The cover story "conditionally ready to defend yourself" in the news magazine "Der Spiegel" from October 9, 1962 leads to the arrest of editors a good two weeks later. The attack on press freedom sparks outrage.
The Hamburg press building was hectic on the evening of October 26, 1962, a Friday:production of the new "Spiegel" edition was in full swing. But at 9:30 p.m., investigators from the Federal Criminal Police Office, led by public prosecutor Siegfried Buback, broke into the editorial offices. They brought with them a search warrant and seven arrest warrants against senior staff at the news magazine. The accusation is:treason. It's about the cover story from October 10, 1962. Der Spiegel titled it "conditionally ready for defense".
Under the magnifying glass:The NATO maneuver "Fallex 62"
The authors Conrad Ahlers and Hans Schmelz quote in detail from a NATO simulation game, the "Fallex 62" maneuver. On 16 pages they dryly dissect the strategic policy of the then Minister of Defense Franz Josef Strauss and come to a devastating conclusion:the still young Bundeswehr is not equipped for a nuclear war in Central Europe. An attack by the Eastern Bloc countries would mean certain death for millions of Germans.
"Partially Defensive":Editors-in-chief end up in jail
"Spiegel" publisher Rudolf Augstein (l.) was in prison for 103 days, his deputy editor-in-chief Conrad Ahlers was released sooner.In the press building, work can continue until 2:45 a.m. under the supervision of the BKA officials, after which the rooms are sealed. The editors-in-chief Johannes Engel and Claus Jacobi had to be arrested immediately, while publisher Rudolf Augstein turned himself in to the police the next day. At Strauss's personal request, which also bypassed the responsible Ministry of Justice, the Franco regime had Conrad Ahlers arrested while he was on vacation in Spain.
But Strauss went too far with that, as will be shown later. First of all, however, employees of his company will write a report for the public prosecutor's office in which they accuse "Spiegel" of betraying state secrets 41 times. In fact, the article from Hamburg is a great nuisance for the government of Konrad Adenauer (CDU) in Bonn.
Long-standing feud between Strauss and Augstein
In the Bundestag, a few days after the raid, Adenauer railed against the "abyss of treason" in the "Spiegel". But the fact that this one article has such consequences also has a lot to do with the numerous sharply critical reports in "Spiegel" about Strauss and the rivalry between Augstein and the CSU politician.
In the relatively young German democracy, the action against the "Spiegel" is also seen as an attack on press freedom - and triggers a wave of protest and solidarity. Professors and students take to the streets together. The Bundestag debates. Augstein receives hundreds of letters and packages in prison. "Stern" and "Zeit" help the colleagues from "Spiegel" journalistically and practically by providing rooms, because the last "Spiegel" editorial offices will not be released again until the end of November. If the "Spiegel" had not been able to appear several times, that would probably have been the end of the magazine.
Helmut Schmidt under suspicion
On November 6, the then Hamburg Senator for the Interior, Helmut Schmidt, described the action as a "dubious matter." The SPD politician himself is being targeted by federal prosecutors:Author Ahlers, a friend of Schmidt's from college, had spoken to him about the article beforehand, and the manuscript with Schmidt's handwritten annotations was found during the "Spiegel" raid. The allegations of aiding and abetting treason against the senator are only dropped in the spring of 1965 - for lack of evidence.
Panorama alongside the "Spiegel" editors
Gerd von Paczensky (right) moderated the Panorama program about the action against the "Spiegel".A report by the ARD political magazine Panorama at the beginning of November 1962 was particularly effective. The program critically examined the actions of the Ministry of Defense and the public prosecutor's office - and underlined the concerns of many demonstrators, but also of journalists and lawyers, about freedom of the press and the rule of law. The CDU and parts of the conservative press protested vehemently against the broadcast of the magazine and the support of "Spiegel". This is probably one of the reasons why the contract of Panorama editor-in-chief Gert von Paczensky is not extended months later.
A victory for the "Spiegel" - Strauss has to go
Accompanied by police officers, "Spiegel" publisher Augstein enters the courthouse in Karlsruhe in 1963 and is free when he leaves.Publisher Augstein is serving 103 days before he can leave prison as a moral victor. The arrest warrant has been lifted, there is no longer any risk of escape or collusion. For Strauss, the affair ends in a great defeat. When Chancellor Adenauer reshuffled his cabinet in December 1962, there was no longer room for Strauss; the FDP ministers in the government made sure of that.
Constitutional Court strengthens freedom of the press
However, it will be several years before the affair is legally over. It was not until 1965 that the Federal Court of Justice ruled that there was no evidence that Ahlers and Augstein had knowingly betrayed secrets. But the Federal Constitutional Court ruling on the 1966 affair has more consequences. It defines the enormous importance of freedom of the press for the state.
The action, which initially threatened the existence of the Hamburg news magazine, is also a long-term gain:The "Spiegel" has been upgraded enormously, according to the historian Hans-Ulrich Wehler at the time. From then on, Augstein was something like the "uncrowned king of the German media", the man with the decisive political media power in Germany. The magazine was still benefiting from this "bonus effect" decades later.