Heinrich Albert
To everyone else riding the elevated train in Harlem, New York, on that afternoon in July 1915, he would have looked like every other commuter: smartly-dressed but weary and struggling to keep his eyes open. And in fact, the man in question did indeed start snoozing. Upon pulling into the 50th Street Station, he awoke to find that his briefcase was missing. Normally, this wouldn’t be such a big deal. But, this was no ordinary man. It was a German diplomat by the name of Dr. Heinrich Albert and he had been in the Big Apple engaged in espionage. And the briefcase? Well, it was a treasure trove of information, and Dr. Albert’s carelessness had gifted the American authorities a huge diplomatic coup.
The lapse in concentration occurred at a point in time when the United States was still a neutral country, opting to keep out of the war that was setting Europe ablaze. The German High Command was committed to changing this. They knew that some Americans supported the German war effort and perhaps, with a push, the government could be encouraged to join in the conflict on their side. It was Dr. Albert’s job to provide that push. Ostensibly working as an assistant to Germany’s Ambassador to the United States, Johann von Bergstorff. With his boss, Albert was busy buying up shares in popular newspapers so as to get them to publish stories that could sway public opinion towards supporting American involvement in the war – not a cheap endeavour.
Albert was the money man in this scheme, receiving and spending huge sums. Unsurprisingly, this caught the attention of the fledgling Secret Service, and Albert was regularly tailed, including on that fateful day in July 1915. The agent tasked with shadowing the inept spy that afternoon was Frank Burke. It was he who noticed that Albert was dozing and, sensing an opportunity, he snatched the briefcase and the secrets in contained within. Finally, the Secret Service had proof that Germany was trying to manipulate the American people. They ‘accidentally’ leaked this proof to the press and the subsequent reports were met with outrage by the public. Any hopes of the country allying itself with the Kaiser were well and truly dashed – and all because a spy couldn’t stay awake.
But that’s not the whole story. Shortly after ‘War to End All Wars’ came to a conclusion, Albert returned to his native country. There, he set up a law firm representing American interests within Germany. Could it be that he was working with American all along? And that, instead of being one of the most inept spies of the First World War, he was a cool, calculating double agent whose subway car dozing was all for show? Ultimately, we’ll never really know the whole truth of this fascinating affair.