Hundreds were shot as they tried to reach freedom

The figures mean that an average of seven people were jailed every day for trying to get out between 1961, when the wall was built, and 1989, when it was torn down.

Thousands of East German border guards also tried to escape. Around 2,500 made it to the West.

But the report says 5,500 were caught and jailed for an average of five years. Civilians got an average of one or two years.

The report has been compiled by historians Bernd Eisenfeld and Roger Engelmann, who work at the BStU, the institute which now holds the files of East Germany's Stasi secret police.

Thousands of border guards joined the exodus

The study's publication comes a week before the 40th anniversary of the building of Berlin Wall.

The wall was thrown up overnight to stop the exodus of East Berliners.

It remained the most visible symbol of the Cold War until November 1989, when it was dramatically torn down by demonstrators as the Soviet bloc crumbled.

The historians say they have discovered that in the year the wall was built, the Stasi devoted virtually all their resources, and their 50,000 staff, to stopping people leaving the country.

The building of the wall was among the most painful hours in German history

Institute head Marianne Birthler

Anyone thought likely to flee was forcibly moved away from border areas. Other people were encouraged to spy on their friends, neighbours and colleagues and inform on them if they were considering an escape.

At a news conference to launch a book by the historians, the institute's head, Marianne Birthler - a 13-year-old East Berliner when the wall was built - said the building of the wall was "among the most painful hours in German history."

"It was East Germany's confession of defeat," she said.

Guards offered no resistance when the wall fell

"It said the only way to stop the people from leaving was to lock them up.

"We were hermetically cut off from the West. It's a mystery to me how we were able to suppress the pain of that separation."

Of the 809 people who died, 250 were killed at the Berlin Wall itself; 370 died on the border between East and West Germany; and 189 had been trying to get out via the Baltic Sea.

Official figures at the time were far lower.