Today’s German capital, Berlin, was the Capital of Spies in the Cold War. The situation of the divided city, which developed after WW2, was unique. The historical heritage provided for exciting tours through the city, but many places said that Berlin was still a real espionage hotspot today, due to the 150+ embassies from which espionage still takes place.
Front entrance to the Spy Museum Berlin
The Glienicker Bridge at the border between Potsdam and Berlin witnessed some spectacular spy swaps during the Cold War. Having given much thought to spying since his run-ins with the East German Stasi under Communism, tv journalist Franz-Michael Günther wanted a museum dedicated to the history of espionage. Berlin is not only regarded as an important historical site during the Cold War, but also as the former capital city of spies. Curator Günther opened the museum after starting his collection in 2004, sourcing objects and information from former secret service workers, double agents and contemporary witnesses.
A number of locations for the Spy Museum Berlin were considered. In 2014 the final choice was made for a site on Leipziger Platz, the ideal location for a museum focussing on espionage. The site of the former death-strip i.e no-man’s land between the inner and outer perimeter of the Berlin Wall that separated East and West Berlin, was located in the city’s historic division. This site featured one of the few openings in the Wall and was the scene of many dramatic spy swaps in the Cold War. It was also close to the important Brandenburg Gate, Potsdamer Platz, Bundesrat, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Topographie des Terrors and Kulturforum with the Philharmonie and Neuer Nationalgalerie.
Spy Museum Berlin opened 10+ years after first Gunther had his idea because it required much work to transform it into a state-of-the-art museum. Combining rare exhibits with high-tech multimedia installations, the exhibition welcomed its first visitors in Sept 2015, and was internationally acclaimed. Entirely privately funded, the Spy Museum was an immediate hit but financially problematic.
An improved financial concept was required to secure the long-term future of the museum, which was relaunched by a new operator. It re-opened in July 2016 as the German Spy Museum. With a fresh public relations strategy and reduced entry fees, the renewed museum concentrated on its educational role and its exhibitions.
The Spy Museum is the only museum of its kind in Germany. The visitor can explore, using state-of-the-art technology, a multi-media journey through the history of espionage. Walk through the Zeittunnel/time tunnel which leads into the 3,000m² museum. On entering, feel the sinister world of espionage as several cameras peer down. Begin with secret scriptures from antiquity and ends in the present, with the recent National Security Agency debate. He/she gain insight into elaborate spy techniques, legendary cases and spectacular secret operations. And hear former agents talk.
Museum gallery, in a darkish atmosphere
The museum’s exhibition space showed many rare exhibits, as meticulously reproduced replicas which were presented using high-tech touchscreen displays to explain their usage. Thanks for Mechtraveller's photos.
Camera hidden in a bra
Cryptex from Da Vinci Code
Enigma Machine
Pipe with bone conduction radio
Bug in a shoe's heel
Ricky French experienced the romance and mystique conjured by the apparently outdated world of espionage. See the rows of cameras hidden in everyday household items, clunky contraptions used for decoding messages, and cars with hidden smuggling compartments. It all seemed rather quaint since deception is largely practised now online; it was difficult to imagine a museum dedicated to computer hacking having the same appeal. But the visitor can see what it took to become a top secret agent and to crack codes.
The laser maze room was just one of the many hands-on exhibits that helped spying. From encryption techniques to phone-bugging to code-cracking, the world of deceit and double-crossing was unlocked. The museum moved between entertainment and education, some of it really solemn, with commendable finesse. His forensic skills were tested in a laboratory where the quest was to compose and decipher secret messages. And he was shown how documents that had been through a paper shredder could be painstakingly pieced together. One section was dedicated to the techniques used by the dreaded Stasi, who placed all East Germans under mass surveillance for years. Another explored the spying methods used in WW1, WW2 and throughout the Cold War.
The spy museum was completed by a generous section devoted to the most famous spy in the world, 007. The chips and playing-cards used by James Bond/Daniel Craig in the 2006 adaptation of Casino Royale were on show, as was a car tyre with ice spikes from Die Another Day and M’s red telephone from Moonraker.
The Costume Room shows a trench coat, top hat and sun-glasses where the visitor can become a dashing spy, posing for a photo against any backdrop eg opt for a street scene on a rainy night, the streetlight illuminating the raindrops and the car’s headlights giving the face a suspicious glow.