All Topics  
Glienicke bridge

 
Glienicke Bridge

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Glienicke bridge
 
 
  Topics Glienicke bridge Topic Home

The Glienicke bridge (Glienicker Brücke) is a bridge
Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span a gorge, valley, road, Rail tracks, river, body of water, or any other physical obstacle, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle....
 in Berlin
Berlin

Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
 which spans the Havel
Havel

The Havel is a river in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Elbe river and 325 km in length....
 River to connect the cities of Potsdam
Potsdam

Potsdam is the capital city of the Germany States of Germany of Brandenburg and is part of the Metropolitan area of Berlin/Brandenburg. It is situated on the River Havel, some 25 kilometres southwest of the center of Berlin....
 and Berlin
Berlin

Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
 near Klein Glienicke. It was completed in 1907.
Bridge of spies
The Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
 and the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 used it three times to exchange captured spies
Espionage

Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secrecy or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information....
 during the Cold War
Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state of conflict, tension and competition that existed between a number of world powers, including the United States, the Soviet Union, People's Republic of China, France, United Kingdom and those countries' respective allies from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s....
, and the Bridge was referred to as the Bridge of Spies by reporters.

The first prisoner exchange
Prisoner exchange

A prisoner exchange is a deal between opposing sides in a conflict to release prisoners. These may be prisoner of war, spy, hostages, etc. Sometimes also dead bodies are involved in an exchange....
 between the superpower
Superpower

A superpower is a state with a leading position in the international relations and the ability to influence events and its own interests and project Power in international relations to protect those interests; it is traditionally considered to be one step higher than a great power....
s took place on February 10, 1962.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Glienicke bridge'
Start a new discussion about 'Glienicke bridge'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The Glienicke bridge (Glienicker Brücke) is a bridge
Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span a gorge, valley, road, Rail tracks, river, body of water, or any other physical obstacle, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle....
 in Berlin
Berlin

Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
 which spans the Havel
Havel

The Havel is a river in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Elbe river and 325 km in length....
 River to connect the cities of Potsdam
Potsdam

Potsdam is the capital city of the Germany States of Germany of Brandenburg and is part of the Metropolitan area of Berlin/Brandenburg. It is situated on the River Havel, some 25 kilometres southwest of the center of Berlin....
 and Berlin
Berlin

Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
 near Klein Glienicke. It was completed in 1907.

Bridge of spies


The Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
 and the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 used it three times to exchange captured spies
Espionage

Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secrecy or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information....
 during the Cold War
Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state of conflict, tension and competition that existed between a number of world powers, including the United States, the Soviet Union, People's Republic of China, France, United Kingdom and those countries' respective allies from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s....
, and the Bridge was referred to as the Bridge of Spies by reporters.

The first prisoner exchange
Prisoner exchange

A prisoner exchange is a deal between opposing sides in a conflict to release prisoners. These may be prisoner of war, spy, hostages, etc. Sometimes also dead bodies are involved in an exchange....
 between the superpower
Superpower

A superpower is a state with a leading position in the international relations and the ability to influence events and its own interests and project Power in international relations to protect those interests; it is traditionally considered to be one step higher than a great power....
s took place on February 10, 1962. The U.S. released noted Russian spy Colonel Rudolf Ivanovich Abel in exchange for pilot Francis Gary Powers
Gary Powers

Francis Gary Powers was an American Aviator whose Central Intelligence Agency Lockheed U-2 was shot down while over the Soviet Union, causing the 1960 U-2 incident....
 captured by the USSR following the U-2 Crisis of 1960
U-2 Crisis of 1960

The 1960 U-2 incident occurred during the Cold War on May 1, 1960 when an United States Lockheed U-2 Surveillance aircraft was shot down over the Soviet Union....
. Annette von Broecker claims that a lucky guess resulted in her being the only eyewitness to this exchange.

The second exchange on June 12, 1985 was a hurriedly arranged swap of 23 American agents held in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe is a term that applies to the geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the Europe. Throughout history and to a lesser extent today, parts of Eastern Europe has been distinguishable from Western Europe and other regions due to cultural, religious, economic, and historical reasons, even though there i...
 for Polish agent Marian Zacharski
Marian Zacharski

Marian Zacharski , was a Polish Intelligence officer arrested in 1981 and convicted of espionage against the United States. After four years in prison, he was exchanged for American agents on Berlin's famous Glienicke Bridge....
 and other three Soviet agents arrested in the West.

The final exchange was also the most public. On February 11, 1986 the human rights
Human rights

Human rights refer to the "basic rights and freedom to which all humans are entitled." Examples of rights and freedoms which have come to be commonly thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of speech, and equality before the law; and social, cultural and economic rights, i...
 campaigner and political prisoner Anatoly Sharansky and three Western agents were exchanged for Karl Koecher
Karl Koecher

Karel Franti?ek Koecher is the only mole known to have penetrated the CIA. Born in Czechoslovakia, he became a radio comedy writer and was allegedly frequently scrutinized by the Communist security forces for his satire that mocked the regime ....
 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
Harry Palmer

Harry Palmer is the name of the fictional secret agent protagonist of a number of films based on the main character from the spy novels written by Len Deighton....
 film, Funeral in Berlin
Funeral in Berlin (film)

Funeral in Berlin is a 1966 film based on the Funeral in Berlin by Len Deighton. It is the second of three films following the characters from the initial film, The Ipcress File ....
, starring Michael Caine
Michael Caine

Sir Michael Caine Order of the British Empire , is a two-time Academy Award and multiple BAFTA Award and Golden Globe winning England film actor who has appeared in more than one hundred films....
, based on the novel of the same name.

The bridge is also referenced in the popular kid's show Codename Kids Next Door, specifically when a bridge in a local mall is used to exchange a spy from the KND in return for a spy from the Teenagers.

Gallery


External links