Bauernschmid’s work commenced with the establishment of the MIB
in 1833. He requested a release two years later, prompted in part by
having aroused suspicions of being a spy during a stay in Frankfurt
am Main. Nevertheless Metternich had praise for his zeal, ability,
and usefulness. Bauernschmid became a proofreader in Graz before
embarking on a notable career as a freelance writer. He was also an
Austrian delegate to the Frankfurt National Assembly in 1848.BAUMANN, GERHARD (1912–1996). A top long-term agent of
the Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung (HVA) in the Federal Republic
of Germany, Gerhard Baumann served on the eastern front during
World War II. Known as an anticommunist and staunch defender
of the German military tradition, he worked as a freelance journalist
after the war, cultivating ties with the Organisation Gehlen and the
Christlich-Soziale Union in Bavaria. His HVA recruitment occurred
in 1957 under a falsche Flagge (false flag) maneuver: his Leipzig
handler pretended to be a French operative. Given the code name
schwarz and remunerated on a regular basis, Baumann became a
copious source of secret information, much of it obtained via two
senior officials of the Bundesnachrichtendienst, Kurt Weiss and
Paul Münstermann. Not until 1994 was his activity exposed, and al-
though Baumann professed that he was unaware of HVA complicity.
Charges were dropped because of his unfitness to stand trial.
BAUMANN-ZAKRZOWSKI, WINFRIED (1930–1980). Com-
monly known as the “Red Admiral,” Winfried Zakrzowski was born
in Scharley (now Stolarzowice, Poland) on 17 May 1930. After his
family resettled in Straslund at the end of World War II, he entered
the Karl Liebknecht maritime officers’ school despite his desire to
become a journalist. In 1955, he began his intelligence career in the
Verwaltung Aufklärung (VA), focusing on Western naval forces.
Although his record continued to show much promise, deepening
personal problems led to alcoholism, which in late August 1970
caused his dismissal as head of an operational division and expulsion
from active military duty. Following his arrest in December 1973 for
embezzlement, Zakrzowski began to turn his life around by remarry-
ing, adopting his wife’s name, Baumann, and finding new employ-
ment at a labor union newspaper.
22 • BAUMANN, GERHARD