Secret military docs dropped in street, found by passer-by

Documents belonging to Wolfgang Schneiderhan, the Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, were found on a street by a passer-by, the German Defense Ministry confirmed on Saturday. They included his ID and a driving route.

Published: 7 February 2009 15:23 CET

Secret military docs dropped in street, found by passer-by

Photo: DPA

According to the magazine Focus, the documents had been dropped by a bodyguard who was with Schneiderhan at the time.

A pedestrian in the town of Bad Soden, near Frankfurt, found the papers in front of a hotel on January 30 and handed them over to local police.

According to media reports, among the documents were Schneiderhan’s ID, a vaccination record, a driving route from the general’s latest business trip and a list of secret contact addresses and telephone numbers for use in emergencies.

Schneiderhan, 62, is Germany’s highest-ranking Bundeswehr officer. A spokesman for the Defence Ministry told Focus that at no time was the general in danger.