Campus Cinema: Tunnel of Freedom (documentary)

Originalaufnahme der Tunnelbauaktion

August 13, 1961: With the construction of the Berlin Wall, Berlin becomes a divided city. A year later, 29 people from East Germany managed a spectacular escape to the West through a 135-meter-long tunnel. West Berlin students had secretly dug it over the course of several months—out of solidarity, love, and political conviction, always at the risk of their lives.

The tunnel’s construction was also financed by footage sold to the U.S. television network NBC. This archival material forms the foundation of this multifaceted documentary, in which, for the first time, a camera captured an escape under the Berlin Wall up close.

Documentary, 2021, Director: Marcus Vetter, 95 min.

Pre-screening discussion: Anna von Arnim-Rosenthal (Berlin Wall Foundation)

Film discussion: Joachim Neumann (tunnel builder and eyewitness), Maja Nielsen ( author)

Moderator: Dr. Jens Schöne ( Deputy Berlin Commissioner for Coming to Terms with the SED Dictatorship)

Pre-show program

5:45 p.m.: Guided tour with eyewitnesses through the open-air exhibition “Revolution and the Fall of the Wall,” 60 min.

5:45 p.m.: “Where Is My File?” Guided tour of the Stasi Records Archive, 60 min.

Registration for the tours is required at:

Your participation in a guided tour is not confirmed until you receive our confirmation.

The Campus Cinema is organized by the Federal Archives – Stasi Records Archive, the Berlin Commissioner for Coming to Terms with the Past, and the Robert Havemann Society e. V. Media partners are radioeins and Der Tagesspiegel. The Campus Cinema takes place in collaboration with the Stasi Museum, UOKG e. V., DOH Doping Victims Aid e. V., and the Citizens’ Committee January 15 e. V.

An event as part of the Campus Cinema series

The event is part of the“Campus Cinema” series.Translated with DeepL

Next date:

• Date Thursday, 13/August/2026 19:30
• Venue Stasimuseum - Forschungs- und Gedenkstätte Normannenstraße
• Address Ruschestraße 103, 10365 Berlin-Lichtenberg