Drahtzieher

From Draht (“wire”) +‎ ziehen (“to pull”) +‎ -er, literally “wire puller”.

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1. (idiomatic) string puller, puppet master, mastermind, svengali

   Synonyms: Dunkelmann, Hintermann, Strippenzieher

   • 2010, Der Spiegel‎, number 46/2010, page 118:

     In Wien wird der Prozess wegen des Mordes an einem Exil-Tschetschenen eröffnet. Spuren der Drahtzieher führen auch nach Deutschland.

     In Vienna, a court case is opened because of murder of an exile Chechen. Tracks of the string pullers also lead to Germany.

• Drahtzieher is used especially in the context of organised crime and terrorism, while Strippenzieher is preferred in other cases, where the actions may be legal, or illegal in a vaguer fashion.

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• “Drahtzieher” in Duden online
• “Drahtzieher” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache