His selection for Abwehr training took place when on home leave in Christmas 1938, he had been asked to attend the Hamburg Ast. and on arrival had been introduced to Hauptmann Dr. Friedrich Karl Praetorius, the senior officer in the economic section of Abwehr I. He was asked not to be a spy but to do his 'patriotic duty' and to keep his eyes open. He was expected to send reports on the economic and industrial situation around him to an address in Hamburg. Schütz agreed and returned to Britain as a representative of "Remy & Co.", an Abwehr front company.