The Spiegel affair of 1962 (German: Spiegel-Affäre) was a political scandal in West Germany.[1] It stemmed from the publication of an article in Der Spiegel, West Germany's weekly political magazine, about the nation's defense forces.[2] Several Spiegel staffers were detained on charges of treason, but were ultimately released without trial.
The scandal stemmed from a conflict between Franz Josef Strauss, federal minister of defense, and Rudolf Augstein, owner and editor-in-chief of Der Spiegel. The affair cost Strauss his office and, according to some commentators, put the post-war West German democracy to its first successful test of press freedom.[3][4]
- ^ Marek, Michael; Görtz, Birgit (10 October 2012). "A scandal rocks the young federal republic". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
- ^ Krewel, Mona (23 March 2014), "Spiegel Affair", Encyclopædia Britannica.
- ^ Kipp, Almut; Haller, Benjamin (23 September 2012), "Schmidt: 'Demokratische Instinkte heute tiefer'", Hamburger Abendblatt (in German), DE.
- ^ Turner, Henry Ashby (1987), The Two Germanies Since 1945 (excerpt), Yale University Press, pp. 84–86, ISBN 978-0-30003865-1 – via Google Books.