Ludwig Deubner: a professor from Koenigsberg and the birth of German signal intelligence in WWI

摘要

In World War I Ludwig Deubner, a professor of classical philology from Koenigsberg, became the important architect of the German radio intelligence network on the eastern front and of Russian code breaking from August 1914, and directed it until 1917 or later. From the battle of Tannenberg to the important victories of the Central Powers in 1915 and 1916, he - together with the Austrian sigint - contributed decisively to their successes vis-avis a Russian adversary of largely superior numbers. This contribution of Deubner to Germany's military effort in the east has been described in a number of articles and books, by authors like David Kahn and Heinz Hoehne. Nevertheless it is time for a fresh look especially since Deubner's diaries became accessible to research in 2002. In addition, new research on the military structures within which German radio intelligence evolved has raised our awareness of this variable and its importance for successful military application of radio intelligence as a tool of military control and command. Certain old assertions can now be adjusted, old questions can now be answered, new light shed on important remaining interrogations. The old Deubner story gains in credibility, in authenticity and in meaning, by introducing these new elements.