Diepoldsau Memorial – Fluchtweg Rohr

One of the strangest border crossings I have ever visited, the pipe on the Old Rhine is a well-known landmark not only in the Rhine Valley. It gained particular notoriety during the Second World War as an escape route for those persecuted by the Nazi regime in Austria and Germany fleeing to the safety of Switzerland. In the early 20th Century the Rhine river was regulated and several old river meanders were separated from the new Rhine channel. These are known as the Old Rhine (Alter Rhein in German).

The Old Rhine also features a pipe (Am Rohr). It cuts through the Old Rhine and is the starting point of the Neuner Canal. The border between Austria and Switzerland runs through the middle of the pipe. The pipe was built to drain water from Diepoldsau and to regulate the water level of the Old Rhine. We visited this point as part of the IBRG LIVCO-25 expedition.

Click map above to access location on Google Maps.

Looking from Austria into Switzerland. A memorial plaque, installed by UNESCO in 2009 at the old border fence on the “pipe,” commemorates the fate of those fleeing.

During World War II, the Rohr (pipe) served as a refuge for German and Austrian Jews seeking sanctuary in Switzerland, a kind of “pipe to freedom.” After the Nazis seized power in Austria in March 1938, thousands of Austrian Jews attempted to escape persecution by fleeing to Switzerland – some had visas to travel onward to another country, while many hoped for acceptance in the neutral Swiss Confederation.

However, legal escape was only possible until August 1938 – and even then, not everyone was admitted; many were turned back at the border. Most escapes were only successful with the help of so-called escape helpers who knew the border region and the habits of the border patrols. Around 2,000 refugees – mostly Jewish – were saved by the courageous actions of St. Gallen police commander Paul Grüninger (1891-1972). Contrary to orders, he did not send these people back to the German Reich, thus saving them from later murder in concentration camps. Paul Grüninger was dismissed from his post for this act and was only rehabilitated in 1993. He has been listed as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem since 1971.