Werner Teske
Encyclopedia
Werner Teske was a Hauptmann
(Captain) of the Ministry for State Security
of East Germany who was executed after having been found guilty of "planned treason". He was the last person to be executed in the German Democratic Republic, and the last person to be executed in Germany.
, he became responsible for economic espionage in foreign countries for the General Reconnaissance Administration (Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung), the intelligence arm of the German Democratic Republic
's Ministry for National Security
. Starting in the mid-1970s, Teske considered a defection into West Germany
. He planned to use some Stasi information and materials as an "entrance fee". After some irregularities in his work had come to attention of the Ministry, he was seized and the documents cache was found. He was tried at the 1st Military Criminal Division of the Supreme Court of the DDR and, despite the defence counsel's argument that the defection had never been realized and no information had reached the West, Teske was sentenced to death in 1981. The severity of the sentence might be because another Stasi senior officer, Werner Stiller, had indeed succeeded in defecting to the West two years earlier, disclosing some highly sensitive information. The sentence was carried out shortly thereafter, by a neck shot in the basement of the prison in Alfred-Kästner-Straße, Leipzig
. Both the trial and the execution were kept secret by the East German authorities and were concealed even from Teske's closest relatives. His wife did not know about the execution until the German Reunification
; she supposed her husband was being held somewhere in custody.
The sentence against Teske was overturned in 1993, and two of the jurists involved were sentenced for perversion of justice in 1998. These rulings were justified by the fact that the original decision had been disproportionate even according to East German law, since the plans of Teske had never been more than an attempt
.
Hauptmann
Hauptmann is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian and Swiss armies. While "haupt" in contemporary German means "main", it also has the dated meaning of "head", i.e...
(Captain) of the Ministry for State Security
Stasi
The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), commonly known as the Stasi (abbreviation , literally State Security), was the official state security service of East Germany. The MfS was headquartered...
of East Germany who was executed after having been found guilty of "planned treason". He was the last person to be executed in the German Democratic Republic, and the last person to be executed in Germany.
Life
Werner Teske was recruited by the Ministry as a student. After obtaining his doctorate in economicsEconomics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, he became responsible for economic espionage in foreign countries for the General Reconnaissance Administration (Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung), the intelligence arm of the German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
's Ministry for National Security
Stasi
The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), commonly known as the Stasi (abbreviation , literally State Security), was the official state security service of East Germany. The MfS was headquartered...
. Starting in the mid-1970s, Teske considered a defection into West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
. He planned to use some Stasi information and materials as an "entrance fee". After some irregularities in his work had come to attention of the Ministry, he was seized and the documents cache was found. He was tried at the 1st Military Criminal Division of the Supreme Court of the DDR and, despite the defence counsel's argument that the defection had never been realized and no information had reached the West, Teske was sentenced to death in 1981. The severity of the sentence might be because another Stasi senior officer, Werner Stiller, had indeed succeeded in defecting to the West two years earlier, disclosing some highly sensitive information. The sentence was carried out shortly thereafter, by a neck shot in the basement of the prison in Alfred-Kästner-Straße, Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
. Both the trial and the execution were kept secret by the East German authorities and were concealed even from Teske's closest relatives. His wife did not know about the execution until the German Reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
; she supposed her husband was being held somewhere in custody.
The sentence against Teske was overturned in 1993, and two of the jurists involved were sentenced for perversion of justice in 1998. These rulings were justified by the fact that the original decision had been disproportionate even according to East German law, since the plans of Teske had never been more than an attempt
Attempt
Attempt was originally an offence under the common law of England.Attempt crimes are crimes where the defendant's actions have the form of the actual enaction of the crime itself: the actions must go beyond mere preparation....
.