Storming the Palace

Czechoslovak police filled the narrow cobbled streets around the Palais Lobkowitz in central Prague last week, checking the documents of anyone passing by the imposing building that houses West Germany's embassy. Inside, West German guards nervously scanned the garden walls. Both forces were trying to stem a small flood of East German citizens who had been pouring into the embassy compound, at one point scaling the walls to gain asylum and the hope of eventual transfer to the West. At week's end about 100 refugees were huddled inside the former Czechoslovak palace, to the embarrassment of the Bonn government and the further complication of ties between the two Germanys.

Because East Germans may travel to Czechoslovakia without restrictions, the Prague embassy has been used as a haven by refugees before. Faced with this week's influx, the Bonn government of Chancellor Helmut Kohl finally decided to order the embassy doors closed. As tactful West German officials were aware, the new exodus came just as the East German state was preparing to celebrate the 35th anniversary of its founding under Soviet supervision.