Brigitte Heinrich
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Brigitte Heinrich (born 29 June 1941,
Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
– 29 December 1987) was a German journalist, and an Alliance '90/The Greens politician.


Biography

In 1966, she became a press spokesperson for the Socialist German Student Union (''"Sozialistische Deutsche Studentenbund"'' / SDS). After completing her degree in Applied Economics (''"Volkswirtschaft"''), in 1970 she travelled in the
Middle-East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
. During the 1970s she took a lectureship in "International Relations" at
Frankfurt University Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...
. During this time she maintained contacts with various
terrorist groups A number of national governments and two international organizations have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups lists groups designated as terrorist by current and fo ...
. On 26 November 1974 Brigitte Heinrich was arrested. This was part of "Aktion Winterreise", a nationwide raid in fifteen towns and cities, which targeted
RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
supporters in the aftermath of the murder of Berlin Court President
Günter von Drenkmann Günter von Drenkmann (November 9, 1910 - November 10, 1974) was a German lawyer. In 1967, he was appointed president of the Berlin district court (''"Kammergericht"''). The post was one that his grandfather had held between 1890 and 1904. He wa ...
by members of the 2 June Movement. Heinrich was arrested on suspicion of "illegal trafficking in weapons and explosives". All those arrested were released after two weeks, possibly apart from Heinrich. Sources differ over whether she was released after a couple of weeks like the others but then re-arrested soon afterwards, or whether, unlike the others, she remained in investigative custody at this point. Heinrich vehemently protested her innocence and some months later became seriously ill. She was released "for reasons of health" before the prosecuting authorities had completed their work on her case. She returned to Frankfurt University where for several years she combined with her other work the presidency of the student parliament. In 1978 she published a pamphlet in Italian in Milan in the form of a "diary from the dungeon" in which she presented "Aktion Winterreise" as an act of state persecution of intellectuals in Germany, of which she had been a victim. There are indications that during her time in Milan in the late 1970s Heinich was in close contact with members of the Red Brigade terrorist groups. By 1980 Brigitte Heinrich had developed a significant media profile, and between 1980 or 1981 and 1984 she worked as a regular journalist for the Berlin-based
Tageszeitung ''Die Tageszeitung'' (, “The Daily Newspaper”), is counted as being one of modern Germany's most important newspapers and amongst the top seven. taz is stylized as ''die tageszeitung'' and commonly referred to as ''taz'', is a cooperative-own ...
(a daily newspaper). One of her colleagues at the newspaper was the radical lawyer
Klaus Croissant Klaus Croissant (24 May 1931 – 28 March 2002) was a lawyer of the Red Army Faction, later an East German spy and a political activist for Berlin's Alternative Liste für Demokratie und Umweltschutz and, after 1990, the PDS. Croissant was shown ...
. It was also in 1980 that Brigitte Heinrich finally faced trial. She received a 21 month prison sentence "for weapons smuggling". The context for her trial was her involvement in a German-Italian-Swiss "anarchist" network which was headed up by her friend, the German-Italian alleged terrorist Petra Krause. Possibly on account of her excellent media contacts, and the widespread belief on the radical left that prison conditions for West German "political prisoners" were exceptionally grim, Heinrich's imprisonment became something of a 'cause célèbre'. Several sources strongly hint that it was because of this that she served her sentence under conditions of "semi-freedom", described by one source as a "daytime release", which enabled her to continue providing contributions to the Tageszeitung while returning to prison at nights. Her sentence was completed at the end of 1983, and she accepted the offer of a place on the party list of the Green Party for the European parliamentary election in June 1984. Reflecting the fringe position which the party then occupied on the West German political spectrum, her name was placed second on the list and she accordingly became one of the seven German Green Party members of the parliament, retaining her seat till her sudden death in 1987. She died as the result of a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
two days before the end of the year. Her funeral took place on 6 January 1988 in the principal chamber of the
Frankfurt Main Cemetery The Frankfurt Main Cemetery (German: ''Hauptfriedhof'') is the largest cemetery in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was opened in 1828. The cemetery is located directly adjacent to two Jewish cemeteries—the Old Jewish Cemetery ( ...
and was attended by members and representatives from a range of left-wing groups from many countries.


Agent of the East German security services

Following
reunification A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller polities, or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal governm ...
in 1990 researchers gained access to a vast archive of the carefully compiled documentation produced between 1950 and 1989 by the East Germany Ministry for State Security ''"(Stasi)"''. It was discovered that since the early part of 1981 Heinrich had been passing information to the East German security services. She was identified in Stasi records under the code names " IM Taler" and also, after 1983 as "Beate Schäfer". While they worked together on the
Tageszeitung ''Die Tageszeitung'' (, “The Daily Newspaper”), is counted as being one of modern Germany's most important newspapers and amongst the top seven. taz is stylized as ''die tageszeitung'' and commonly referred to as ''taz'', is a cooperative-own ...
Brigitte Heinrich and
Klaus Croissant Klaus Croissant (24 May 1931 – 28 March 2002) was a lawyer of the Red Army Faction, later an East German spy and a political activist for Berlin's Alternative Liste für Demokratie und Umweltschutz and, after 1990, the PDS. Croissant was shown ...
also teamed up together in their personal lives. In this connection Heinrich was recruited, apparently by Croissant, as a Stasi informer. She worked for Hauptabteilung XXII (''"Main department 12"'') which concerned itself with "observing" terrorism in West Germany. It was only after she died that it became known to authorities in the west that she had received her orders through Klaus Croissant and transmitted her reports to Stasi handlers in East Berlin through him. It is not clear from sources how the Hessischer regional branch of the
Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...
came to nominate Brigitte Heinrich as a candidate for the 1984 European parliamentary election, but it is clear from sources that emerged subsequently that she only accepted the nomination after discussion with Stasi handlers. As a member of the European parliament Heinrich became important not just to the Stasi's "Hauptabteilung XXII" but also to its National Intelligence Directorate (''"Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung"'' / HVA). The HVA was
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
's intelligence service with respect to
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
. Most intelligence activity conducted on behalf of
Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist repub ...
governments and Western Europe was tightly controlled from
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
by the
KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
. With respect to West Germany, however, it was far more effective to conduct espionage from East Germany because the extent of the shared language and kinships, culture and histories of East and West Germany meant that the pool of potential sympathizers, informants and secret intelligence operatives was immeasurably vast. As "Beate Schäfer" she was able to report, after May 1984, on the discussions between the national sub-groups of the parliament's Green group. The HVA were keen that she should become influential within the parliamentary Green faction and accordingly insisted that she distance herself from the "militant activist scene" in West Germany. In this way she might become more than a conventional " Stasi informant". As an influential voice of the left she would be able to influence detailed discussions within the European parliament and its committees in ways that aligned more closely with East German government objectives. From Stasi records it is apparent that "from 29 November 1984 Dr. Croissant and Brigitte Heinich unconditionally separated themselves from the terrorist scene". Heinrich was instructed to raise her profile in the Green Party and in the increasingly important "peace movement". By the time of her sudden death at the end of December 1987 it appears that she was succeeding. Through
Croissant A croissant is a buttery, flaky, Austrian viennoiserie pastry inspired by the shape of the Austrian kipferl but using the French yeast-leavened laminated dough. Croissants are named for their historical crescent shape, the dough is layered wi ...
she had submitted detailed reports to her handlers containing a multiplicity of detail about meetings involving the " rainbow coalition" within the European parliament and involving the party's
Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Common ...
group in the West German capital. She had also attended at least eight meetings with senior HVA officers .


Further reading

*


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heinrich, Brigitte 1941 births 1987 deaths Politicians from Frankfurt Alliance 90/The Greens MEPs Journalists from Frankfurt Sozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund members MEPs for Germany 1984–1989 20th-century women MEPs for Germany People of the Stasi East German women