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DDR
East Germany

East-Germany, also known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), in German known as Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), is a former state in the Eastern Bloc, that existed during the Cold War from 1949 to 1990. It comprised the region of Germany that, after World War II, was occupied by the Russians, including East Berlin (but not West Berlin) [1]. The United Nations recognised the DDR as a nation state in 1973.

This section of the website deals with equipment that was developed, built and/or used in the former DDR. In most cases, the equipment was used by the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), the repressive state security service, better known as the Stasi. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, East-Germany was reunited with West-Germany in 1990.

  

East-German spy radio equipment on this website
DDR spy radio set 'Type 2'
Ilmenau 210 tabletop radio receiver
VEB Sternradio Sonneberg (DDR) - Sternchen
Schnatterinchen (Eng: Cacklerina) - analogue automated speech generator for Numbers Stations
Speech/morse generator, Device 32620, used by Numbers Stations
WSA-6 (32212) modular FSK spy radio burst transmitter (DDR)
Also used by East-Germany (DDR)
R-354 / Shmel (Bumblebee)
R-353 / Proton
Hungarian AK-20 spy radio set
Sony ICF-2001D receiver that was used by some Soviet spies in the West
Related equipment
Covert listening devices (bugs) and other equipment used by the East-German secret service (Stasi)
RF bug 31217-132 (Botond) concealed in piece of wood
Stopfen RF bug 31217-111 (Stasi) with microphone in wooden plug (960 MHz)
Holzwurm (woodworm) RF bug 31217-1 in vertical stick (950 MHz)
Known East-German spy radio sets
Used by foreign agents operating in East-Germany
  1. As the real name for these devices is currently unknown, we are used this nickname instead.

Nomenclature
During its existence, the DDR was known under the following names:

  • Deutsche Demokratische Republik - (German Democratic Republic)
  • DDR - (GDR)
  • Sowjetische Besatzungszone (SBZ) - (Soviet Occupied Zone)
  • East-Germany
  • Ostzone - (Eastern Zone)
  • Sogenannte DDR (so-called GDR)
References
  1. Wikipedia, East Germany
    Visited May 2016.
Further information
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Wednesday 19 July 2017. Last changed: Saturday, 05 July 2025 - 16:36 CET.
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