Hero of the night of terror

“We certainly don’t need any wannabe Rambos here”

Brigadier Albrecht had been with WEGA since 1995 and led the task force for 18 years - his greatest success: no comrade was killed!(Bild: Reinhard Holl)

Brigadier Ernst Albrecht leaves the WEGA special task force after 28 years. He remembers Islamist raids and the anti-terrorist operation in Vienna's city center. A life between mortal danger and fulfillment of duty.

Within just nine minutes on November 2, 2020, the WEGA special unit put an end to the terrorist situation in Vienna's city center. Commander Ernst Albrecht was among his men during the large-scale operation. "Just 150 meters away from me, my son was treating an injured comrade as a paramedic," says the former Simmering suburb child - as he proudly calls himself - looking back on the fateful day on which the special unit was able to prove its effectiveness in a tragic night of terror.

Brigadier Albrecht had an ambivalent relationship with WEGA. Before he joined the ranks of the elite police force after completing his officer training in 1995, he was suspicious of the unit: "As a former patrolman, I didn't particularly like WEGA at first." He disliked the "disturbing and arrogant demeanor" of some of his colleagues. He simply didn't like the image of wild "door-crashers and local hooligans".

WEGA officers are now rightly regarded as the spearhead of the Vienna police force when it comes to raids, arrests and the like.(Bild: BMI/Tuma)

In an interview with the "Krone" newspaper, Brigadier Albrecht explained how he brought Vienna's elite force up to scratch.(Bild: Reinhard Holl)

Indeed, after ten years on the front line and 18 years as commander, the now 58-year-old brigadier managed to weld the team into a reliable unit.

"WEGA's recipe for success lies in team spirit" 
"We don't need aggressive two-meter bars or wannabe Rambos. The secret of WEGA's success today lies in team spirit." A rigid admission procedure is required to filter out reliable team players. Out of 100 applicants, only 25 pass the physical and psychological bone tests. Whether it's raids against Islamists or right-wing extremists, perfect basic skills are the most important thing.

WEGA in detail

• The WEGA task force (from its former name Wiener Einsatzgruppe Alarmabteilung) acts operationally and is not an investigative unit.
• 24-hour patrol service in specially equipped sector vehicles
• Command strength: around 250 men (no women).
• Special strengths in operations: special rope technology and diver training
• Focus of operations: barricaded persons, raids, high-risk arrests, breaking up squats and aggressive demonstrations

Curious journalist question: "Have you ever been in mortal danger yourself?" "I once had a guardian angel in the 15th district: a man being chased aimed a pistol at me from a meter away and pulled the trigger - but forgot to reload. And in Simmering, a man running amok answered my attempt at negotiation with a pump-action shotgun salvo at the corner of the house behind which I was standing."

Euphoria and a fresh start in the service of others
And your most moving moment? "With hundreds of missions, it's hard to say. It was always euphoric when we came back from a tricky job - and EVERYONE came home."

Incidentally, Brigadier Albrecht is not retiring, but is now training police officers for the Austria-wide "Rapid Intervention Group" (SIG) at the Ministry of the Interior.