Wolfgang Heinrich Vogel (born October 30, 1925; died August 21, 2008, at age 82) was an East German lawyer and notorious Cold War spy swapper. He studied law at the University of Jena before transferring to Leipzig University, graduating in 1948. Vogel completed his legal apprenticeship under senior judge Rudolf Reinartz in Waldheim and advanced in the East German justice system. From 1969 to 1989, he served as the German Democratic Republic's (GDR) authorized representative for humanitarian affairs, brokering the release of 33,755 political prisoners and dissidents through ransom payments and spy swaps with Western governments. Assigned by the Stasi, East Germany's secret police, he established key contacts in the West, facilitating high-profile exchanges that metaphorically cracked open the Berlin Wall during the Cold War. His negotiations made him a wealthy man, profiting from the ransoms and deals, and he became a symbol of the era's moral ambiguities, often compared to characters in espionage novels by Len Deighton and John le Carré. After German reunification, he faced scrutiny for his Stasi ties but largely avoided prosecution. He also worked as a university teacher.