Spies and secrets

[[file:Spies and secrets banner GCHQ Bude dishes - UK GCHQ listening station}} Ever since there have been organised states and there have been agents working behind the curtains, as well as things that regimes have sought to protect from prying eyes and ears.

The revealed activities of both these agents and sites are fascinating to some travellers, even if the themes exposed, events and specfic methods (aka tradecraft) inolved can seem brutal, controversial or in some instances downright surreal.

What to see in Spies and secrets

“

Hence it is that which none in the whole army are more intimate relations to be maintained than with spies.
None should be more liberally rewarded.
In no other business should greater secrecy be preserved.

”

—Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Africa

Asia

Japan

Japan Coast Guard Museum - 1-2-1 Shinkō, Naka-ku, Yokohama 35.454306, 139.644306 Japan Coast Guard Museum Yokohama - The museum contains a North Korean spy vessel, which was sunk in the East China Sea in 2001.

Turkey

MİT Museum of Espionage - 39.958056, 32.805556 Ankara, Türkiye - MİT Museum of Espionage A museum operated by the National Intelligence Organization. It was kept secret until 2011. Normally closed to the public, it has occasionally be opened for tours in the past.

Europe

Czech Republic

KGB Museum - Музей КГБ | Vlašska 13, 118 00 Praha 1, Malá Strana 50.08717, 14.39956 Prague/Castle and Lesser Town Opening Hours: 10AM Monday - 5PM 14€ - Museum of World War 2 and Cold War perioid espionage and covert operations. Many unique historical artifacts on display. Includes a tour (30 - 40 minutes) in English or Russian. Tours start every 30 minutes, or whenever guests arrive. Entrance fee of 14 EUR or 380 CZK can be paid in either currency. Basic knowledge of Soviet history is recommended, not suitable for young children. Famous for its collection of weapons, which visitors can hold and make pictures with.

Estonia

KGB Museum - Riia 16 b 58.373294, 26.719889 Tartu ☎ +372 7461717 - This nondescript building was known as the Gray House and was the headquarters of the Estonian KGB. It tells the story of how the prisoners were treated there, and some stories about the Estonian resistance heroes and the Forest Brothers. The museum is small and does not have a very big sign, so look carefully.

Finland

Spy Museum - Vakoilumuseo | Satakunnankatu 18 61.501111, 23.760833 Tampere Opening Hours: June - Aug: Monday to Saturday 10-16, 11-17. September - May: Monday - Sunday 11-17 8€ for adults, 6€ for children and students Spy Museum (Tampere) Spy Museum Tampere Claims to be the first spy museum in the world, exhibiting everything from world-famous spies to their equipment such as spy cameras and secret weapons - many of which you can try. You can also attempt to fool the classic lie detector.

Germany

B1 Glienicker Bruecke 02 - The bridge of spies. Prisoner exchanges often were held at its midpoint.

Spy Museum Berlin - Leipziger Platz 52.50897, 13.37931 Berlin/Mitte - Spy Museum Berlin A
Berlin Friedrichstraße station - 52.520278, 13.386944 Berlin/Mitte - Berlin Friedrichstraße station - - During the cold war, this train station was a major crossing point between East and West Germany. The station is said to have been used by several spies to cross the border and is mentioned in several spy novels. It was also "tear palace" where tearful goodbyes between members of families separated by the wall took place after visits.

Former KGB Prison Potsdam - Gedenk- und Begegnungsstätte Ehemaliges KGB-Gefängnis Potsdam | Leistikowstr. 1 52.41646, 13.06434 Potsdam Opening Hours: Tue-Sun 14:00-18:00, Monday closed Free entry Memorial and meeting place at the former KGB prison. From August 1945 it was occupied by soviet forces. It has been reconstructed as a prison for the counterintelligence. Today it's been left standing to remind people of the depressing reality of dictatorships.
Glienicke Brücke - over the Havel River near Berlin - 52.4134, 13.0901 - Glienicke Bridge Once a border crossing during the Cold War, this bridge is best known as the Bridge of Spies, and was used as an exchange point for captured spies between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Latvia

Former KGB Building - 61 Brīvības iela 56.958056, 24.123611 Riga/Centrs ☎ +37127875692 - 2017-07-29-Corner house in Riga-JonasR - The former KGB building is actually an attractive, ornate historic building at the junction of Brivibas and Stabu. It is now a branch of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, holding a general exhibition about the KGB activities, and guided tours of the cellar where interrogations took place.

Russia

Lubyanka and the KGB prison - Лубя́нка | Lubyanka Plaza 55.760833, 37.628333 Moscow/Central-North Opening Hours: Open to the public Lubyanka Building Lubyanka CDM view from Panoramic view point 05-2015 img03 - The Lubyanka is the popular name for the headquarters of the KGB and affiliated prison on Lubyanka Plaza. It is a large Neo-Baroque building with a facade of yellow brick designed by Alexander V. Ivanov in 1897 and augmented by Aleksey Shchusev from 1940 to 1947. Today headquarters of the Border Guard Service of Russia, and houses the Lubyanka prison and one directorate of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB). In addition a museum of the KGB (now called Историко-демонстрационный зал ФСБ России, Historical-demonstration hall of the Russian FSB) was opened.

United Kingdom

Bombe-rebuild - A rebuilt Bombe machine at Bletchley park.

Bletchley Park - The Mansion, Bletchley Park, Sherwood Dr, Bletchley, MK3 6EB 51.996944, -0.741944 near Milton Keynes ☎ +44 1908 640404 - Bletchley Park Bletchley Park - Draco2008 - Milton Keynes has a claim to being the home of the modern computer, as the German Enigma codes were cracked by Sir Alan Turing at Bletchley Park. The historic value of this site and its importance to the development of the computer has now been belatedly recognised in the form of a museum with a significant number of things to do for both adults and children

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North America

Cuba

Museum of the Ministry of the Interior - Memorial de la Denuncia | 5ta Avenida, Havana 23.12483, -82.41817 $2 - Museum about 40 years of Cuba's intelligence service, including some exhibits on failed attempts by US agencies.

United States of America

Cray YMP M90 Ziegler 3 - Part of an NSA supercomputer from 1993, housed at the National Cryptologic Museum

International Spy Museum - 800 Friday Street, Northwest Washington, DC 20004 38.8969, -77.0234 Washington, D.C./East End International Spy Museum - A museum exploring the history, and role of espionage, from historical events up to contemporary issues.

National Cryptologic Museum - 39.1148, -76.7748 Fort Meade, Central Maryland - National Cryptologic Museum National_Cryptologic_Museum
SpyScape - 928 8th Ave, New York, NY 10019 40.7656, -73.9836 ☎ +1 212 549-1941 -

South America

Oceania

Australia

Spy Camera Museum - 49 Grace St, Herberton, Queensland -17.38348, 145.38518 large collection of rare tiny cameras.