Germany keeps 19th century ‘air tubes’ to thwart Russian agents

‘The system is used generally for urgent transactions that cannot be forwarded electronically’

OLAF SCHOLZ has dropped plans to phase out a 19th century-era pneumatic tube system used to ferry secret documents to his office as it is proving to be a crucial tool in evading Russian spies.

For decades, the Chancellery in Berlin has relied on the apparatus, which uses compressed air to shuttle paper documents between 36 stations in various departments.

It was due to be phased out by 2025 but officials say the risk of electronic and digital documents being intercepted has meant that old fashioned technology remains the best option in some cases.

The documents are “generally urgent transactions that cannot be forwarded electronically or via house courier service, for example because they are subject to secrecy or have to be signed in the original”, a German government spokesman said.

The personal tube of chancellor Olaf Scholz is marked “1”, while the cabinet room can be reached by feeding documents into tube “2”, according to Spiegel.

Mr Scholz’s decision to keep the network in place was first reported by the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, which cited concerns about increased Russian espionage since the invasion of Ukraine.

Even today, it continues to be heavily used by top government officials, with about 1,000 communications per month being sent through the system which costs a relatively modest €15,000 (£12,900) per year to run.

Germany is often mocked for clinging on to ageing technology in government departments and businesses, with fax machines still an integral part of record keeping and communications in many cases.

But the pneumatic tubes appear to be a rare example where simple, analogue technology can prove to be much better for national security.

In Britain, the GCHQ intelligence agency also relied on pneumatic tubes at its offices in Cheltenham, Glos, to transfer secret documents until the 1980s, according to its website.

The network saved staff a 10-minute walk across the complex, and in one famous case in the 1950s it was used by a British intelligence officer to send a marriage proposal to his girlfriend, an analyst who also worked on the site.

Germany is particularly concerned about holding on to state secrets in the wake of a major scandal last year surrounding a top German agent who was allegedly working as a spy for Russia.

Carsten Linke, a senior agent in the BND, the German equivalent of MI6, is currently on trial for high treason after he was accused of passing secret documents to Moscow.

Mr Linke, a volunteer football coach, faces a potential life sentence if convicted.

The father-of-two from Weilheim in Bavaria denies all the charges.