14

Socialism à la James Bond

The Palace of the Republic does no longer exist and the Palace Hotel opposite of it was also demolished in 2001. The site os now occupied by the City Quartier DomAquarée. The socialist hotel built by Sweden was a playground for many subversive activities. Diplomats, artists, actors and Western spies were among its guests and the all had to pay in hard currency. High-ranking GDR politicians threw excessive parties in the Sinus bar of the hotel. Currency dealings as well as the exchange of secret agents between East and West were arranged here. The Ministry for State Security observed large parts of the hotel with cameras; some rooms were equipped with hidden microphones and cameras for “special” guests. Hotel staff and prostitutes were on the pay roll of the Stasi, too.
The terrorist Abu Daoud who pulled the strings of the 1972 Munich massacre, was placed in the hotel by the ministry for a considerable time starting in 1981. In March 1989 the Austrian businessman Herbert Rübler died in the hotel frm a head injury. The ministry suspected him of beeing a double agent. An arson attack in the underground parking in 1991 destroyed eight cars.