Spying in Plain Sight: Inside the Military Liaison Missions in East and West Germany

After World War II, the American, British, French, and Soviet armies occupying Germany exchanged military liaison missions to sort out minor issues among the armies on the ground. To enable this work, the missions were allowed to travel all over Germany.  As the Cold War heated up, however, this congenial plan took on a very different meaning and evolved into a license to spy.  American, British, and French liaison missions roamed East Germany photographing the latest Soviet and East German military equipment, while the Soviet missions did much the same thing in West Germany. These operations were daring and dangerous cat and mouse affairs which saw two western officers killed and many other close escapes and confrontations.

Join us for a closer look at these liaison missions and the intriguing protocols and equipment supporting them. Historian Bernd von Kostka, curator at the Allied Museum in Berlin and co-author of Capital of Spies: Intelligence Agencies in Berlin During the Cold War, will give us a look at an incredible vehicle in the Allied Museum’s collection related to the missions. Von Kostka will showcase the Allied Museum’s Mercedes-Benz G Wagen which was used in the early 1980s by all three Western liaison missions in East Germany. These vehicles were frequently modified, so they could cope with the harsh demands of the reconnaissance tours. In addition, former Spy Museum historian and curator, Dr. Mark Stout, will share related artifacts from the Spy Museum’s collection.

Following the program, the speakers will answer your questions.

In collaboration with the Allied Museum.

Auto-generated closed captioning will be available for this program.