I have often read about people who tried to escape e berlin by tunneling, climbing razor wire, etc. is there some reason they didn't go out into the countryside where there was no wall & enter west germany, then go back into berlin from the west? That seems better than facing machine guns & guard dogs. Thanks noboat

Berlin Wall was over 100 miles long, not just in Berlin After that there were guards, wire fencing and dogs.

Entering the country side would mean they were still in East Germany.

Berlin was an oddity as it was part East and part West, hence the reason people tried to cross the wall.

This explains more clearly: Berlin Wall - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Look at the map on the right pane.

Berlin was in the East of Germany, but West Berlin was basically a different country, part of West Germany.