Tours of Escape Tunnels Mark Berlin Wall History

A sign indicates the way for a special checking of buried tunnel system at the border checkpoint...

A sign indicates the way for a special checking of buried tunnel system at the border checkpoint Helmstedt-Marienborn memorial on October 7, 2009 in Marienborn, Germany. The Border checkpoint Helmstedt-Marienborn was the largest and most important border crossing on the Inner German border during the division of Germany.In 2008, more than 150,000 visitors explored the underbelly of the German capital, touring through the deserted bunkers and tunnels that serve as yet another spine-chilling reminder of the city's tense and violent role in the 20th century.

(Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

When the East German government built the Berlin Wall in 1961 to prevent its citizens from leaving, the regime failed to account for the ingenuity and creativity of those willing to risk anything to escape the communist system.

While some flew over the barrier in hot air balloons, others sailed far around it across the Baltic Sea and still others snuck across, hidden in secret compartments in cars.

But several hundred took advantage of the soft, sandy soil beneath Berlin to tunnel their way beneath the wall.

Today, almost 20 years after the wall's demise, Berlin's Cold War-era bunker and tunnel system has become one of the most popular attractions for tourists and locals alike.

In 2008, more than 150,000 visitors explored the underbelly of the German capital, touring through the deserted bunkers and tunnels that serve as yet another spine-chilling reminder of the city's tense and violent role in the 20th century.

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From the 1960s to the 1970s, Hasso Herschel helped dozens escape from the East to the West through the secret tunnels, some of which he dug with his own hands.

"This was the best thing I ever did in my whole life," the 74-year-old retiree said recently.

Herschel regularly escorts groups through the hidden world below Berlin's streets, explaining how the subterranean escape routes worked.

Herschel, who escaped to West Germany with a forged passport in 1961, dug several illegal tunnels underneath the wall, the first in September 1962.

Its entrance was hidden in a house on the eastern side of the border, right across from the wall on the Bernauer Strasse, according to Herschel's sister Anita Moeller, who helped him to cross.

"We went into the house, down to the basement, and then had to get into a hole in the floor," said Moeller, who escaped with her infant daughter and husband. "First I was worried, because I'm claustrophobic. I'm afraid of dark and narrow places ... but once I was inside the tunnel, there was no time left for my fears."