The Swedish Rhapsody
For decades, a shortwave station played a tinkling music box tune, then what sounded like a little girl reading numbers in German.
What was reported
From the late 1950s until 1998, shortwave listeners in Europe could hear a station that began with a few bars of a melody played on a music box, followed by what sounded like a young girl reading out groups of numbers in German. Listeners nicknamed it the 'Swedish Rhapsody', after the tune they thought it was.
The child's voice made it one of the most unsettling of all the Cold War 'numbers stations'.
Explanations offered
After the Cold War, documents showed that the station was run by Polish intelligence to send coded messages to agents in the West. The 'girl' was not a child at all, but a voice machine developed in East Germany. The station was last heard in 1998.
- When
- Late 1950s – 1998
- Where
- Broadcast from Poland
- Witnesses
- Shortwave radio listeners
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.