Spiegel scandal

The Spiegel Affair of 1962 (German: Spiegel-Affäre) was one of the major political scandals in West Germany after World War II. It stemmed from the publication of an article in Der Spiegel, Germany's leading weekly political magazine, about the nation's defense forces.

The scandal involved a conflict between Franz Josef Strauss, federal minister of defense, and Rudolf Augstein, owner and editor-in-chief of Der Spiegel. The affair cost Strauss his office and, according to some commentators, put the postwar German democracy to its first successful test of press freedom.

Strauss and Augstein had clashed in 1961, when Spiegel raised accusations of bribery in favor of the FIBAG construction company, which had received a contract for building military facilities. A parliamentary enquiry, however, found no evidence against Strauss.

The quarrel escalated when the 8 October 1962 issue of Der Spiegel presented an article by Conrad Ahlers, "Bedingt abwehrbereit" ("Partially Ready to Defend"), about a NATO exercise called "Fallex 62". The piece "included details about the performance of West Germany’s defense forces" and "a NATO commander’s assessment that found the West German forces to be only partially ready to defend the country."

The magazine was accused of treason (Landesverrat) "by publishing details that a hastily compiled Defense Ministry document claimed were state secrets." At 9 p.m. on 26 October, its offices in Hamburg, as well as the homes of several journalists, were raided and searched by 36 policemen, who confiscated thousands of documents. Augstein and editors-in-chief Claus Jacobi and Johannes Engel were arrested. The author of the article, Ahlers, who was vacationing in Spain, was arrested in his hotel during the night. Augstein was in custody for 103 days. The offices remained shut for weeks.

Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer was informed of Strauss's actions. However, Wolfgang Stammberger, the Minister of Justice, belonging to the smaller coalition party FDP, was deliberately left out of all decisions. News of the arrests caused riots and protest throughout Germany. Strauss initially denied all involvement, even before the Bundestag: Adenauer, in another speech, complained about an "abyss of treason" ("Abgrund von Landesverrat").

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