Wolfgang Vogel, East German spy swapper, dies at 82

Wolfgang Vogel Willy Brandt's arrival in Berlin 10th Novembern1989.

As mentioned, Willy Brandt was not aware of the Wall opening on the 9th November 1989.
The British Royal Air Force 60 Squadron based at RAF Wildenrath (West Germany) were
requested to fly Willy Brandt to Berlin. RAF Operations diverted an Andover C2 VIP transport
aircraft flying from Wildenrath to Guetesloh on a routine flight to divert to Cologne Airport to
pick up a VIP. The Captain flight lieutenant Greg Dodson picked up Mr Brandt, and flew him
to RAF Gatow (Berlin) Willy would join Helmut Kohl, who had been in Warsaw, at a State
visit dinner on the 9th November and hears about the events at the dinner. and Hans Dietrcich
Genscher, West German foreign minister, They would make speeches in front of the town hall
in Schoeneberg from 2 pm. The Schoeneberg town hall was where JFK made his famous speech,
"Ich bin ein Berliner".
RAF 60 Squadron was used to fly Willy to Berlin, as West German aircraft, and West German
passport holder pilots were not allowed to fly along the Berlin Air Corridors. Only aircraft from
the USA, Gt. Britain, and France (Plus LOT Polish Ailines) were allowed to use the corridor.
RAF 60 Squadron were tasked to perform VIP flights, operating one of the aircraft once used
by the "Queens flight" carrying H.M. The Queen. More importantly it was operating a secret
operation under the name "Operation Hallmark" which were photographic missions, collating
photographic information taken whilst flying the Berlin Corridors using the aged Pembroke
aircraft, and later the Avro Andover (Military version of the Avro / Hawker Siddeley 748 aircraft.)
Cologne / Bonn airport was quite close to Willy Brandt's home in Unkel. and therefore less of
a security risk, than using a RAF or USAF base further away. The West German Government
aircraft were also based at Cologne, so had all the infrastructures to handle VVIP's

Strange to believe that at midnight of the 9th. Soviet deputy ambassador Igor Maximychev
debates whether to inform Moscow that the border has opened.

Lance Shippey222

 

Incredible that Brandt was unaware of the Berlin Wall going down.....There is so much info you learn after these years. I recall watching these things happen live through the cable channel. I was quite amazed but happy.

I recall it cost West Germany alot to repair places and to give the DDR people their pension like in the West Germany.

I think people still steal pieces of the Berlin wall from the DDR museum.

 

Hi Kai Petri,
Not sure about the steeling of wall pieces at the DDR Museum. You can still buy pieces from the
Checkpoint Charlie museum. I have a few which were recovered personally by a friend of mine.
They are very unusual to the touch.

It would appear that the Captain of The Hawker Siddeley Andover aircraft "60" Squadron that flew
Willy Brandt from Cologne to Berlin on the 10th November 1989, was scheduled to deliverer some
Burgermeister's from RAF Wildenrath to Cologne, and before arrival in Cologne, was asked to pick
up a VIP and fly to Berlin Gatow. There was a further instruction given to the captain, changing to
destination to Berlin Templehof airport. Brandt boarded the aircraft in Cologne, and they did land at
Templehof. After arrival Brandt and 4 others, (including his body guard and further 1 x Security man
they went to Mayor Momper's office, where Brandt had a cognac Later that afternoon was the speech
at the Schoeneberg town hall with Helmut Kohl, Hans Dietrich Genscher and Brandt. Kohl was jeered
and not well accepted by the Berliners. The Speech lasts an hour, 17.00 - 18.00 Afterwards, Brandt
was asked "What do you have planned for this evening"? He then was driven with his party of four
to the East German border. Brandt doesn't have a passport with him, but is allowed with his party
to enter the GDR. They drive to an meeting at the "Christlichen Hospitz der Albrechstrasse, which
was a former eye clinic during WW2 of the Charite Hospital, and now a hotel, near the Friedrichstrasse
station. Brandt meets 13 others on an oval table in the hotel, and they discuss the DDR and its future
for 80 minutes. The talks ended just after 21.00 hrs, Brandt and party of four then leave with Photographer
Barbara Klem. Their car drove to the border crossing at Invalidenstrasse, however the road is blocked
with hundreds of cars trying to get into the West, so Brandt plus 5 get out of the car, and proceed on
foot, where they cross the border into West Berlin. They headed for the Steigenberger Hotel on Los
Angeles Platz near the Ku Dam where they spend the night. The party departed Berlin on November
11th with a commercial flight, (possibly British Airways) to Cologne.
The report that the RAF Squadron 60 pilot flew the party back to Cologne on the evening of Nov 10.th.
is completely untrue.
Martin Luther King also visited The Christlichen Hospitz der Albrechstrasse on the evening of Sept 19th
1964. He met members of the East German church at 10pm. He had made a speech earlier that day
in West Berlin at the St Mary's church, where he delivered a sermon in which he said.
"Here on either side of the wall are Gods Children, and no made made barrier can obliterate that fact"

Lance Shippey

 

Ĺove it I recall perhaps a joke that British plane was landing in Munich. The landing lights were for somehow low. As the people in charge apologised the pilot said the last time they did not need to land...

 

Cheers Lance,

Just curious. Do you know how many DDR guards escaped to west after the Berlin wall was built? Seen some footage of some escapes. They knew they could be shot in the back. And how many died during the escape?

 

Interesting as well in time is that the German capital was changed from Bonn ( West Germany) to Berlin after the DDR was gone.

 

Hi Kai-Petri
Really great to hear from you. You have such a great love of history, "as it is, rather than many wish it to be".
I also have great trust in the Fins, and a love for Finland.
Answers to the questions.
WITHOUT DEATH (East German Army) 1969-1989.
603 deserted to West Berlin of which
37 were Officers.
301 were Under Officers.
DEATHS including Civilians and East German Border guards.
327 of civilians and Border guards killed trying to flee.
262 killed at the Berlin Wall.
24 were border guards. of which :
9 were shot by people trying to flee
8 were shot in friendly fire incidents
3 were shot by civilians
3 were shot by US patrols.
1 was shot by a West German border guard..

The oldest person to die was a 81 year old farmer.
10% were women
Many young manual workers, and farmers.
The second to last to be killed was Chris Gueffroy. was a gay young
man who had worked at the Schoenefeld Airport restaurant. Two of
his work mates had also tried to escape in 1987, and were caught,
They ended up in jail.

Regarding Bonn and Berlin. Bonn was chosen after WW11 as the
provisional Capital of Germany The word was always" Provisional",
as the situation in Berlin after WW2 would have not been secure
with Berlin being in the centre of the Soviet zone. When the wall
fell, there was a vote to either keep Bonn as capital, or to move it
back to Berlin. The vote was 49% for Bonn, and 51% for Berlin.
There are two buildings which are still used to a lessor extent by the
Berlin government when entertaining in Bonn.
Palais Shaumburg The former German chancellery.
Villa Hammerschmidt The former German Presidents residence.
After WW2 The Soviet Embassy, and French Embassy were located
in the area of Remagen When the Capital vote took place, the
Burgermeister of Remagen, Hans Peter Kuerten warned that the
possible change to Berlin would cause financial decline for the area.
He was not wrong. Hans Peter Kuerten was the brains behind making
the remains of the Bridge at Remagen into a museum. The funding
came from selling off bits of the bridge (Ludendorf brucke) to the public
the proceeds went to "Peace Museum" being founded there. The
museum is the only "German" museum with an American flag being
flown from it. The original flag was flown in Washington before being
sent to Remagen.

Lance Shippey.

 

Cheers Lance,

Thanx again. Indeed interesting info. Even if we lived next to the USSR we were quite a lot of under the blanket. Everything was going well in the Eastern bloc.
I have several MD's who were taught in the East and often they are said to be forced to be "undercover" agents for the KGB who can be activated but nobody naturally agreed and once the USSR collapsed it seemed it did not matter anymore. After the coding proved the Rosenbergs were truly undercover I believe a lot more about the agents' story. Not that I can let it matter.

Like said we were quite lost about the truth. We knew the border area was really hard to cross but the inside country was nothing we knew except what we were let to know. Pretty much like North Korea. We could only guess about the truth. Then again we were just happy to be in good relations with the USSR. Back in 1984 when Reagan brought the cruise missiles to Europe we were sure there would be WW3. Well, thankfully it did not happen.

Did you btw think there were microphones when you had to spend the night in the DDR or Eastern bloc country? We know afterwards that in major Estonic hotels there were microphones in all rooms. Thinking about the secret police numbers I would expect there were listeners to all foreigners.

Greetings kph

 

Hi Kai-Petri.
Glad you asked about the microphones in the DDR and Eastern Bloc.
Tallinn, Estonia. The Upmarket VIRU hotel had 60 rooms bugged, however more worryingly
was the restaurant on the 22nd floor which had plates and ashtrays fitted with microphones
Waiters would wear cuff links fitted with microphones. The KGB had a radio room on the top
floor, which would record all the picked up conversations. It was common in Soviet hotels
to have microphones hidden in the televisions. and in one Leningrad hotel, part of a floor
dedicated to KGB Interrogations. Not only did the higher category hotels attract tourists from
Western countries, but also medical tourists, with one in particular specialising in Eye surgery.
In Soviet hotels there would be the famous "Floor Lady". who would take note of when the
room was being entered, and by whom. It got to the stage where I didn't care about bugs in
my room. I did learn later that a room in Budapest had been bugged, and the conversation
brought up with a friend who had attempted escape. In Yerevan, Armenia, I swapped my room
and upset the KGB to a point that they were very annoyed.
The DDR was a little different, The rooms were bugged, but many of the hotel workers were
informers for the Stasi. I remember one in particular in East Berlin, who was a "Bellhop" and
also a very famous East German TV star / Actor / and singer.

Lance Shippey

 

Hi again Kai Petri.
A little more about the change from Bonn to Berlin.
When Bonn lost out to remain "Provisional" capital, and Berlin was chosen as permanent Capital
the Charite hospital located in East Berlin would eventually become Germany's best hospital.
During the DDR years it got very bad press because of East German doctors allegedly receiving
Western cash for trialling experimental drugs on East German patients. There was also a
shortage of drugs after the wall went up, especially for meningitis. Carl Gustav Svingel, who was
a Swedish opera singer, and Swedish diplomat living at House Victoria in Grunewald, West Berlin
would take urgent drugs, and later Western cash for the SED Fat-cats involved in people swapping
Svingel would also assist Wolfgang Vogel in the defection of Vogel's first wife and two children to
West Berlin.
Under the Bonn government, although there was a good hospital in Bonn, there was an excellent
military hospital called the "Lazarette Krankenhaus" in Koblenz, The hospital took private patients
as well as Military. personnel if you had the money. When cancellor Helmut Schmidt became very
ill with heart problems in Bonn, he was flow by helicopter to Koblenz.
The top three hospitals in Germany are.
1/ Charite Berlin
2/ Heidelberg
3/ Munich.
The Charite became headline news recently because of the successful treatment of Alexai Navalny
He returned to Moscow two days ago, and was arrested at Sheremetyevo airport, after his flight
from Berlin to Moscow's Vnukovo airport was diverted to Sheremetyevo.
I think I am justified in thinking that his vast army of supporters will be going "Commando" for the time
being (Commando = without underpants ) and that coffee will not be the only thing brewing in the
kitchens of the Moscow high rise apartments.

Lance Shippey

 

Hello Lance,
Was any of your pilot colleagues considered as " persona non grata " due to talk or things they did? I don't think they would be prisoned unless they were drunk and did things like break things in the hotel.
I know the police and military is not paid every month so corruption is usual. So as a tourist etc even today the arrest level is low but putting money between your papers could set you free instantly.
I visited by bus several ww2 places with a group 20 years ago. It usually took some 5 hrs to get through the Soviet customs but once we passed back to Finland our driver gave coffee, food, sugar and we got through in 20 minutes. Did you use any such "tricks"? Even today with a little extra in hotels in Carelia you can get special treatment...better food and drinks to start with...
Kph

 

Hi again Kai-Petri.
No one considered as "Persona non grata" as the East Bloc wanted Western money. All of the
groups were very well educated, and I can't remember any damage. The only problem I had
with damage to two hotel in West Germany was with a nice chap who was very large, and when
sitting on the toilet in the Kempinki hotel in West Berlin the toilet came away from the wall, and
flooded the room. (He didn't pay anything) The same chap sat on a glass coffee table at another
hotel, and it smashed, luckily not causing his bottom to be cut. This hotel did want payment for
the glass top, but I squared it with them, as we gave them a lot of expensive business.
Money between paper. No. but you knew the score. One border in the Ost Bloc I was told that
the border crossing would go quicker with beer. (A carton not at bottle) I did use a two bottles
of whiskey to resolve one border crossing.
Corruption in the Soviet Union was usually in the hotel restaurants Waiters would have a glass
jar or tin of caviar under the napkin they would have on their arm, and try to sell it to you for $'s
Russian dolls would be presented on the streets for sale.
I did have a driver who was born in East Germany, but fled to the West, It was a strange story
but he would give the border guards when entering East Germany near Plauen, Coffee, peaches
bananas, which would speed up the transit. There was a Jacobs (West German) coffee roasting
plant next to the Berlin Wall, and the aroma would waft over to the East. Most East Germans
wanted Jacobs Coffee.
Lance Shippey

 

Thanx Lance,
I do get a lot of interesting info from you. Back then it might have only sounded like another day in the park but today things start to click better. It was unreal.
I will be back soon. I will just think of the things with a deeper meaning. As a teenager you do not think of it all as weird only problematic. Kph

 

Cheers Lance,

as I undestand Putin was a KGB agenbt in DDR. Do you have any more info or details? KPH