Christian-Peter Friese
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Christian-Peter Friese (August 5, 1948,
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
- December 25, 1970, East Berlin) was one of the victims at the Berlin Wall. Members of the
Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic The Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic (german: Grenztruppen der DDR) was the border guard of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1946 to 1990. The were the primary force guarding the Berlin Wall and the Inner German border ...
shot him while trying to escape from
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
.


Biography

He was his mother's only child, and grew up with her in
Naumburg Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018. ...
. His father is unknown. After school, he trained as a car mechanic. In Naumburg he took a job at the
Deutsche Reichsbahn (East Germany) The Deutsche Reichsbahn or DR ''(German Reich Railways)'' was the operating name of state owned railways in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), and after German reunification until 1 January 1994. In 1949, occupied Germany's railw ...
.Portrait of Christian-Peter Freise at chronik-der-mauer.de
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Death

On the evening of December 24, 1970, he left his home and his mother without saying goodbye or leaving a message. He went to East Berlin by train. Once there he went to the allotment Vogelsang II in Treptow which was right on the border. He watched the border and climbed around midnight on the interior fence. He triggered alarm by touching the subsequent signal fence. A total of five border guards opened fire on Christian-Peter Friese, who took cover in the vehicle barrier ditch. Shortly afterwards Friese began again to run in the direction of the last border fence. He was hit several times in the legs and upper body. He succumbed to his injuries in the death strip. In the crime scene sketch of the files of the Stasi were recorded a total of 98 shots on Christian-Peter Friese.


Aftermath

A senate speaker and the American City Commandant expressed their protest over the incident. The West-Berlin police initiated an investigation. The mother of the deceased was informed on January 7, 1971, by members of the Stasi about the death. The legend was that Christian-Peter Friese was traveling by car into a tree. The body had been cremated. The urn was transferred one month later to Naumburg and buried there in the municipal cemetery, under the supervision of the Stasi. After the German reunification, the mother said to Naumburg police that her son revealed his intention of fleeing. In a ''Mauerschützenprozess ''(process against guards of the wall who had shot) the border guards involved were acquitted because intent to kill could not be established, and because the court could not determine which of the defendants was responsible for the actual killing.


See also

*
List of deaths at the Berlin Wall There were numerous deaths at the Berlin Wall, which stood as a barrier between West Berlin and East Berlin from 13 August 1961 until 9 November 1989. Before the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, 3.5 million East Germans circumvented ...
* Berlin Crisis of 1961


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Friese, Christian-Peter Deaths at the Berlin Wall Deaths by firearm in East Germany People from Naumburg (Saale) 1948 births 1970 deaths People from Bezirk Halle East German defectors