The Spy Scare—Truth or Fiction?

British Columbia was a pretty attractive place to invest in before the recession hit in 1913. British money fuelled the province’s expansion in hydro power, railways and mines. Belgian money helped develop the fruit lands in the north Okanagan. And German aristocrats were attracted by the potential to get rich here too.

One former Prussian officer, Constantin Alvo von Alvensleben, helped found the Vancouver Stock Exchange, built a fortune in real estate and was president of some prominent mining and resource companies. He cut a dashing figure and had a full-page profile in the 1913 edition of Who’s Who and Why, listing his military and business credentials.

When von Alvensleben arrived in Vancouver in 1904, he was almost penniless. But he made the best of the then booming economy. Family connections with the Kaiser helped, and he became influential and wealthy as more and more German aristocrats were drawn to the Alvensleben magic. By 1913 he was widely believed to be a millionaire.

But the recession and then war broke him. When the real estate market collapsed, so did Alvensleben’s good luck. German capital started to dry up and Alvensleben couldn’t convince his influential friends that good times would soon return. When war was declared in 1914, his German connections turned into a liability.

Alvo von Alvensleben—a German spy or just an unlucky businessman. George T. Wadds photo, City of Vancouver Archives, Port P1082

It didn’t help that rivals spread rumours that if the Germans won the war, Alvensleben would become the “governor” of British Columbia. As a former army officer and an enemy alien, his assets could be seized, and they were while he was travelling outside the country.

Afraid of arrest, Alvensleben and his family fled to the United States, which was still neutral. But when the Americans declared war in 1917, he came under suspicion there and was interned until 1920. After the war, he returned to the business world he loved, trying to rebuild his fortune on both sides of the border. But he never fully recovered financially. He died in Seattle in 1965.

[To Top]

[Back to Chapter 14]