HORATZEK, JOHANNES (1896–?). A veteran intelligence op-
erative, Johannes Horatzek entered the Abwehr in 1924. Because
of his Czech background and fluent Polish, he developed numer-
ous contacts in East Central Europe. In 1939, while director of the
West Prussian substation at Elbing (now Elbdag, Poland), Horatzek
obtained Poland’s military mobilization plans prior to the German
attack. The Abwehr station in Warsaw then came under his direction
for the duration of the war. In 1950, despite their contrasting person-
alities, Horatzek was selected by Fritz Tejessy as his main assistant
in his new intelligence organization based in Düsseldorf.
HORST, LOUIS VON (1865–1947). A German-American business-
man falsely accused of espionage by the British during World War
I, Louis von Horst was born in Tuttlingen (Württemberg) on 16 De-
cember 1865. He and his family immigrated to the United States five
years later. Horst left school at the age of 16, and in 1889 he and his
two brothers founded a company that became the largest producer
and trader of hops used in the brewing industry. Because of Horst’s
extensive patronage, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha conferred on
him the honorary hereditary title of “Baron” in 1899. Two years
later, the brothers decided to divide the company, and Horst assumed
direction of the English branch. As his large hops ranches in Cali-
fornia allowed him to offer his product at a lower price than English
suppliers, his company became the object of large-scale protests by
competitors and protectionist groups.
On 31 August 1914, Horst was arrested by Scotland Yard and placed
in a detention camp as an enemy alien, where he remained for the dura-
tion of World War I. An MI5 report of March 1917 categorized him as
“an undoubted German spy,” primarily on the basis of his humanitar-
ian support for striking British dockworkers in 1912, his links to the
suffragette movement, and his connections to certain Irish nationalists.
Fearing the death penalty if found guilty, Horst refrained from going to
trial, even though the evidence produced by the government was highly
circumstantial. In addition, neither the United States nor Germany was
willing to declare him a bona fide citizen. In March 1919, he was ex-
pelled from Britain to Germany as an “undesirable alien.” Despite the
loss of his company, Horst managed to reconstruct his hops business in
the interwar period. He died in Coburg in 1947.
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