TEUFELSBERG HOMEPAGE

Teufelsberg Field Station Berlin: Circa 1985. Photograph courtesy of John Evans.

Completed in April 2014, Brendan Jamison worked on an 18 month research project on Teufelsberg Field Station Berlin, the Cold War listening station built on an artificial hill in the Grunewald forest.

INTELLIGENCE GATHERING (2014) Brendan Jamison, PS Squared Gallery, Belfast. Photography © Tony Corey for Jamison Sculpture Studio

Artist Brendan Jamison beside his plastic block artworks in the INTELLIGENCE GATHERING exhibition at PS Squared, Belfast. Photography © Tony Corey for Jamison Sculpture Studio

Installation view of INTELLIGENCE GATHERING (2014) Brendan Jamison. PS Squared Gallery, Belfast. Photography © Tony Corey for Jamison Sculpture Studio

INTELLIGENCE GATHERING (2014) Brendan Jamison. PS Squared Gallery, Belfast. Photography © Tony Corey for Jamison Sculpture Studio

MAPPING A SPY STATION (2013) Brendan Jamison. Giant map pins, laminated photography, ink, notice board. 50 x 70 cms. PS Squared Gallery, Belfast. Photography © Tony Corey for Jamison Sculpture Studio

DRAWINGS OF TEUFELSBERG FIELD STATION BERLIN (2013) Brendan Jamison in collaboration with Ciaran Magill. Pencil on paper. 42 x 59 cms each. Photography © Tony Corey for Jamison Sculpture Studio

TOP: THE SPY GLOBES OF TEUFELSBERG [FIELD STATION BERLIN] (2012) Brendan Jamison (after a pinhole photographic collaboration with Peter Richards). Collage, 23 x 48 cms. BOTTOM: RED HOT RADOME [TEUFELSBERG FIELD STATION BERLIN] (2013) Brendan Jamison (after a pinhole photographic collaboration with Peter Richards). Collage, 34.5 x 26 cms. Photography: © Tony Corey for Jamison Sculpture Studio

Entrance to the exhibition: INTELLIGENCE GATHERING (2014) PS Squared Gallery, Belfast. Photography © Tony Corey for Jamison Sculpture Studio

50th Anniversary Teufelsberg Stamp (2013) Designed by T.H.E. Hill, a veteran who worked at Field Station Berlin from 1974-1977. Photography © Tony Corey for Jamison Sculpture Studio

RUBBLE SAMPLES FROM TEUFELSBERG (2012-2013) Brendan Jamison Dimensions vary. 1 x 3 x 5 cms to 4 x 11 x 5 cms. Photography © Tony Corey for Jamison Sculpture Studio

Artist Brendan Jamison in front of his INTELLIGENCE REPORTS, arranged in the aerial shape of Field Station Berlin. Each set of colour-coded files cover a different time-period in the history of this site. Photography © Tony Corey for Jamison Sculpture Studio.

Detail of Brendan Jamison's INTELLIGENCE REPORTS, arranged in the aerial shape of Field Station Berlin. Each set of colour-coded files cover a different time-period in the history of this site. WerkStadt Gallery, Berlin. September 2013.

Report 1 of 30. Brendan Jamison's INTELLIGENCE REPORTS at WerkStadt Gallery, Berlin. September 2013.

Report 7 of 30. Brendan Jamison's INTELLIGENCE REPORTS at WerkStadt Gallery, Berlin. September 2013.

Report 8b of 30. Brendan Jamison's INTELLIGENCE REPORTS at WerkStadt Gallery, Berlin. September 2013.

The unique layers of the Teufelsberg location reveals the history of Berlin throughout the most tumultuous events of the 20th Century. To understand the sheer scope of this story, we need to rewind to a period long before the spy station was built, even before the hill of Teufelsberg existed.

In the 1930s, this entire area was completely flat. Under National Socialism, the Northern tip of the Grunewald was subject to mass-demolition, clearing many public buildings and over 50,000 apartments, with a large section occupied by Jews. Secret plans were developed by chief architect Albert Speer (1905-1981) to create a new Technical University at this location. It was to be realized on such an expansive scale that it would appear like a small city in itself. The construction site sparked rumours among the locals and ideas of an underground submarine base began to emerge. In reality, it would seem this spectacle was merely the foundations and underground bunker for the first building. On 27 November 1937, Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) delivered a speech as he laid the foundation stone for the Faculty of Defense Technology. It was a large imposing fortress-style erection, designed by Hans Malwitz (1891-1987). By 1940, resources were shifted elsewhere and the remainder of the Technical University was unrealized. The uncompleted Faculty of Defense Technology became an ammunition storage facility during the war.

After the Second World War. Faculty of Defense Technology. Photography: BerlinBrigade.com

After the Second World War, the city of Berlin lay in ruins. Over the course of several decades, a fleet of trucks drove rubble to this location and poured it on top of the Faculty building. The thick fortress-like walls provided the perfect foundation for a rubble hill. The artificial mound continued to grow and reached a height of 115 meters. It was given the name Teufelsberg (translated as Devil's Mountain) due to its location beside the lake, Teufelssee.

TEUFELSBERG CROSS-SECTION (2013) Brendan Jamison, coloured plastic blocks, 50 x 67 x 2 cms. Photography: © Tony Corey for Jamison Sculpture Studio.

BILLBOARD: TEUFELSBERG CROSS-SECTION (2013) Brendan Jamison, billboard, 250 x 500 cms. Art in the Eastside, Belfast, Northern Ireland. September 2013. Photography: Bronagh Lawson.

On 13 August 1961 the Berlin Wall was erected. The city was now divided in two. West Berlin had become isolated, existing like a tiny island in the middle of East Germany. Although spy operations were occurring throughout the 1950s, suddenly with the dividing wall, espionage became elevated to a new level of importance. American and British spies sought to intercept conversations and codes transmitted by Communists in the Eastern world.

The US Army Security Agency (ASA) built listening stations for Field Station Berlin (FSB) at 4 different locations. These were referred to as sites 1, 2, 3 and 4 + the Lichterfelde Headquarters:

Site 2: Tempelhof Airport - 1955-1966. Located on the top floor with a plywood box-shaped hut to conceal the antennas. Espionage operations were conducted from the East Tower by the 280th ASA Company. The missions still remain classified.

SITE 2: EAST TOWER OF TEMPELHOF AIRPORT (2014) Brendan Jamison. Coloured plastic blocks. 13 x 22.5 x 3 cms. Photography © Tony Corey for Jamison Sculpture Studio

Site 3: Teufelsberg - from as early as 1960, mobile units were positioned on the summit. This site was shared with British Intelligence as it was located in the British Sector of West Berlin.

AERIAL PERSPECTIVE OF TEUFELSBERG FIELD STATION BERLIN (2013) Brendan Jamison, coloured plastic blocks, 50 x 78 x 2 cms. Photography © Tony Corey for Jamison Sculpture Studio

Site 4: Jagen 87 - A rectangular section of the Grunewald. Morse code was intercepted here.

Circa 1965: In the foreground, Site 4 (Jagen 87). In the background, Site 3 (Teufelsberg).

SITE 4: JAGEN 87 [FIELD STATION BERLIN] (2014) Brendan Jamison. Coloured plastic blocks. 31.5 x 44.5 x 3 cms. Photography © Tony Corey for Jamison Sculpture Studio

5. Andrews Barracks (Lichterfelde) was the location of the Field Station Berlin Headquarters. A giant radome was built in the car park.

ANDREWS BARRACKS [Headquarters of Field Station Berlin] (2014) Brendan Jamison. Coloured plastic blocks. 40 x 92.5 x 3 cms. Photography © Tony Corey for Jamison Sculpture Studio

The mobile units at the summit of Teufelsberg were extremely effective. And therefore, in October 1963, permanent structures were built on the hill top. As the highest unobstructed point in West Berlin, signals could be intercepted across East Germany and beyond. Teufelsberg effectively listened to communications by the Stasi, the East German Government (SED), the Soviet Armed Forces and many more... Unsurprisingly, operations at sites 1,2, and 4 became absorbed into Teufelsberg. And so the field station expanded. In fact, from 1963 to 1991, the architecture of espionage was forever evolving, in the beginning there was only an inflatable rubber radome, but by 1972 there were four giant geodesic domes. A replacement radome was added to the small Jambalaya Tower as late as 1989.

ARTIST BRENDAN JAMISON COMPLETING CROSS-SECTION OF TRIPLE RADOME BUILDING AT TEUFELSBERG FIELD STATION BERLIN (2013) Coloured plastic blocks. 95 x 87 x 2 cms. Photography: © Jamison Sculpture Studio

CROSS-SECTION OF TRIPLE RADOME BUILDING AT TEUFELSBERG FIELD STATION BERLIN (2013) Coloured plastic blocks. 95 x 87 x 2 cms. Photography: © Jamison Sculpture Studio

Following the end of the Cold War after the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 25 December 1991, the intelligence community vacated Teufelsberg in 1992. However, the work undertaken there remains classified. From the outset the field station was clouded in secrecy. Over the years, some of these mysteries have been revealed, whilst others have become mixed with myth and imagination...

Adopting a multi-disciplinary approach, Jamison's project features drawing, collage, sculpture and photography. Employing a high visual impact, the Teufelsberg stories can be told in an enjoyable and accessible fashion, stimulating the audience from both a fine art and educational perspective. The core of the research features 'intelligence reports' that Jamison has created through detailed analysis of the spy station with regular field trips to the site and extensive interviews with former intelligence operatives.

25 September 2013: Brendan Jamison (far left) at the WerkStadt Gallery with Teufelsberg veterans. Photography: Charles Yunck from B.Z. newspaper in Berlin.

25 September 2013: Brendan Jamison's INTELLIGENCE REPORTS prove popular with veterans of Field Station Berlin as they read through the history from 1963-2013. WerkStadt Gallery.

Phase 1 culminated in an exhibition at the WerkStadt Gallery, Berlin. It was linked with the Fiftieth Anniversary reunion of Teufelsberg veterans who returned to Berlin during the last week of September. A special commemorative plaque and stamp was unveiled, both designed by T.H.E. Hill, a veteran who worked at Field Station Berlin from 1974-1977.

25 September 2013: Teufelsberg veterans return to Field Station Berlin to install a 50th Anniversary Plaque designed by T.H.E. Hill. Photography: Brendan Jamison.

FIELD STATION BERLIN 50TH ANNIVERSARY PLAQUE (2013) T.H.E. Hill, 46 x 61 cms. To visit the artist's website 'Voices Under Berlin', please CLICK HERE

Jamison outlines how “this project cross-pollinates aesthetics with history, politics, geography, architecture, linguistics and the world of espionage. During this first year of research, over 50 former employees have provided wonderful accounts of life at Field Station Berlin. They have also helped with the dating of archive photographs and explained the mechanics of the Cold War technology."

Jamison's Teufelsberg exhibition was funded by the British Council and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

9 October 2013: Brendan Jamison presents the 50th Anniversary Teufelsberg Stamp to Dr. Gundula Bavendamm, Director of the Allied Museum, Berlin. Designed by T.H.E. Hill, a veteran who worked at Field Station Berlin from 1974-1977.

TEUFELSBERG FIELD STATION BERLIN (2013) Brendan Jamison, carved sugar cubes and carved beech wood, 9 x 30 x 27 cms. Photography: © Brendan Jamison

TEUFELSBERG FROM DRACHENBURG (2013) Brendan Jamison and Ciaran Magill, pencil on card, 42 x 59 cms. Photography: © Jamison Sculpture Studio

NORTH WEST APPROACH TO TEUFELSBERG (2013) Brendan Jamison and Ciaran Magill, pencil on card, 42 x 59 cms. Photography: © Jamison Sculpture Studio

ENTRANCE TO TEUFELSBERG FIELD STATION BERLIN (2013) Brendan Jamison and Ciaran Magill, pencil on card, 42 x 59 cms. Photography: © Jamison Sculpture Studio

VIEW TOWARDS THE ARCTIC TOWER OF TEUFELSBERG FIELD STATION BERLIN (2013) Brendan Jamison and Ciaran Magill, pencil on card, 42 x 59 cms. Photography: © Jamison Sculpture Studio

Design and construction: Professor Sean Miller, Brendan Jamison and David Turner

CONSTRUCTING A RADOME (2013) Sean Miller and David Turner on the lawn of Jamison Sculpture Studio, Belfast, Northern Ireland. July 2013. PVC rods, drilled pipes and cable ties. Photography: © Jamison Sculpture Studio

CONSTRUCTING A RADOME (2013) David Turner on the lawn of Jamison Sculpture Studio, Belfast, Northern Ireland. July 2013. PVC rods, drilled pipes and cable ties. Photography: © Jamison Sculpture Studio

CONSTRUCTING A RADOME (2013) Sean Miller and Brendan Jamison on the lawn of Jamison Sculpture Studio, Belfast, Northern Ireland. July 2013. PVC rods, drilled pipes and cable ties. Photography: © Jamison Sculpture Studio

CONSTRUCTING A RADOME (2013) Brendan Jamison and Sean Miller on the lawn of Jamison Sculpture Studio, Belfast, Northern Ireland. July 2013. PVC rods, drilled pipes and cable ties. Photography: © Jamison Sculpture Studio

CONSTRUCTING A RADOME (2013) David Turner and Sean Miller on the lawn of Jamison Sculpture Studio, Belfast, Northern Ireland. July 2013. PVC rods, drilled pipes and cable ties. Photography: © Jamison Sculpture Studio

CONSTRUCTING A RADOME (2013) Sean Miller on the lawn of Jamison Sculpture Studio, Belfast, Northern Ireland. July 2013. PVC rods, drilled pipes and cable ties. Photography: © Jamison Sculpture Studio

SKELETON OF A RADOME (2013) Sean Miller and Brendan Jamison. PVC rods, drilled pipes and cable ties. 180 x 190 x 190 cms. Jamison Sculpture Studio, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Contructed during July 2013. Photography: © Jamison Sculpture Studio

Circa 1975: archive view of Teufelsberg Field Station Berlin. There are now 4 radomes operating on the hill. Note the inter-connecting passageway between the radomes on building #1458. It was in 1975 that the zig-zag row of windows were built on top of the warehouse to create a mess hall (lower left of photograph)

Circa 1976: archive view of Teufelsberg Field Station Berlin. Buildings #1458, #1475 and #1425.

1977: Field Station Berlin: The Jambalaya Tower II (far right) becomes the 5th Radome on the hill.