OpenTube

The Guillaume Affair: A Stasi Spy in the Chancellery | The German History Podcast: 29

Reichs & Republics: The German History Podcast

9,528 views

In this episode, Katja and Chris explore the Guillaume Affair, one of the Cold War's most dramatic spy scandals. Günter Guillaume was an East German Stasi officer who spent nearly two decades climbing the ranks of the SPD to become Chancellor Willy Brandt's personal aide. They ask how he got there, what West German intelligence knew, and why his arrest in 1974 brought down one of West Germany's most charismatic chancellors.

Join us as we untangle this complex story, dispelling the popular myths and misapprehensions about a national history that still shapes the world we live in.

Do you like our podcast?
Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot!

Host: Katja Hoyer & Dr Christopher Dillon
https://battleguide.co.uk/reichs-repu...

To comment and ask questions, please join our community: https://reichs-and-republics.com/supp...

Support via Paypal: http://battleguide.co.uk/rr-paypal
Merchandise and Shop: https://reichs-and-republics.com/coll...

Our WW1 Podcast: https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/
Our WW2 Podcast: https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire...
Untitled History Podcast: http://listen.untitled-history.com/
Battle Guide YouTube Channel: @battleguidevt

If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter

Katjas socials
X (Twitter): https://x.com/hoyer_kat
Substack: Zeitgeist https://www.katjahoyer.uk/
General Enquiries: republics@battleguide.co.uk

Credits:
Host: Katja Hoyer and Dr Christopher Dillon
Production: Linus Klaßen
Editing: Jessa Sargento

20 Comments

@patopretinha2211 2 days ago

Thank you for another excellent episode.

@manuelriveiro5770 2 days ago

Great episode! Now a video on Brandt is due

@1980Sarah1 2 days ago

Fascinating. More post-war German history please!

@einarmartinlkling1238 1 day ago

Fun fact: Willy Brandt spoke fluent Norwegian. During the Nazi era, he was on a secret mission in Germany. He had business at a bank and was served by a Norwegian employee. Understandably, he became nervous about being exposed. The Norwegian asked where in Norway he was from, and he replied, "Northern Norway." "I can hear that," the Norwegian answered.

@AnneNovelly 1 day ago

Another great episode - lifelong learning continues. Thank you so much from 🇦🇺.

@brettconstable8512 2 days ago

Most excellent, as always. Thanks

@StephenAKatz 2 days ago

Thank you for another great presentation.

@TheVigilant109 2 days ago

Fascinating. Many thanks

@oszzzie 2 days ago

This felt more like an enjoyable story about people and states playing silly games which in hindsight proved not that important. It’s good to have these episodes in contrast to some of the really dark episodes. The latter are also interesting and informative, but they do leave me upset about human nature sometimes. It’s good to have the mix.

@milesnixon9554 1 day ago

Now I'm going to have to look for an episode on Gehlen.

@nirmalpatel3430 2 days ago

great video

@ChimajoGerbot 1 day ago

Thank You!

@MW-bv3wu 1 day ago

A comment on style: there were a few episodes recently where you were very obviously reading your lines. Those episodes felt stilted, I couldn't get into them, and only watched for a few minutes. This episode felt much more like a conversation. I watched the whole thing, and enjoyed it. Thank you.

@talmeister 2 days ago

Funeral in Berlin book and film are great on this topic!

@Thorscauldron 1 day ago

For the CIA and Pentagon it was more of a "We told you so, " moment than a shock. They knew Brandt was DDR leaning.

@kingchideau876 1 day ago

Reminds me of Spy Family.

@tombrunila2695 1 day ago

Taking into account Willy Brandt's Ost-Politik and what Vladimir Bukovsky has told about him in his books that are based on documents he copied in Russian archive's after the dissolution of the Soviet Union I think that Brandt knew that Guillaume was a Stasi agent and that he was Brandt's contact person to East-Germany and the Soviet Union. Brandt's resignation effectively stopped all further inquiries into the matter. In Finland president Mauno Koivisto told in his memoirs that he kept contact with the KGB resident in Finland because that was the most effective and fastest way to send messages to the Soviet leadership.

@hansulrichboning8551 2 days ago

There were early warnings from the BND about Guillaume , but the SPD mistrusted the BND, because the BND was still full of Ex-Nazis in this time (more than in other services).

@neildepoy7329 2 days ago

My Ancestors were French Hugenot, very interesting video.

@EddieReischl 2 days ago

The bit at the end about Pierre was kind of sad. I imagine the GDR didn't really want him going anywhere else, although it seems like they were able to determine that he didn't really know anything consequential. He'd have been a good candidate to come to the USA or the UK, I think, as his life may have been difficult in West Germany too, and changing his last name to his mother's last name to get some anonymity makes a lot of sense. Very brave of him to go back to the GDR. I hope he was able to lead a fulfilled life, as he didn't ask for his situation.