Berlin (dpa) - Legendary East German spy chief Markus Wolf, whose agents brought down West German chancellor Willy Brandt, died Thursday at the age of 83, a family member said. Wolf died peacefully in his sleep at the family apartment in Berlin, said his daughter-in-law. Wolf's publisher, the Eulenspiegel Verlag, also confirmed the death to Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
Dubbed the "man without a face" for managing to avoid being photographed, Wolf headed East Germany's foreign intelligence services from 1952 to 1986.
Wolf's "Hauptverwaltung Aufklaerung" (HVA) - a branch of East Germany's Stasi secret police - ran a network of 4,000 spies. One of his agents, Guenter Guillaume, became a top aide to chancellor Brandt. After years of spying in the heart of West German power the stunning unmasking of Guillaume forced Brandt to resign in 1974.
And the Cold War fades into the sunset...
Oh, MUCH more at the link