The hotline between Washington and the former German capital Bonn
(Updated: December 1, 2018) Today, it's the German Unity Day or Tag der Deutschen Einheit , which commemorates the anniversary of the reunification of East and West Germany in 1990. In recent years, Germany's relationship with the United States had some tough times after it was revealed that chancellor Angela Merkel had been on an NSA targeting list, and a 3-year parliamentary inquiry showed a close cooperation between the NSA and the German foreign intelligence agency BND. One part of the relationship between Germany and the US that was never reported before, is the existance of a hotline between the White House and the office of the German chancellor. Described for the first time is also the telephone equipment that was used for this kind of top level communications links. - Origins - STU-I telephone - IST telephone - Berlin - Origins The hotline (German: heißer Draht ) between Washington and Bonn was established on Marz 16, 1962, after German chancellor Konrad Adenau