Kurt-Werner Schulz

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kurt-Werner Schulz (born July 25, 1953 in Falkenstein / Vogtl. , † August 21, 1989 near Lutzmannsburg ) was an architect from Weimar . He is considered to be the last casualty of the Cold War . Schulz was shot while trying to escape on the Hungarian-Burgenland border.

Life

Kurt-Werner Schulz was born on July 25, 1953 in Falkenstein in Vogtland. Before working as a carpenter in his father-in-law's company, he worked as an architect in Weimar. With his wife Gundula Schafitel and their son Johannes, he decided to travel to Hungary in August 1989 . After the attempt to escape had been decided, the family wanted to go to Sopron in a Trabant on August 20, 1989 , but were arrested by the border police and housed away from the border. Nevertheless, a return to the GDR was not an option for the family, as they had nothing to lose. Shortly afterwards they made the plan to cross the border at Lutzmannsburg . This attempt was interrupted again, but Schulz and his wife were able to cross the border. During the crossing on August 21, 1989, Schulz was fatally hit by a bullet from a Hungarian soldier. The shot occurred on Austrian soil, only about 10 meters from the border. He died in front of his family. In the course of coming to terms with the accident, the wife and son received an exit permit to Austria .

Legal situation

Border stone from an Austrian point of view in Lutzmannsburg

In 1987 a renewal of the surveillance system of several million forints was planned, but this was not possible due to the large number of staff, malfunctions and rising costs of the surveillance system. In May 1989, the state of Hungary began dismantling four sections of the Iron Curtain. Mostly young people who served as border guards still had orders to shoot people fleeing who wanted to cross the border. In addition, there were two innovations in 1989. GDR citizens were not deported after trying to escape if they were caught, but were held accountable in Hungary under Hungarian law. Since there were too many refugees at the time, no one was punished in practice.

On August 22, 1989 Helmut Kohl addressed this situation in Bonn. He asked Erich Honecker to clarify the refugee issue in order to avoid such cases in the future.

The fatal shot

After Kurt-Werner Schulz and his partner Gundula Schafitel learned of the rumor that the border at Fertőrákos - St. Margarethen was open, they traveled to Sopron with their 6-year-old son. On August 20, 1989, they made their first attempt to cross the border. Since 600 GDR citizens had fled to the West before, the Hungarian border authorities were on alert and prevented them from escaping. The family dared the second attempt at Répcevis - Lutzmannsburg: On the evening of August 21, they approached a watchtower, where they were seen by Hungarian border guards. Despite the request to stop, they ran across the border line. Schulz tried to get out of the grip of a Hungarian border soldier, with the ultimately fatal shot already falling 10 meters on Austrian territory. His partner returned to the accident site with their son and was taken away by the border guards. The case was referred to the Hungarian Military Court, which ruled that it was an accident. Due to these circumstances, Schafitel and her son were allowed to cross the green border near Rechnitz to Austria. Kurt-Werner Schulz went down in history as the last to die in the Cold War.

literature

  • Dieter Szorger, Pia Bayer: Burgenland and the fall of the iron curtain. Accompanying volume for the exhibition . Eisenstadt 2009. ISBN 978-3-85405-175-6
  • Ute Bauer: The Fall of the Iron Curtain . In: Aus der Pforte , December 2004, issue 1, p. 14 ff.
  • Heeresgeschichtliches Museum (Ed.): The iron curtain . Vienna 2001, p. 86
  • Otto Klambauer: The Cold War in Austria . Vienna 2000, p. 178
  • Wolfgang Bachkönig: Right on the border . Rust 2002, p. 162

Web link

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Official Journal Bad Sulza (PDF; 1.8 MB) of October 15, 2009
  2. ↑ a b c Dieter Szorger, Pia Bayer: The Burgenland and the fall of the iron curtain. Accompanying volume for the exhibition . Eisenstadt 2009
personal data
SURNAME Schulz, Kurt-Werner
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German architect and last dead of the Cold War
DATE OF BIRTH July 25, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH Falkenstein / Vogtland
DATE OF DEATH August 21, 1989
Place of death at Lutzmannsburg