DUESSELDORF : Spy Buffs Alert

Four weeks after opening amid a flurry of publicity, eyes focus once again Wednesday on the trial of the Cold War’s most innovative spymaster, Markus Wolf, the man who developed and directed East Germany’s network of 5,000 to 6,000 espionage agents.

Scheduled to take the stand is Guenther Guillaume, who spy buffs remember was the East German agent that Wolf planted in the office of then-West German Chancellor Willy Brandt. It was a coup that brought East Germany--and its East Bloc allies--a windfall of information. In the end, it also spelled the finish of Brandt’s career.

For those hoping the Wolf trial will shed light on many of the remaining Cold War mysteries, Guillaume’s testimony could prove a high point of the proceedings.