![Invented in Ticino, produced in Grenchen and used on secret missions worldwide: the Tessina camera.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/tessina-titel-300x225.jpg)
The Grenchen spy camera: a favourite of the Stasi and the CIA
In 1960 an unusual camera came onto the market: the Tessina, made in Grenchen. It was the world’s smallest 35mm camera at the time. Although never a bestseller, it proved popular with some of the intelligence services.
![The Stasi took different types of test pictures with the Tessina.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/stasi-testaufnahmen-213x300.jpg)
![Swiss patent granted for the Tessina in 1957.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/patent-1-300x155.jpg)
![US advert for the Tessina, a ‘technical miracle’.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/tessina-werbung-231x300.jpg)
Part of the Watergate affair
![Cartoon image of Richard Nixon trying to explain Watergate to the American public.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/karikatur-nixon-233x300.jpg)
![The FBI may well have seized a Tessina or two in the Watergate scandal.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/tessina-verschiedene-exemplare-300x233.jpg)
![Fits inside a packet of cigarettes: the Tessina, made in Grenchen.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/zigarette-300x181.jpg)
Supporting role in a Hitchcock thriller
Film clip in which the Tessina can be seen briefly (01:19). YouTube