List of

intelligence agencies 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 ...

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 betwe ...

Currently active

Federal Intelligence Service 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 ...

(BND) (in german: Bundesnachrichtendienst):

foreign Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United S ...

and

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

* Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD) (german: Militärischer Abschirmdienst, links=no): (defensive)

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 ...

within 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 ...

and the

Federal Ministry of Defence The Federal Ministry of Defence (german: Bundesministerium der Verteidigung, ), abbreviated BMVg, is a top-level federal agency, headed by the Federal Minister of Defence as a member of the Cabinet of Germany. The ministry is headquartered at ...

. *

Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (german: Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz or BfV, often ''Bundesverfassungsschutz'') is Germany's federal domestic intelligence agency. Together with the Landesämter für Verfassungss ...

(BfV) (german: Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, links=no): national domestic intelligence *State Offices for the Protection of the Constitution (LfV) (german: Landesbehörden für Verfassungsschutz, links=no): domestic intelligence for the 16 subnational states Besides that there are several other military and civilian agencies in Germany which do not have the status of an intelligence service, but have certain responsibilities similar to those of intelligence services or include close cooperation with German intelligence services: * Strategic Reconnaissance Command (KSA) (german: links=no, Kommando Strategische Aufklärung): central functional command for military intelligence, military signals intelligence and

geospatial intelligence In the United States, geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) is intelligence about the human activity on earth derived from the exploitation and analysis of imagery, signals, or signatures with geospatial information. GEOINT describes, assesses, and vi ...

, part of

Cyber and Information Domain Service The Cyber and Information Domain Service (german: Cyber- und Informationsraum, ; CIR) is the youngest branch of Germany's military, the Bundeswehr. The decision to form a new military branch was presented by Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen ...

. Subordinate units include Centre for Cyber Operations and Centre for Operational Communication (the latter being responsible for military

Psychological Operations Psychological warfare (PSYWAR), or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations (PsyOp), have been known by many other names or terms, including Military Information Support Operations (MISO), Psy Ops, political warfare, "Hearts and M ...

and

Information Operations Information Operations is a category of direct and indirect support operations for the United States Military. By definition in Joint Publication 3-13, "IO are described as the integrated employment of electronic warfare (EW), computer network ...

). * Central Office for Information Technology in the Security Sector (ZITiS) (german: links=no, Zentrale Stelle für Informationstechnik im Sicherheitsbereich): cryptanalysis and digital surveillance. Mainly works as a support and research agency for law enforcement and BfV. *

Federal Office for Information Security The Federal Office for Information Security (german: Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik, abbreviated as BSI) is the German upper-level federal agency in charge of managing computer and communication security for the German g ...

(BSI):

information security Information security, sometimes shortened to InfoSec, is the practice of protecting information by mitigating information risks. It is part of information risk management. It typically involves preventing or reducing the probability of unauthorize ...

and

cyber security Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, the ...

. * Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) (in german: Bundeskriminalamt): criminal and national security intelligence. Not actually an intelligence agency, but resembles one in a few aspects (the department State Protection (German: Staatsschutz) investigates police-relevant

political extremism Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied share ...

, terrorism and espionage; recently new departments for cyber crime and Islamist terrorism were created). *State Criminal Police Offices: State police services have their own police units responsible for State Protection. Further responsibilities for state protection may be distributed to regional police entities within the states. *

Federal Police A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws. Jurisdiction LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction. LEAs ...

(BPOL) (in german: Bundespolizei): Federal (primarily) uniformed police service with responsibility for border, aviation and railway security ; one of its legal responsibilities is the support of the BfV on the field of radio technology, including signals intelligence to identify foreign intelligence services communication within Germany. * Customs Investigation Bureau (ZKA): investigation and analysis of certain financial crimes, cases of arms proliferation and drug trafficking. Central organizational entitity for the regional branches of federal customs investigation service. *

Financial Intelligence Unit Financial intelligence (FININT) is the gathering of information about the financial affairs of entities of interest, to understand their nature and capabilities, and predict their intentions. Generally the term applies in the context of law enfo ...

(FIU). Central agency for the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. Formerly and entity of the BKA and set up in 2017 as a subdirectorate of the ZKA until becoming a division of the General Customs Directorate 2021.

Former agencies

Prussian Secret Police The Prussian Secret Police (german: Preußische Geheimpolizei) was the secret police agency of the German state of Prussia in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1851 the Police Union of German States was set up by the police forces of Aust ...

(German: ''Preußische Geheimpolizei''): Precursor of the Gestapo between 1851 and 1933. * Naval Intelligence Service (N, MND) (German: ''Marinenachrichtendienst'', also

Nachrichten-Abteilung The ''Nachrichten-Abteilung'', also known as N, was the naval intelligence department of the German Imperial Admiralty Staff or ''Admiralstab'' between 1901–1919. It focused its efforts on France, the United States and above all the United Kingd ...

): Intelligence department of the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Kaise ...

. *Department IIIb (German: '' Abteilung III b''): Military intelligence of the

German General Staff The German General Staff, originally the Prussian General Staff and officially the Great General Staff (german: Großer Generalstab), was a full-time body at the head of the Prussian Army and later, the German Army, responsible for the continuou ...

Imperial Germany The German Empire (), Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditar ...

. *Foreign Armies East (German: '' Abteilung Fremde Heere Ost''). Army intelligence analysis service of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. *Defense (German: '' Abwehr''): Army intelligence gathering service of Nazi Germany. *Observation Service ( B-Dienst, χB-Dienst, MND III) (German: ''Beobachtungsdienst''): Naval intelligence service of Nazi Germany. *Secret State Police (

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

) (German: ''

Geheime Staatspolizei The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

''): Secret police of Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. *Secret Field Police (GFP) (German: ''

Geheime Feldpolizei The ''Geheime Feldpolizei'', short: ''GFP'' (), , was the secret military police of the German Wehrmacht until the end of the Second World War (1945). Its units carried out plain-clothed security work in the field - such as counter-espionage, ...

''): Secret military police of the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

. *Security Service (SD) (German: ''

Sicherheitsdienst ' (, ''Security Service''), full title ' (Security Service of the '' Reichsführer-SS''), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence organization ...

''): Intelligence agency of the SS and the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

. See also: Reich Security Main Office * Gehlen Organization ("The Org", "Zipper"): Precursor to the Bundesnachrichtendienst (Federal Intelligence Service). *Ministry for State Security (MfS, "Stasi") (in german: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit): State security service 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 **G ...

. See also:

Main Directorate for Reconnaissance The Main Directorate for Reconnaissance (german: ; german: , ) was the foreign intelligence service of the Ministry of State Security (''Stasi''), the main security agency of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), from 1955 to 1990. ...

*Military Reconnaissance of 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) a ...

(MIL-ND) (German: Militärische Aufklärung der Nationalen Volksarmee): Military intelligence agency of East Germany. *Office/Center for Intelligence of the Federal Armed Forces (ANBw/ZNBw) (German: ''Amt/Zentrum für Nachrichtenwesen der Bundeswehr''): Military intelligence analysis organization of the

. The majority of the tasks of ZNBw was taken over by 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 ...

after an agreement between the Federal Ministry of Defence and the Federal Chancellery.