Fall of the Berlin Wall - interview with a spymaster

East Germans sought higher standard of living, rather than democracy

Article published on the 2009-11-07 Latest update 2009-11-13 10:06 TU

The Bundesnachrichtendienst logo
(Photo: Wikipedia)

Hans-Georg Wieck was the head of the West German intelligence service between 1985 and 1990. He is also a former Ambassador to the USSR and a Nato representative for Germany. He says West Germany believed the Germans across the wall were generally happy until he started issuing questionnaires to visiting East Germans.

At an informal conference in Paris, he said that penetrating the Stasi was a particularly difficult job, but that the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), the West German Secret Service, had agents well-placed in other countries of the East and within the KGB. 

He says the BND was perfectly well-informed of the state of armaments and of all the plans of the Warsaw Pact countries.

Wieck has written an analysis of the direction the Soviets took at this time. According to him, Gorbachev was conscious that the USSR had lost the ideological war against the West after years of stagnation under Brezhnev. He now aimed for a civilized reconciliation with the idea of a common European community.

Wieck says that, at the time of his arrival in the BND, the government of the Federal Republic of Germany was convinced that the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was valid and that its citizens were, roughly speaking, satisfied with their country.

Wieck also says that, on his initiative, questionnaires were given to citizens of the GDR who visited the Federal Republic of Germany. Every six months there was a collection of data.

After two years he says the conclusion was clear and that 75 per cent of the people questioned wished for the departure of the Soviets. In the long term they clearly desired reunification.

This was not because of the lack of democracy in the GDR but purely to obtain a higher standard of living. The remaining 25 per cent did not dream of reunification, but of the democratization and the liberalisation of the GDR. This information made it possible for Helmut Kohl, the West German Chancellor, to start believing in reunification.