The First Embassy Refugees in Prague, 1974
In the autumn of 1974, a family from the German Democratic Republic (GDR) became the first East Germans to seek refuge at the West German Embassy in Prague. This event took place long before the much-better-known embassy refugee crisis (video) of 1989.
The father, Stefan Peterlowitz, was dissatisfied with life under the GDR regime and maintained contact with West Germany through his work. While preparing to leave the GDR, he studied West Germany’s Basic Law, specifically Article 116, which defines who counts as a German under West German law. Peterlowitz interpreted this provision as giving him and his family a legal claim to West German citizenship.
In September 1974, the family traveled to Prague under the pretense of a holiday, having sold their car and other belongings. At that time, the West German Embassy was located on the top floor of the Hotel Jalta on Wenceslas Square. There they told embassy staff they were from the GDR and wanted West German passports.
Embassy officials initially rejected their request and questioned their legal claim to citizenship. They even offered the family 3,000 Czechoslovak koruna to return to East Germany. The family refused. Three days later they returned and said they would not leave the embassy without West German citizenship.
The embassy then put the family in a small room with basic furniture. The children slept in armchairs, the mother slept on a sofa, and Peterlowitz slept on the floor. Embassy staff provided food and small gifts, but the living conditions were cramped. During this time, Peterlowitz found a copy of the West German constitution on a shelf and wrote a letter to West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. In that letter, he asked that Article 116 be applied to his family “with all resulting rights and duties,” citing West German media references to the article’s application to East Germans. The embassy accepted the letter for transmission.
After several weeks of negotiation, Jürgen Stange, an attorney for the West German government, took up the case. He contacted Wolfgang Vogel, a lawyer who had negotiated the release of political prisoners from the GDR for West Germany.
On the morning of October 4, 1974, the family was finally allowed to travel via East Berlin to West Germany. Upon arrival, they received West German identity cards.
Two political realities made their departure possible. First, the family’s steadfast refusal to return to the GDR forced authorities to confront the situation. Second, GDR leader Erich Honecker was preparing for celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the GDR, creating a politically sensitive climate.
The Federal Republic of Germany aimed to maintain stable diplomatic relations with both the GDR and Czechoslovakia, and the family agreed to keep the terms of their departure confidential.
The case reached high diplomatic levels and was even discussed among the foreign ministers of East Germany, West Germany, and Czechoslovakia at the United Nations. The text of Peterlowitz’s letter to Chancellor Schmidt remains preserved in the Political Archive’s files.
Tom Topol | Passport History Expert & Author.
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