Ingo Krüger (Wall victim)
Ingo Krüger (born January 31, 1940 in Berlin ; † December 11, 1961 there ) was a victim of the Berlin Wall . While trying to escape from the GDR, he drowned in the Spree between the Friedrichstrasse station and the Marschallbrücke .
Life
Ingo Krüger was born in Berlin-Dahlem . His father died in World War II. After the second wedding of his mother, a people's judge , they moved to the East Berlin district of Treptow . After school he trained as a chef. In addition to family contacts, Ingo Krüger also had a love affair in West Berlin with his fiancée Ingrid R. This relationship was observed by informers from the MfS who suspected an agent activity. Confronted with this accusation, Ingo Krüger stated that he wanted to settle in the GDR after the wedding.
Through the construction of the wall Ingo Krüger was separated from his fiancee in August 1961st The couple agreed to meet secretly at the border fence on the outskirts of the city. The border wasn't as developed as the death strip was in the 1980s. After Ingo Krüger was arrested by border guards at one of these meetings, Ingrid R. registered in West Germany in order to circumvent the entry restrictions to East Berlin that applied to West Berliners. Ingo Krüger nevertheless decided to flee, which he wanted to carry out as a recreational diver through the Spree near the Reichstag building. While he was preparing to escape, he was observed by informers.
On the evening of December 10, 1961, he took a taxi to Schiffbauerdamm, accompanied by two friends . He had already put on his diving suit. Below the bridge at Berlin Friedrichstrasse train station , he got into the water with his breathing apparatus. His fiancée was waiting for him and saw a GDR customs boat that was searching in the water and pulling Kruger’s body out of the water. Investigations by the MfS determined that the cause of the accident was a defect in the breathing apparatus and drowning. Another investigation after the fall of the wall assumed cold shock as the cause of death.
A cross facing the Spree from the White Crosses Memorial on the bank of the Reichstag commemorates Ingo Krüger.
literature
- Christine Brecht : Ingo Krüger , in: The victims of the Berlin Wall 1961–1989 , Links, Berlin 2009, pp. 64–66.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kruger, Ingo |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German casualty from the Berlin Wall |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 31, 1940 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Berlin |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 11, 1961 |
| Place of death | Berlin |