Günter Guillaume, Chancellor Brandt’s personal assistant, is exposed as an East German agent
After several years of Stasi training, Günter Guillaume travelled from East Berlin to West Germany in 1956. The plan was simple: posing as a refugee, he joined the SPD and rapidly climbed its ranks. In 1970, he gained a job in the Federal Chancellery, and two years later he was appointed as the Chancellor’s personal assistant. As one of Willi Brandt’s closest associates, he also socialized with him privately.
Intercepted radio messages sent to Guillaume from East Berlin in 1956 and 1973, first wishing him a happy birthday and then congratulating him on the birth of his son, alerted West German counter-intelligence to the probable identity of a Stasi agent working in Bonn. Later, it emerged that West German foreign intelligence had nursed suspicions of Guillaume even whilst he was at home in the East, which moved them to advise against his appointment in 1969. After a lengthy investigation, Guillaume and his wife, who was also working as an agent, were arrested on 24 April 1974. Brandt accepted political responsibility and resigned as Chancellor two weeks later. The Guillaumes were sentenced to lengthy prison terms in 1975, but were released after six years as part of an agent swap.
About the Deutschlandmuseum
An immersive and innovative experience museum about 2000 years of German history
The whole year at a glance
