Isdal Woman

Isdal Woman events

The investigation

The other investigation

The modern investigation

Discovery of Isdal Woman

Discovery of suitcases

Isdal Woman theories

Personal problems

Mental problems theory

A fraudster

Elaborate suicide theory

A spy network courier

A prostitute

A German spy

A Soviet spy

Isdal Woman

A German spy

While it is unlikely that she was a Soviet spy, other European countries of course had their own intelligence networks, so it is not impossible that she was an agent, but not Soviet one. In her case the possible country she worked for would be communist East Germany. She could have been a German agent trying to find another way of obtaining Penguin missile data that Soviets did not have.

Facts that are supporting the theory:

she was in places near the Penguin missile trials, was seen talking to a naval officer,
she was cautious about her surroundings, changed hotels and rooms after checking-in, like she was trying to mislead potential pursuit,
she was changing her appearance,
she was seen talking to men in hotels, those meetings did not looked like personal matters,
she used fake passports and probably lied about her Belgian nationality,
she had resources to travel for months without clear destination,
the labels on her belongings were removed,
her mysterious death in secluded place,
she spoke German and filled some of the hotel forms in German, although it wasn’t perfect German

Facts that oppose the theory:

if she was talking to a naval officer it is not known what was the nature of that conversation,
a spy would most likely have prepared one fake identity and would stick to it throughout the travel with every detail of the backstory fitting the purpose,
removed labels from clothing looks more way to cover identity than professional agent, spy would wear things that fit the backstory,
meetings with men in hotels did could be significant, but just like in case of conversation with naval officer we do not know the details,
although her death seems suspicious it could be just a suicide,
spy on a mission would try to blend in, while she was remembered by most of the people she had met, like shop owners, hotel staff, etc.
German spy would most likely spoke fluent English or Norwegian to blend in, using language from country of origin seems like unlikely way not to draw attention,

Just like in case of Soviet spy, this theory has its flaws (most of them are the same flaws), even assuming that German intelligence would be less efficient than Soviet one, still it is far-fetched theory that Isdal Woman could have been a spy.