A Sprite, True Love and the Cold War

1963 was a bad year to fall in love with a girl from the German Democratic Republic – especially if you lived in the Federal Republic of Germany. The Berlin Wall had been erected two years earlier to stem the tide of East Germans seeking to cross the border that divided Berlin between the East and West. Heinz Meixner cared little for international politics but the barrier represented by Checkpoint Charlie was much more personal for him. But never underestimate a young man in love with access to an Austin-Healey Sprite with the guts to come up with a plan.