutschlandradio Kultur (German)
  7. ↑ Die Berliner Mauer Focus, 19 October 2009 (German)
  8. ↑ Forscher korrigieren in neuer Studie Zahl der Mauertoten Berliner Morgenpost 8 August 2008 (German)
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