Secret services: Inside BND: A look behind the scenes of the spies

A rare look behind the scenes of the German foreign intelligence service: The Federal Intelligence Service is opening itself up to the public more than ever before and wants to increase acceptance of its work with greater transparency. To this end, the visitor center of the German foreign intelligence service in Berlin can soon be visited without the previously required group registration, as BND President Bruno Kahl announced on Friday at the opening of the center’s extension.

The visitor center is an essential part of “transparency, from which we naturally also hope to gain a boost in legitimacy and trust,” said Kahl. The aim is to reduce reservations about the BND, create understanding of its mission and methods, and present itself “as a competent, efficient and reliable service provider to the federal government.”

Intelligence coordinator: Too much restraint makes you invisible

The coordinator of the federal intelligence services in the Chancellery, Dagmar Busch, said of the tension between secrecy and public presence: “Too much restraint and modesty is also harmful, it also makes you invisible.” In the fight for budget funds, “invisibility and restraint are not always the best way.”

The visitor center was inaugurated in November 2019. So far, only groups of at least 20 people have been allowed in, and they have to register. Since the visitor center opened five years ago, several tens of thousands of citizens have learned about the tasks, topics, powers, methods, and also the control of the BND, explained Kahl. Last year alone, there were around 14,000 visitors. The center is also part of the BND’s recruitment efforts – the service competes with wealthy private companies in the search for skilled workers.

Priority number one: secrecy

For a secret service whose spies actually prefer to work in the dark and whose highest priorities are security and secrecy, the new openness is a challenge. The visitor center, which cost a good two million euros, is located on a corner of the huge BND headquarters in the middle of the capital. The complex is hermetically sealed, and even employees can only get to their workstations by scanning their veins.

The secret service had to adapt its security concept to accommodate the parallel operation of the center with registered groups and spontaneous curious visitors. The entrance was specially relocated. To control visitors, there are now two security lanes with the latest technology, like at the airport, instead of one. The BND has even given its visitor center its own house number: Chausseestrasse 99a.

Explosive vest, gas ultracentrifuge and agent anecdotes

The multimedia and interactive exhibition, covering 400 square meters over two floors, focuses on terrorism, illegal migration, proliferation – the uncontrolled spread of weapons of mass destruction -, the relationship between transparency and secrecy, and the gathering of information.

The exhibition includes a gas ultracentrifuge for uranium enrichment, such as those used in Iran to build nuclear weapons. The way the BND obtained this rare exhibit is a secret. An original explosive vest and an improvised explosive device from Afghanistan are also on display.

Backpack from Kabul, shot-out tank cap from Bucha

One of the latest exhibits is the backpack of a BND employee, which he had with him when he reported on the entry of the Islamist Taliban into the Afghan capital Kabul on August 15, 2021. After the Americans withdrew from Afghanistan, the Bundeswehr also had to hastily vacate the field.

Traces of the Russian attack on Ukraine have also recently been on display: the BND is showing the fuel cap of a civilian vehicle from the Kiev suburb of Bucha – with bullet holes. The exhibit is symbolic of the massacre that the Russians committed in the town at the time.

IS coins from looted gold and silver stocks

Unusual exhibits from the heyday of the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS) from 2014 onwards are also on display. The exhibition recently added a silver coin of the IS currency that was minted by the terrorists. The militia was probably able to produce coins made of gold, silver or copper with the help of plundered stocks from national banks and cultural assets.

In the summer of 2014, IS declared a “caliphate” in large parts of Iraq and the neighboring civil war-torn country of Syria and controlled the areas for years. The extremists have since lost their territory. However, IS cells are still active in both countries.

New openness: BND club and social media station

To reflect this new openness, the agency has now set up a “BND Club” with a social media station in the visitor center. There are also two vending machines where you can buy fan merchandise such as a mug with the BND printed on it.

But the spies’ transparency has its limits. For example, there is still a strict ban on taking photographs in the exhibition. Unlike guests at the BND headquarters next door, visitors do not have to hand over their mobile phones at the gate. However, the secret service asks its visitors to turn off their mobile phones. Or at least switch them to flight mode. How is this supposed to be controlled? Top secret.