Eiskeller is a tiny rural community along the western boundary of Berlin. The area of less than 0.20 square miles was a West Berlin exclave during the Cold War and connected to West Berlin proper by a narrow 13-foot wide road. Of course, both sides of the road were regularly patrolled by East German police to make sure that East German citizens would not defect to the west by way to Eiskeller. Also known as the coldest spot in all of Berlin (hence the name “ice cellar),” this small community added some intrigue to Cold War history. Here is what happened:
Eiskeller Boy is Detained by East German Guards
Erwin Schabe was a twelve-year-old schoolboy in 1961 when the Berlin Wall went up. He lived with his parents in their Eiskeller home and attended school in the West Berlin district of Spandau, just half a mile down the road. Every day, he rode his bike down the only road to Spandau. One day, he told his parents that he did not want to go to school that day because East German police had detained him the day before. Now he was afraid of riding his bike down that lonely stretch of road.
British Occupation Forces Provide Protection
Erwin’s parents immediately reported the incident to the British Occupation Forces since Eiskeller was located in the British Zone. In order to ward off an International incident, British military police quickly came to Erwin’s aid. For the next few days, a British armored reconnaissance vehicle accompanied the boy on his half-mile ride to school.
A British armored reconnaissance vehicle accompanies Erwin Schabe along the half mile from Eiskeller to Spandau in 1961, shortly after the construction of the Berlin Wall. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2019. www.walled-in-berlin.com
Without delay, the photo went around the world, showing little Erwin on his bike holding a sack lunch and followed by a British military vehicle. Instantly, he became famous and received letters of encouragement and praise from people throughout Germany. A West Germany civil servant even invited him to vacation in West Germany for a week. That’s as much of the story I was familiar with until recently.
My 2019 visit to Eiskeller
Imagine my surprise when I read that Erwin Schabe publicly admitted 33 years later that his story was pure fiction. https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/schulschwaenzer-gesteht-nach-33-jahren-seinen-streich–freiheits-kind–enttarnt-17280662 The Berlin rascal had invented the incident because he needed an excuse that would allow him to skip school that day.
Road from Eiskeller to Spandau in 2019 (now paved). The same road Erwin Schabe took to school in 1961. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2019. www.walled-in-berlin.com
Curious about what the half-mile Eiskeller road might look like today, I visited the tiny community, now home to three families, on a recent visit to Berlin. Located on the edge of the Spandau woods, it is just a short walk from the Berlin Wall Trail (Berliner Mauerweg). Along the trail, an info board shows the very photo I remember: A young school boy on his bike with a British military vehicle on his heels. It turns out, Erwin Schabe’s family home is still standing. He hasn’t lived there for many years. The current owner of the home sells beer, soft drinks and ice cream to passer’s by.
For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic and current events, people, places and food.
Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.
