- Glienicke Bridge
The Glienicke bridge (Glienicker Brücke) is a
bridge inBerlin which spans theHavel River to connect the cities ofPotsdam andBerlin nearKlein Glienicke . It was completed in 1907. [ [http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?ID=s0025657 Structurae [en: Glienicke Bridge (1907) ] ]Bridge of spies
The
Soviet Union and theUnited States used it three times to exchange captured spies during theCold War , and the Bridge was referred to as the "Bridge of Spies" by reporters. [According to James M. Markham of "The New York Times", the bridge was one "East German Communists call 'the bridge of unity,' but which might better be called 'the bridge of spies.'" Markham, "Shcharansky to Be Released In a Berlin Exchange Today," "The New York Times" Feb 11, 1986.]The first
prisoner exchange between thesuperpower s took place onFebruary 10 ,1962 . The U.S. released noted Russian spy Colonel Rudolf Ivanovich Abel in exchange for pilot Francis Gary Powers captured by the USSR following theU-2 Crisis of 1960 .Annette von Broecker claims that a lucky guess resulted in her being the only eyewitness to this exchange. [cite book|last=von Broecker|first=Annette|editor=edited by Moore, Nicholas and Sidney Weiland.|title=Frontlines: Snapshots of History|origyear=2001|publisher=Pearson Education|location=London|id=ISBN 1-903684-01-3|pages=107-112|chapter=Swans, Spies and a Greenhorn with Red Gloves|quote=I said nothing for a while. But then I could not hold back. 'Herr Klueths,' I coughed. 'What about Glienicker Brücke?'|]The second exchange on
June 12 ,1985 was a hurriedly arranged swap of 23 American agents held inEastern Europe for Polish agentMarian Zacharski and other three Soviet agents arrested in the West.The final exchange was also the most public. On
February 11 ,1986 thehuman rights campaigner and political prisonerAnatoly Sharansky and three Western agents were exchanged forKarl Koecher and four other Eastern agents.The Glienicke bridge as a venue for prisoner exchange has also appeared in fiction, most notably in the
1966 Harry Palmer film, "Funeral in Berlin", starringMichael Caine , based on the novel of the same name.Gallery
References
External links
* [http://www.glienicke-bridge.com/ Glienicke Bridge]
* [http://www.potsdam-tour.co.uk/?lc=6 Potsdam from Above - Glienicker Bruecke]
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