Who was the first person to die while attempting to cross the Berlin Wall?

Ida Siekmann was the first person to die while attempting to cross the Berlin Wall.

Siekmann died on 22 August 1961, nine days after East Germany began sealing the Berlin sector. She lived at Bernauer Straße 48 in East Berlin, where the building stood directly beside the border. Residents could reach the pavement outside through the building, but that pavement was in West Berlin after the border closure.

Siekmann jumped from a third-floor window onto a fire service safety net during an escape attempt. She fell beside the building and suffered fatal injuries before she could be taken to hospital. Her death is generally recognized as the first fatality associated with an attempted crossing of the Berlin Wall.

The Bernauer Straße buildings became a particularly stark part of the divided border because entrances belonged to East Berlin while the street and sidewalks lay in West Berlin. East German authorities later sealed and demolished many of the buildings, changing the area’s appearance permanently.