Australian Cold War Passport, Berlin 1960

Australian Cold War Passport
For me, as a German, this travel document is fascinating. Australian passport, issued in 1960 in Melbourne for a German born in Berlin in 1922. Many passports from the cold war area were not valid for communist countries, and so was the booklet of Herbert Leuschner, an aircraft engineer now living in Australia.

In 1963 he came to Berlin for some reason we don’t know. I tried to research him but didn’t find anything about him. In April 1963, the Australian Military Mission in Berlin permitted him to travel to East Germany (see the entry on page six). Page seven has a stamp from Berlin Tempelhof airport, dating May 8, 1963. Australian Cold War Passport

What did a German/Australian aircraft engineer do in East Germany? Was he on a private trip visiting relatives in (East) Berlin? A business trip? Or even on an undercover mission? For now, all remains a riddle. Australian Cold War Passport

Diplomatic relations with the Federal Republic of Germany established

January 28, 1952. The Minister for External Affairs, the Rt. Hon. R. G. Casey announced today that Australia had agreed to an exchange of Embassies with the Federal Republic of Germany. Mr. Casey said that, as distinct from the Australian Military Mission in
Berlin, there is already an Australian Mission in Bonn, the capital of the Federal Republic, which has been accredited to the Allied High Commission in Germany since 1949. The effect of the present decision was that its status would now be changed to that of an Embassy accredited to the President of the Federal Republic.

Mr. Casey said that the change in the status of our Mission at. Bonn reflected the extent to which Western Germany, in close association with the United Kingdom, the United States, and other free nations on the Continent, is cooperating in maintaining stability in Europe. Future developments in Germany would significantly influence world peace, and Australia should be adequately represented there. Twenty other countries have already entered into diplomatic relations with the Federal Republic.

The first German Ambassador in Australia will be Dr. Walther Hess, a career diplomat suspended by the Nazi Government before the War. He joined the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic in January. 1950. Mr. Casey said that for the time being, Mr. Noel Deschamps, who has been acting head of the Australian Military Mission at Berlin and head of the Australian Mission at Bonn, will be the Australian Charge d’Affaires.

Edward Gough Whitlam

served as Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany from 1956-1959 and concurrently as Head of the Australian Military Mission, Berlin before he became the 21st prime minister of Australia from 1972 to 1975. Many years ago I was asked to appraise his diplomatic passport collection for the University of Western Sidney – Whitlam Institute.

The Passport

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