The Main Directorate for Reconnaissance
(german: ; german: , ) was the foreign
intelligence service
An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives.
Means of informatio ...
of the
Ministry of State Security (''Stasi''), the main
security agency
A security agency is a governmental organization that conducts intelligence activities for the internal security of a nation. They are the domestic cousins of foreign intelligence agencies, and typically conduct counterintelligence to thwart other ...
of the
German Democratic Republic
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
(East Germany), from 1955 to 1990.
The HVA was an integral part of the Stasi, responsible for operations outside of East Germany such as
espionage
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...
,
active measures
Active measures (russian: активные мероприятия, translit=aktivnye meropriyatiya) is political warfare conducted by the Soviet or Russian government since the 1920s. It includes offensive programs such as espionage, propaganda ...
,
foreign intelligence
Intelligence assessment, or simply intel, is the development of behavior forecasts or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organisation, based on wide ranges of available overt and covert information (intelligence). Assessments d ...
gathering, and
counterintelligence
Counterintelligence is an activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, assassinations or ot ...
against
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
-aligned countries and their intelligence agencies.
The Stasi was disbanded in January 1990 and the HVA's mode of operation was revealed to the public, including its internal structure, methods, and employees. The HVA became the subject of broad interest and intensive research under the responsibilities of the
Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records , commonly known as the )
, dissolved = June 17, 2021
, superseding1 =
, agency_type = Former Secret Police Archive
, jurisdiction =
, status = Dissolved, now part of the German Federal Archives ...
. The HVA is regarded by some as the most effective foreign intelligence service 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 ...
and the second largest after Soviet Union's intelligence forces. It provided up to 80 percent of all information about NATO countries before the Warsaw Pact, according to the CIA.
Predecessors
In 1951, the ''Außenpolitischer Nachrichtendienst'' (Foreign Intelligence Service) (APN) was founded, under the leadership of
Anton Ackermann
Anton Ackermann (real name: Eugen Hanisch, 25 November 1905 Thalheim, Saxony – 4 May 1973 East Berlin) was an East German politician. In 1953, he briefly served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Dieter K. Buse, and Juergen C. Doerr, eds., ''Mode ...
, disguised as the Institut für wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Forschung (IPW) (Institute for Economic Research). According to
Markus Wolf
Markus Johannes Wolf (19 January 1923 – 9 November 2006), also known as Mischa, was head of the Main Directorate for Reconnaissance (), the foreign intelligence division of East Germany's Ministry for State Security (, abbreviated MfS, commonl ...
, eight Germans and four Soviet "advisers" were present at the founding on 1 September 1951 in
Bohnsdorf
Bohnsdorf () is a district in the borough Treptow-Köpenick of Berlin, Germany. It is located in the south-east of the city.
History
The locality was first mentioned in 1375 with the name of ''Benistorp''.
Geography Position
The locality is situa ...
in the borough of Treptow-Köpenick. The APN was subordinated to the GDR Foreign Ministry. The first leader was Ackermann, his deputy was
Richard Stahlmann. The head of the "advisers" was the KGB officer Andrei Grauer, who, according to Wolf, had been personally assigned by Stalin to this "reconstruction aid."
In 1952, the APN College (the later HVA College) came into being, where agents known as "scouts for peace" (Kundschafter des Friedens) in Stasi jargon were prepared for operations in Western countries. Toward the end of the year, Ackermann petitioned the ruling party's Politburo to replace him, and
Walter Ulbricht
Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht (; 30 June 18931 August 1973) was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later (after spending the years of Nazi rule in ...
assumed direct control of the APN.
Duties
Focus
The primary mandate of the HVA was ''foreign reconnaissance'' (
espionage
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...
), which included political, military, economic and technological intelligence-gathering. Among its other duties were activities against western intelligence agencies (by means of
infiltrating their operations), preparing acts of
sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...
, as well as the so-called "Active Measures" ''(distributing false intelligence)'' in the "Operational Sector
Federal Republic of Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
", including
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 ...
.
![Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1983-0325-037, Festveranstaltung SV Dynamo, Erich Mielke](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1983-0325-037%2C_Festveranstaltung_SV_Dynamo%2C_Erich_Mielke.jpg)
In the early 1980s, military espionage began to gain significance. The
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, the SED-led administration of the German Democratic Republic, and secretary of national security
Erich Mielke
Erich Fritz Emil Mielke (; 28 December 1907 – 21 May 2000) was a German communist official who served as head of the East German Ministry for State Security (''Ministerium für Staatsicherheit'' – MfS), better known as the Stasi, from 1957 u ...
expected paramount information in regard to the early discovery of Western war preparations from the HVA, in light of the rising tensions between the two Cold War superpowers.
Cooperation with the KGB
Optimal conditions allowed the HVA to provide its eastern "sister services", especially the
KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
, the greatest amount of intelligence flowing out of the Federal Republic of Germany, which was the most significant European
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
member. The KGB was headquartered in
Berlin-Karlshorst
Karlshorst (, ; ; literally meaning ''Karl's nest'') is a locality in the Boroughs of Berlin, borough of Lichtenberg in Berlin. Located there are a harness racing track and the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin (''HTW''), the largest F ...
, the Soviet Union's secret service was located in
Potsdam-Babelsberg
Babelsberg () is the largest quarter (''Stadtteil'') of Potsdam, the capital city of the German state of Brandenburg. The affluent neighbourhood named after a small hill on the Havel river is famous for Babelsberg Palace and Park, part of the Palac ...
, and in addition, liaisons were present to each district administration. Successful operations against NATO headquarters in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, as well as some other Western European states, such as the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, also contributed to the HVA's significance. In the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, on the contrary, the HVA was never able to break any ground, as the KGB operated there almost exclusively (the significant inroads in the GDR's reconnaissance on, for example, the
NSA
The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collectio ...
originated from personnel stationed in West Berlin).
Organisation and structure
Sections
In 1989 the HVA had 21 sections (''Abteilungen'') and five task forces (''Arbeitsgruppen''). In addition, there was the Headquarters of the HVA (''Stab der HVA'') and the Sector for Science and Technology (''Sektor Wissenschaft und Technik'') (SWT), responsible for technological espionage, whose responsibilities were spread across sections. In a sense the Main Directorate was a secret service within the secret service with an autonomy within the Stasi similar to that enjoyed by the
First Chief Directorate
The First Main Directorate () of the Committee for State Security under the USSR council of ministers (PGU KGB) was the organization responsible for foreign operations and intelligence activities by providing for the training and management of cove ...
within the
KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
or the
Directorate of Operations within the CIA. The HVA had its own budget and its own enterprises, which not only provided cover employment for its operatives, but also contributed finances from their business activities to the upkeep of the service. The Main Directorate also handled its own
counterintelligence
Counterintelligence is an activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, assassinations or ot ...
. This was an exclusive prerogative of the Stasi within the German Democratic Republic, but while the Main Division I handled this mission within the
National People's Army
The National People's Army (german: Nationale Volksarmee, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990.
The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) an ...
and the
Border Troops, the Main Division VII handled the Ministry of the Interior and the
People's Police, the Main Division XX handled espionage penetration attempts within the GDR's state apparatus and the Main Division II handled counterintelligence among the East German public in general, counterespionage within the HVA was handled exclusively by its organic Division ''A IX''.
Werner Großmann – Deputy Minister and Chief of the HVA (since 1986),
''Generaloberst'' (since 1989)
* Work Group S (''Arbeitsgruppe S'') – internal security within the HVA
* Division A X (''Abteilung A X'') –
Active measures
Active measures (russian: активные мероприятия, translit=aktivnye meropriyatiya) is political warfare conducted by the Soviet or Russian government since the 1920s. It includes offensive programs such as espionage, propaganda ...
in the
Federal Republic of Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
(including
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 ...
)
* Division A VII (''Abteilung A VII'') – analysis and Information
* Division A IX (''Abteilung A IX'') – penetration of enemy intelligence services in the
Federal Republic of Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
and counterintelligence within the HVA
Horst Vogel – First Deputy Chief of the HVA (since 1989) and Chief of the Science and Technology Sector (since 1975), ''
Generalmajor
is the Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central and Northern European countries.
Austria
Belgium
Denmark
is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and Royal Danish Air Force. As a two-star ...
'' (since 1987)
* Department 5 (''Referat 5 / SWT'') – the work group of the Deputy Chief of the STS Matthias Warnig
* Work Group 1 / STS (''Arbeitsgruppe 1 / SWT'') – officer-residents abroad working in line of the STS
* Work Group 3 / STS (''Arbeitsgruppe 3 / SWT'') – operational acquisition of defence materiel
* Work Group 5 / STS (''Arbeitsgruppe 5 / SWT'') – exploitation of official channels
* Division A V (STS) (''Abteilung A V'' (''SWT'')) – analysis for the STS
* Division A VIII (STS) (''Abteilung A VIII'' (''SWT'')) – operational technology, signals equipment
* Division A XIII (STS) (''Abteilung A XIII'' (''SWT'')) – fundamental studies
* Division A XIV (STS) (''Abteilung A XIV'' (''SWT'')) – electronic, optics, digital data processing
* Division A XV (STS) (''Abteilung A XV'' (''SWT'')) – military technology, mechanical engineering
* Division A XX (STS) (''Abteilung A XX'' (''SWT'')) – data processing and computing center
Heinz Geyer – Deputy Chief of the HVA (since 1977) and Chief of Staff (since 1982), ''
Generalmajor
is the Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central and Northern European countries.
Austria
Belgium
Denmark
is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and Royal Danish Air Force. As a two-star ...
'' (since 1985)
* Staff of the HVA (''Stab der HVA'')
* Work Group XV / BV (''Arbeitsgruppe XV / BV'') – coordination center for the Divisions XV (the district departments (BezirksVerwaltungen, hence BV) of the Stasi also fielded intelligence departments. They carried the designation Division XV and were coordinated by this work group). Before expanding to the status of an autonomous super-department (the HVA as a whole) the external intelligence department of the Stasi was called Division XV, so the territorial units have retained this designation.
* Division A XVII (''Abteilung A XVII'') – border closure
* Division A XXI (''Abteilung A XXI'') – rear services, administration and finances
* Division A VI (''Abteilung A VI'') – operational travel movement (movement of intelligence officers under the guise of tourism)
Werner Prosetzky – Deputy Chief of the HVA (since 1983), ''
Generalmajor
is the Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central and Northern European countries.
Austria
Belgium
Denmark
is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and Royal Danish Air Force. As a two-star ...
'' (since 1984)
* Division A III (''Abteilung A III'') – legal officer-residents in Western countries other than the
Federal Republic of Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
* Division ''A'' XIX (''Abteilung A XIX'') – training and personnel care
Heinrich Tauchert – Deputy Chief of the HVA (since 1987), ''
Generalmajor
is the Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central and Northern European countries.
Austria
Belgium
Denmark
is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and Royal Danish Air Force. As a two-star ...
'' (since 1989)
* Division A IV (''Abteilung A'' ''IV'') – military intelligence in the
Federal Republic of Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
. The
Ministry of National Defence
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
had its own intelligence service, which changed its name several times. In its final reiteration before the end of East Germany its official name was the Intelligence Sector (''Bereich Aufklärung''). The
Ministry for State Security also had its own division for military intelligence. Naturally both had West Germany as their main focus. In order to avoid mutual interference they have introduced a separation of their areas of operations. The Intelligence Sector concentrated on the operational side of intel – data about operational plans, manpower and day-to-day operational readiness of the weapons and equipment of the
Bundeswehr
The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...
. The Stasi's (and more precisely the HVA's) Division A IV concentrated on the political and longer term side of intelligence gathering. It operated on military matters in the West German political parties, the Federal Ministry of Defence, the Weaponry Technical Administration (''WTD''), the administrative departments of the various armed services, research and development establishments, weapons and equipment manufacturers and future weapon acquisitions. Nevertheless, overlapping between the two was not uncommon.
* Division A XI (''Abteilung A'' XI) – Intelligence in North America and US military installations in the Federal Republic of Germany
* Division A XII (''Abteilung A XII'') – penetration of
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
and the
EEC
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...
institutions
Ralf-Peter Devaux – Deputy Chief of the HVA (since 1987), ''
Oberst
''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedish ...
'' (since 1987)
* Division A I (''Abteilung A I'') – penetration of the West German state institutions
* Division A II (''Abteilung A'' ''II'') – penetration of the West German political parties and public organisations
* Division A XVI (''Abteilung A'' ''XVI'') – exploitation of official channels, coordination of HVA business enterprises
* Division A XVI (''Abteilung A'' ''XVIII'') – sabotage preparations
Horst Felber – First Secretary of the
Socialist Unity Party organs in the Stasi (since 1979), ''
Generalmajor
is the Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central and Northern European countries.
Austria
Belgium
Denmark
is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and Royal Danish Air Force. As a two-star ...
'' (since 1979)
Leadership
Sections VII, IX, X and task force S were directly subordinated to the head of the HVA,
Colonel General
Colonel general is a three- or four-star military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and was a ra ...
Werner Großmann.
His predecessor was Colonel General
Markus Wolf
Markus Johannes Wolf (19 January 1923 – 9 November 2006), also known as Mischa, was head of the Main Directorate for Reconnaissance (), the foreign intelligence division of East Germany's Ministry for State Security (, abbreviated MfS, commonl ...
, who led the HVA over 34 years until 1986 and was held in high professional regard in the intelligence community.
![Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-1104-040, Berlin, Demonstration, Rede Markus Wolf](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1989-1104-040%2C_Berlin%2C_Demonstration%2C_Rede_Markus_Wolf.jpg)
The head of the HVA had five deputies. In the last case, these were Major Generals Horst Vogel (1. Deputy), Heinz Geyer (Chief of Staff), Heinrich Tauchert and Werner Prosetzky as well as Colonel Ralf-Peter Devaux.
Recruitment and training
Initially, the "HVA College", disguised as the ''
Zentralschule der Gesellschaft für Sport und Technik Edkar André'' ("Edkar André Main College of the Society for Sports and Vocational Training"), was headquartered in
Belzig
Bad Belzig (), until 2010 Belzig, is a historic town in Brandenburg, Germany located about southwest of Berlin. It is the capital of the Potsdam-Mittelmark district.
Geography
Bad Belzig is located within the Fläming hill range and in the ce ...
. Starting in 1965, it was incrementally absorbed into the ''
Juristische Hochschule des MfS (JHS)'' ("Graduate Law School of the Ministry of State Security"), located in
Golm (Potsdam)
Golm is a locality (''Ortsteil'') of Potsdam, the capital of the German state of Brandenburg. The former municipality was incorporated in 2003. Its name is derived from Western Slavic ''chulm'', meaning "hill", and refers to one of the nearby ele ...
, initially as a vocational training school. From 1968 on, it was called ''"Fachrichtung für Aufklärung der JHS"'' ("College of Reconnaissance of the JHS"), and was later renamed to ''"Sektion A"'' ("Section A"). The ''"Fremdsprachenschule des MfS"'' ("College of Foreign Languages of the Ministry for State Security"), also referred to as "Educational Department F", was attached to it. In 1988, the HVA College, including the College of Foreign Languages, previously located in
Dammsmühle bei
Mühlenbeck, moved to
Lake Seddin in
Gosen Gosen may refer to:
*Gosen, Niigata, Japan
*Gosen-Neu Zittau, Brandenburg, Germany
* Gosen (Company), a Japanese manufacturer of sporting equipment
*Gosen Wakashū, an ancient Japanese poetry anthology
*Land of Goshen, an area in Biblical Egypt
Se ...
near the
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
city limits, approximately south of the city of
Erkner
Erkner () is a town in the Oder-Spree District of Brandenburg, Germany, located on the south-eastern edge of the German capital city Berlin.
Geography
The town is located between the lakes Dämeritzsee, a part of the river Spree, and Flakensee, s ...
. The backup bunker for the headquarters of the HVA was also located there.
In 1989 the college had approximately 300 employees and was headed by Lieutenant Bernd Kaufmann. It worked in close cooperation with ''"Dept. A XIX"'', and was structured into three ''Educational Departments'':
* Educational Dept. A: Training for political operatives. Dean: Lieutenant Helmut Eck. 4 courses including Marxist–Leninist training,
politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
, and
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
.
* Educational Dept. B: ''"Special Operations"'' and methodology of service work. Dean: Lieutenant Horst Klugow. 5 courses, including
Operative Psychology, Security and Law, as well as
foreign residency training.
* Educational Dept. F: College of Foreign Languages. Dean: Lieutenant Manfred Fröhlich. Responsible for the language training for missions abroad, as well as
interpreter-training.
Personnel
Full time
The HVA had more than 3,800 full-time employees in 1989. Among them were, according to the agency's directory, approximately 2,400 professional agents and 700 deputies, 700 unofficial employees, and 670 special agents ''(
Offiziere im besonderen Einsatz)''. In the course of the HVA's self-disestablishment, the number of employees rose at times above 4,200.
In the autumn of 1989, seven supervisors had a ranking of "general": highest-ranking associate was manager of the HVA, Werner Großmann, as lieutenant general. Four of his deputies, as well as Harry Schütt (chief of counter-espionage) and Otto Ledermann (manager of the SED foundation of the HVA) were Major Generals.
The HVA associates regarded themselves to be the elite of the Ministry of State Security. A high degree of personal engagement, flexibility, performance, and primarily absolute
loyalty
Loyalty, in general use, is a devotion and faithfulness to a nation, cause, philosophy, country, group, or person. Philosophers disagree on what can be an object of loyalty, as some argue that loyalty is strictly interpersonal and only another h ...
to the SED was expected of them. Qualified employees of other Stasi departments, such as those with secondary educational degrees, knowledge of foreign languages, etc., could, as a reward for "remarkable achievements", be transferred to the HVA as needed, which was akin to a decoration. On the other hand, HVA personnel could, due to inadequate performance or following an investigation, be transferred to other departments of the Stasi, practically constituting a demotion.
Unofficial and other employees
The full-time staff of the HVA were complemented by more than 10,000 "unofficial collaborators" or "unofficial employees", the so-called IMs (''
Inoffizieller Mitarbeiter
An unofficial collaborator or IM (; both from German ''inoffizieller Mitarbeiter''), or euphemistically informal collaborator (''informeller Mitarbeiter''), was an informant in the German Democratic Republic, German Democratic Republic (East German ...
'').
These were primarily GDR citizens with permission to travel to the West (the ''Reisekader''; conversely, only a fraction of those with travel permission were IMs), residents of East Germany who were related to "functionally interesting" target persons in the West, couriers and instructors, but also thousands of residents of West Germany and West Berlin, partly in exposed positions in society.
The HVA was particularly interested in recruiting Western students who were visiting the GDR. These were young academics who were suitable for leadership roles and therefore particularly predestined for confidential information; they were developed over decades at a high financial and personnel cost, with the goal of placing them in high positions in the state and the economy, through which they gained access to secret information.
A famous example of such a recruitment operation was
Gabriele Gast, who committed herself in 1968 as a student and rose to the rank of ''Regierungsdirektorin'' (Government Director) in the
Bundesnachrichtendienst
The Federal Intelligence Service (German: ; , BND) is the foreign intelligence agency of Germany, directly subordinate to the Chancellor's Office. The BND headquarters is located in central Berlin and is the world's largest intelligence head ...
(Federal Intelligence Service), the foreign intelligence agency of West Germany. As a high-level source, she was led by Markus Wolf personally.
The actual sources of espionage operations in the West were not necessarily registered as IMs with the HVA (or the Ministry of State Security). In many cases, they were noted as ''Kontaktpersonen'' (KP) (contact persons), which reveals little about the degree of cooperation with the intelligence service.
Headquarters
![HVA-Berlin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/HVA-Berlin.jpg)
The HVA's predecessor, the APN (''Außenpolitischer Nachrichtendienst'': Foreign Intelligence Service) resided in the early 1950s first in
Pankow
Pankow () is the most populous and the second-largest borough by area of Berlin. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, it was merged with the former boroughs of Prenzlauer Berg and Weißensee; the resulting borough retained the name Pankow. P ...
, then at the Rolandufer in
Mitte
Mitte () is the first and most central borough of Berlin. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding.
It is one of the two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kreuzb ...
, both in Berlin.
The headquarters of the HVA was situated since the mid- to late 1950s in the building complex of the Stasi's headquarters in the Berlin borough of
Lichtenberg
Lichtenberg () is the eleventh borough of Berlin, Germany. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it absorbed the former borough of Hohenschönhausen.
Overview
The district contains the Tierpark Berlin in Friedrichsfelde, the larger of Berlin's ...
. After completion of the new office buildings at the corner of Ruschestraße and Frankfurter Allee, the HVA established its base of operations there. (After 1990 an employment agency moved into a building on the site. The building on the Frankfurter Allee is used by
Deutsche Bahn
The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder.
describes itself as the se ...
. A Deutsche Bahn company logo has been affixed and is easily noticeable.) The ''Operativ-Technische Sektor'' (OTS) was located in the Roedernstraße in Hohenschönhausen.
Budget
Former HVA director
Markus Wolf
Markus Johannes Wolf (19 January 1923 – 9 November 2006), also known as Mischa, was head of the Main Directorate for Reconnaissance (), the foreign intelligence division of East Germany's Ministry for State Security (, abbreviated MfS, commonl ...
asserted in front of a Bundestag committee investigating the activities of the Division of Commercial Coordination (''Bereich Kommerzielle Koordinierung'' or ''KoKo'') that at the end of his tenure (1986) the yearly financial resources of the HVA for operational purposes stood at 17 million
East German mark
The East German mark (german: Mark der DDR ), commonly called the eastern mark (german: Ostmark, links=no ) in West Germany and after reunification), in East Germany only ''Mark'', was the currency of the German Democratic Republic (East Germa ...
and 13.5 million
Deutsche Mark
The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...
. It was not possible to conclusively refute or verify this statement. In individual HVA sections, there existed "black cash boxes" under the responsibility of the section or department head. Considerably greater amounts were made available for the secret procurement of equipment for section A VIII ("Operational Technology and Radio Communications") and for other recipients in the Stasi, the
National People's Army
The National People's Army (german: Nationale Volksarmee, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990.
The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) an ...
or the East German economy; this money generally came from the Division of Commercial Coordination.
See also
*
Rosenholz files
*
Susanne Schädlich about BBC radio show "Briefe ohne Unterschrift"
References
External links
*Daniel und Jürgen Ast. Inside HVA. 2 part documentary, (German) 2019
{{DEFAULTSORT:Main Directorate for Reconnaissance
Stasi
1955 establishments in East Germany
1990 disestablishments in East Germany
East German intelligence agencies