Berlin Operations Base (a.k.a. Berlin Operating Base, B.O.B., or BOB), was the headquarters of the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

(initially OSS) in

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. Established in 1945 by

Allen Dulles Allen Welsh Dulles (, ; April 7, 1893 – January 29, 1969) was the first civilian Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), and its longest-serving director to date. As head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the early Cold War, he ov ...

, it was located on Foehrenweg Street in the suburb of Dahlem in the Zehlendorf District, which had suffered minimal bomb damage during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The building housing BOB was designed by Albert Speer and built in 1936-1940 with air raid protection in mind; accordingly, it had three stories underground. From 1952 to 1958 the station was run by

William Harvey William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657) was an English physician who made influential contributions in anatomy and physiology. He was the first known physician to describe completely, and in detail, the systemic circulation and propert ...

.The Berlin Tunnel Operation, 1952–1956
CIA/DP Clandestine Services History #150, page i, 24 June 1968.

References

Bibliography

* * {{coord missing, Berlin Installations of the Central Intelligence Agency West Berlin Cold War history of Germany