Alfred Redl

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Alfred Redl

Alfred Redl (March 14, 1864 – June 25, 1913) was an Austrian officer who rose to head the counter-intelligence efforts of Austria-Hungary. His term in office was marked by innovation, and he used very high technology for the time to ensnare foreign intelligence agents.

Born in Lemberg, Austrian Empire, now Lviv, Ukraine, Redl was also a spy for the Russians — his motives for espionage are unclear, since he committed suicide not long after his exposure in 1913. He may have been caught in a compromising position by Russian agents, since he was homosexual and being exposed as such would have been fatal to his career prospects. At the same time, he was paid well for his services, and had a lifestyle far above what his official salary could cover.

Redl is thought to have passed a great deal of information to the Russian Okhrana, including plans for a future Austro-Hungarian offensive against Serbia. He also is believed to have betrayed various Russian officers who contacted Austro-Hungarian intelligence, allowing the Russians to capture them.

When he left the counter-intelligence service Redl was succeeded by a man trained by Redl himself, Major Maximilian Ronge. Ronge instigated the practice of checking suspicious mail. One suspect envelope was found to contain a large sum of money and was addressed to a post office box in Vienna.

The letter was sent to the box and two detectives were assigned to follow whoever claimed it. When it was claimed, however, neither man was present and they had to try and track the suspect down. In the course of their investigation they found a pen-knife sheath which the suspect had lost in a taxi. Tracking him to a hotel they told the management to ask the guests if any of them had lost the sheath. They then waited in the lobby. When a guest arrived to claim the sheath, the detectives were shocked to recognise their former boss, Colonel Alfred Redl.

When informed of his exposure, Redl committed suicide by gunshot, which was regretted both by Emperor Franz Josef, who would have preferred that Redl avoid dying in mortal sin, and by Austrian Intelligence, which would have preferred to interrogate him on the exact extent of his betrayal.

Redl's treason is thought to have contributed to the defeats Austria-Hungary suffered in the early months of World War I, since the plans for the attack on Serbia were quite complete and could not easily be changed in the time between Redl's suicide and the onset of the war.

Claims that Redl also worked for secret services of France and Italy have appeared much later but they were neither confirmed nor disproved reliably [1].