Swiss Passport issued in East Berlin, East Germany

Swiss Passport East Berlin
The Swiss / East Germany diplomatic relation began in Dec 1972 when Switzerland recognized East Germany (GDR) as an independent state. The first mission was just a trade mission and was opened in Nov 1972. Hansjakob Kaufmann was the first and only head of this trade mission which closed on 17 Mar 1973.

A day later, the first Swiss embassy was established. In 15 years, the Swiss embassy had only 4 different ambassadors. This Swiss passport was issued during the period of ambassador Peter Dietschi who was in this post from Sep 1982 until Aug 1987.

The passport was issued for a fee of 38CHF or 45.60 East Mark.

This is a pretty rare travel document considering the diplomatic relationship between the two countries. I can’t imagine that many passports were issued by the Swiss in East Germany in these 15 years. I have never seen such a document before.

Once again, THANK YOU to my German friend who supported me in getting this outstanding document into my collection.

Swiss emigration to Australia – Travel Contract 1855

Remark:
In 1973, two East German citizens living in Switzerland were arrested for espionage. The East German ambassador said, “I am completely surprised as this is totally against the order I got for my mission in Switzerland”. Source: Dodis 38841 and 38849.

Swiss Passport East Berlin

Tom Topol | Passport History Expert & Author.
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