Decades of hiding, the German Federal intelligence service in the province. Now he’s finally arrived in Berlin’s government district. The impetus of that was a long time ago BND chief. And now Merkel looks over.
Not to be overlooked: the new building of the Federal intelligence service (BND) in the middle of Berlin
Hans jörg Geiger, is ahead of its time in 1996. The Cold war between East and West is over already several years, but felt in the Headquarters of the Federal intelligence service (BND). “Official accommodation” emblazoned on a sign in front of the old Nazi settlement in Pullach, South of Munich. So here’s the Desk of the new BND President. Geiger finds the grotesque. For 40 years, – so old, the authority is at this time – conceals the German foreign intelligence service in his name.
Geiger the necessary Camouflage. He can remove the sign. From now on, anyone who approaches the mighty building complex in the valley of the river ISAR-and-white, who resides here, really: the Federal news service. Even flower boxes are suddenly to be seen. A few splashes of color can not damage in this sinister environment. The wind, the freshly appointed BND-Chef acquires a good reputation. The secret service traditionally, the critical set of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” praised Geiger as “a competent, accurate and refreshingly open.”
“A large, working in Germany, the rule of law authority”
The PhD lawyers, but at the very least, his own Image – that of the BND is set to change. His message to the more than 6000 employees: “you do not need to hide with your work.” The white house controlled news service to the public than the perceived, what he is, says Geiger, in an interview with Deutsche Welle: “A large, working in Germany, legal state authority.”
Until 1996, the former BND was accommodation-Headquarters in Pullach, officially a “Official”…
The New in Pullach opens in the truest sense of the word, the gates and invites journalists to a briefing by the BND to participate. So much for transparency experienced by Germany in dealing with its intelligence services. The Opening of the Stasi files after the fall of the Berlin wall, is and remains a special case, because it goes to the reappraisal of the GDR-dictatorship and its secret. Because Geiger is at the beginning of the 1990s: as the first Director of the Stasi documents authority, then headed by the later Federal President Joachim Gauck.
“Not stewing in your own filth”
As BND President Geiger then breaks yet another taboo. Barely in office, he called publicly for “the BND belongs to the seat of the Federal government”. It would have been theoretically in 1996, still in Bonn. But of course, he says Berlin. The relocation decision for the Parliament and the government fell in 1991. From the geographical proximity to the politically responsible Geiger promises of a better cooperation between the BND and policy. “What is the need? What the government needs?” His authority, he says that “you should not stew in its own juice”.
This man missed the BND, starting in 1996, a completely new Image: Hans jörg Geiger (archive image)
From the first idea up to a concrete relocation plans seven years pass, but still. Geiger 2003, the state Secretary in the Federal Ministry of justice. After the Islamist terrorist attacks of September 11. September 2001 in the USA, the last of the skeptics are convinced, the BND Headquarters in Berlin. The exchange of Pullach in the capital then, but forever felt in the length. There are always delays – due to safety concerns and mishaps during construction.
Inauguration of the BND building in the Livestream
A lot of the airport and the Elbe Philharmonic hall in Hamburg is reminiscent of the still not opened Berlin’s Central. Also in the case of these Prestige projects of the time were – and the cost of the plan out of hand. But now everything is finished at 8. February will take place the inauguration of the BND building. The keynote speaker will be Chancellor Angela Merkel. And in the spirit of the former President’s service to open the foreign intelligence its doors to the Public – at least virtually. After all, who wants to, can listen in on Merkel’s words in the Livestream.
Out of the shadows and into the light: The Atrium in the new Berlin Headquarters BND
With his arrival in Berlin, the BND is taken “more seriously” – of which Geiger is convinced. Because in the capital, he could answers to current questions “directly and quickly”. Geiger speaks of the “service providers”, which is directly embedded in the decisions of the government. A vocabulary, like the President of the BND-Chef Bruno Kahl. And still the metaphor of the “service provider finds” the perfect fit: the Chairman of the parliamentary control Committee for the secret services (PMB), Armin Schuster.
The BKA and the protection of the Constitution are satisfied with the Berlin branches
The Christian Democrat adds to the picture in the interview-terms like “customer” and “heart chamber”. So he thinks the German government and the BND site in the government quarter. The proximity will be the same for both sides, “very fruitful”. Schuster expects of them but also a better quality of cooperation with the Parliament. That the problem is because sometimes, white, the secret service controller all too well.
BND in the “heart chamber”: the secret service-checker Armin Schuster (CDU)
Schuster would have liked it if the other Central security agencies had followed the BND in Berlin. However, such Considerations are not in the Federal Federal Republic politically, yet a majority. So it remains for the time being, in the case of branches of the Federal criminal police office (Bundeskriminalamt, BKA) and the Federal office for the protection of the Constitution (BfV). Thus, the experienced politician and a trained police officer Schuster can live quite well. If no Central, sitting then at least “a strong Arm” of the government.
The time of the “official property” is a thing of the past
The main seats are still in, respectively, around 600 kilometers away in Wiesbaden (Hessen) and Cologne (North Rhine-Westphalia). Despite this distance, he can’t feel any disadvantages, says Schuster. The BND, the Berlin air do but definitely good. To draw “in the midst of this city, will also ensure mental for a change.” The times, in which the Federal intelligence service was officially a “official accommodation” in Pullach near Munich, are well and truly over.