On October 11, 1987, Uwe Barschel was found dead in his room at the Beau Rivage hotel in Geneva. A day later, the 43-year-old should have testified before a committee of inquiry - shortly before that he had resigned as Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein. "Stern" reporter Sebastian Knauer discovered the body in the bathtub of the hotel room. Barschel died from a mix of drugs. Was it suicide - or even murder? The Swiss police assume a suicide - but the investigators make mistakes, as it turns out. Even the efforts of the German authorities lead to no result; they stop their investigations in 1998. The circumstances under which the CDU politician died remain unclear. To this day, there is much speculation about the case. Over the years, several contemporary witnesses have attempted an explanation, but this has so far not been substantiated due to a lack of evidence.
Mossad agents as Barschel killers?
Former Mossad agent Victor Ostrovsky claims in his book Secret Files Mossad that the Israeli secret service killed Barschel. Operation Hannibal was about secret arms deals between Iran and Israel that went through Schleswig-Holstein. Barschel wanted to oppose the settlement of transactions. This thesis is supported by former Iranian President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr. According to him, Barschel was involved in arms deals in Iran with Ahmad Khomeini, son of Ayatollah Khomeini.
Ostrovsky's description of the murder of the CDU politician also coincides with the toxicological findings of the Swiss chemist Klaus Brandenberger. Barschel's relatives commissioned Brandenberger with the investigation in 1994. He concluded that Barschel was first sedated by the administration of several drugs before being given a lethal dose of a sleeping pill.
BND agent in Geneva by chance?
Another trail leads to Werner Mauss. The BND agent had rented a room in the "Beau Rivage" from October 10 to October 11, 1987. However, according to his own statements, he did not spend the night there, but in the "Richmond" hotel. Mauss stated that he was in Geneva because of negotiations in connection with a hostage situation in Lebanon. On the other hand, the Swiss private detective Jean-Jacques Griessen stated that he had prepared rooms in the "Beau Rivage" with bugs and cameras on Mauss' behalf. Griessen died on November 9, 1992 of heart failure while visiting a prostitute. Only a few hours earlier he had announced to journalists that he wanted to meet with representatives of the Mossad and the BKA - and that he feared for his life, as "Spiegel" later reported.
Did the Stasi play a role?
At the end of the 1980s, speculation arose that the East German Ministry for State Security had something to do with Barschel's death. Here, too, there were indications of involvement in arms and embargo deals, but this could never be proven. All that is certain is that Barschel traveled to the GDR and maintained contact with Stasi employees. In particular, he often stayed in Rostock and Warnemünde, as his drivers confirmed.
CIA:Fear of revelations?
The statement by the South African arms dealer Dirk Stoffberg in 1994 led to the trail of the US foreign intelligence service CIA. According to Stoffberg, Barschel wanted to meet its director, later US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, in Geneva. It was about Barschel's threat to have arms deals blown. According to official information, Stoffberg committed suicide shortly before he was about to make an affidavit. The Lufthansa pilot, who initially confirmed that Gates had flown to Geneva as a passenger, has since declined to make any statements.
Assisted or unassisted suicide?
The investigators initially considered Barschel's suicide to be likely. Later they also considered that Barschel committed suicide with the help of another person. The drug cocktail from which the politician died largely corresponds to the recommendations of euthanasia organizations. A possible euthanasia officer could also have rinsed out the whiskey bottle that forensics found empty and cleaned in the hotel room. The investigators did not find any evidence for this thesis either.
Investigators find DNA evidence
In July 2012 it became known that the Lübeck public prosecutor's office had the politician's clothing examined for DNA traces using the latest methods. Specialists from the Kiel State Criminal Police Office found that Barschel must have been touched by at least one other person before he died. However, the material is "too weak" for further investigations, according to the public prosecutor. It is not enough to compare it with information in the Federal Criminal Police Office's DNA database.
Book for the 30th anniversary
On the 30th anniversary of his death, another book commits to murder. The title:"In the spider web of the secret services. Why were Olof Palme, Uwe Barschel and William Colby murdered?" The authors are the Kiel journalist Patrik Baab and the American political scientist Robert E. Harkavy. They link Barschel's case to the deaths of the former Swedish prime minister and an ex-CIA chief. "Today it is clear:Uwe Barschel was in contact with the US secret service," says the book, which bundles innumerable background information and details about Barschel.