months of the war, Pullach became the new location of the OG in
December 1947 and was given the name Camp Nicholas. Apart from
its spaciousness, the compound’s primary advantage lay in its rela-
tive isolation and general self-sufficiency. With on-premises stores,
schools, and other amenities at their disposal, the families of the full-
time employees were encouraged to minimize their interaction with
the outside world. Their relatively hermetic existence was further re-
inforced by fences and barbed-wired walls surrounding the property.
Mail was initially addressed simply to Heilmannstrasse 30.
This geographic remoteness was not without its critics, among them
one later BND president, August Hanning, who termed it “an error at
birth.” In April 2003, to expedite crisis decision-making, the govern-
ment of Gerhard Schröder stipulated the transfer of the BND headquar-
ters from Pullach to Berlin. Because of the large costs involved, this
plan was revised in 2006: only the collection and analytical units would
be relocated to Berlin; the technical facilities would remain in Pullach.PUTLITZ, WOLFGANG ZU (1899–1975). An anti-Nazi diplomat
who worked for British intelligence, Wolfgang zu Putlitz was born
in Laaske (Brandenburg) on 16 July 1899, the son of an old Prussian
noble family. After serving in the Uhland Guards regiment in Finland
during World War I, he completed a doctorate in economics in Berlin
in 1924 and entered the German diplomatic service. Following post-
ings in Posen, Washington, and Paris, he arrived in London in 1934
as head of the consular division and was recruited by the British Se-
cret Intelligence Service (SIS). His prime motivation lay in his strong
personal opposition to the Nazi regime. The valuable intelligence that
Putlitz provided the SIS continued after his transfer to The Hague in
May 1938 as the second-ranking diplomat in the German mission.
Yet soon thereafter, learning that the Gestapo had accumulated evi-
dence regarding his activities, Putlitz demanded his exfiltration from
Holland. On 14 September 1939, the local SIS officer flew him and
his valet to London, where authorities recommended his relocation
under a new identity to Jamaica. Nazi officials had declared a death
sentence for high treason.
During World War II, the U.S. Office of Strategic Services en-
gaged Putlitz to compile a list of leading Nazi officials. But the
Americans, like the British, found his temperamental personality
PUTLITZ, WOLFGANG ZU • 357