Balloon Ride to Freedom

"Are we in the West?" That was the only question Peter Strelzyk and Günter Wetzel asked when they encountered Bavarian border guards near Naila in the early morning of September 16, 1979. And at the answer, they erupted in cheers: "Yes, of course, where else would we be?" At that moment, the most adventurous night of their lives lay behind them – their escape from East Germany and a balloon ride to freedom.

Peter Strelzyk (born 1942) and Günter Wetzel (born 1955) had spent years meticulously planning their escape in Pößneck, Thuringia, secretly acquiring technical literature on aerodynamics. Strelzyk's training as an aircraft mechanic and his work as an electrical fitter proved invaluable. He tirelessly tinkered with a burner system based on propane gas cylinders. Meanwhile, at number 22 Tuchmacherstraße in Pößneck, the name of the street lived up to its name: Wetzel, a trained bricklayer, painstakingly sewed several hundred square meters of fabric together – on an old mechanical sewing machine – working through the night. It would take him three attempts. The first balloon envelope proved too loosely woven during a test in April 1978. On the night of July 4, 1979, the Strelzyk couple and their two children attempted a flight alone. Again, it failed. The balloon became trapped in a cloud of mist, and the envelope became waterlogged. The balloon descended and landed in a wooded area just outside the restricted border zone. The Strelzyks managed to return to Pößneck undetected. However, they had to surrender the balloon. When it was discovered, the police launched a large-scale search – without success.

Strelzyks and Wetzel dared to try a third time. Once again, an even larger balloon envelope was created through nighttime work. To avoid attracting attention, they bought the fabric panels at various locations throughout East Germany. On the night of September 16, 1979, the moment finally arrived. The gliding weather report on Bavarian Radio promised ideal conditions with a steady northerly wind. The two families drove along secondary roads toward the border. Their four sons, aged two, five, eleven, and fifteen, accompanied them. Fifteen kilometers southeast of Probstzella, above the Saalfeld-Lobenstein railway line, they began inflating the 26-meter-long balloon envelope. They all stood on the thin steel sheet of the improvised gondola, and at 2:26 a.m., the balloon lifted off. They reached an altitude of over 2,000 meters – in freezing temperatures of minus 8 degrees Celsius.

Just minutes after takeoff, the police were informed. The night watchman of the district cultural center in Lobenstein had reported an unidentified flying object heading toward the state border. Searchlights scanned the sky but failed to reach the balloon. Before the border police could intervene, the balloon had already left East German territory. Seven kilometers across the border, the escapees landed with a great deal of luck on the outskirts of the Upper Franconian town of Naila – just 300 meters from a high-voltage power line.

The daring escape caused a huge sensation and was celebrated in the Western press for weeks. A book was written, and Hollywood even made a film adaptation, "Night Crossing." After retraining as a car mechanic, Günter Wetzel found work in the car trade near Hof. The Strelzyks opened an electrical goods store in Bad Kissingen. However, they were also spied on and pressured by Stasi agents in the West. In 1985, they went to Switzerland and only returned to Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989/90.