Wikipedia

Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution

The Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution is an intelligence service and the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Berlin, based in Klosterstrasse in Mitte. Its tasks include the prevention of extremism and espionage, for which it also uses intelligence resources. In 2019, it had around 257 employees and a budget of 16.58 million euros. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution, founded in 1951, is headed by Michael Fischer. In organizational terms, it is not an independent authority, but forms Department II of the Senate Department for the Interior and Sport with seven departments.[4]

Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution
FormationMarch 5, 1951; 73 years ago (1951-03-05)
HeadquartersKlosterstraß, Berlin, Germany
Budget
16.58 Million EUR [1]
Staff
257 (2020) [2]
WebsiteOffizielle Website

History

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On March 5, 1951, the Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution was founded. In 2000, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution moved from Zehlendorf to Kleistpark in Schöneberg.[5] In December 2000, the Berlin State Office for the Protection of the Constitution was dissolved by Interior Senator Eckart Werthebach due to several scandals and assigned to Department II of the Senate Department for the Interior.[6][7][8] This means that the Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution is no longer an independent authority, as are the state authorities for the protection of the constitution in seven other federal states.[9] The office is currently located at Klosterstraße 47 in Berlin-Mitte.[10]

Duties and organization

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Duties

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The Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution is tasked with collecting and analyzing information about political extremism and espionage and passing this on to political decision-makers and the public. The work of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution is determined by this triad of information gathering, information processing and information dissemination.[11]

Organization

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Department II – Constitutional Protection is divided into the following seven departments (2023):[12]

Known informants

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  • Ulrich Schmücker (2 June Movement) – the trial surrounding his death is considered a judicial scandal because the proceedings – as officially stated – were manipulated on many occasions and massively obstructed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and at least two public prosecutors.
  • Karl-Albrecht Tiemann
  • Peter Urbach, called “S-Bahn-Peter”. On April 11, 1968, he supplied demonstrators against the Springer Group “with a good dozen ready-to-use Molotov cocktails”[13] and supplied bombs and weapons to people from the Berlin Außerparlamentarische Opposition, who later became founding members of the Red Army Faction. He also supplied the bomb for the attack on the Jewish community center in Berlin in 1969.
  • Volker Weingraber

Scandals and controversies

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The Office for the Protection of the Constitution is accused of covering up the murder of Ulrich Schmücker in 1974.[14]

In the years before reunification, “well over a million marks [...] were spent without ‘comprehensible justification’ to ‘protect a single secret employee and his contact in the office’.[15] At least three former Stasi officers were officially employed as informants by the Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

In June 2012, the Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution destroyed 25 files that “might have been of interest to the Bundestag’s NSU investigative committee.”

Publication of an internal documents

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At the beginning of January 2021, a 43-page internal paper on the AfD Berlin's loyalty to the constitution was sent to the AfD parliamentary group in the Berlin House of Representatives with a covering letter from the ranks of the Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution.[16] The document, which is an uncoordinated working version of the department responsible for right-wing extremism, denies the classification of the Berlin AfD as a suspected case and is intended to trivialize openly right-wing extremist statements. However, various experts see blatant scientific, methodological and technical errors in the published papers.[17] The Berlin Senate distanced itself from the paper and the head of the department responsible, who was previously responsible for the “Islamism and Islamist Terrorism” department and was unable to prevent the attack on the Berlin Christmas market at the Memorial Church by Anis Amri, was “released from his official duties” until further notice.[18] “Initial technical security measures were initiated within Department II (Office for the Protection of the Constitution)” to find out which person passed the document classified as “classified – for official use only” (VS-NfD) to the unauthorized AfD.[19]

Lineage

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Landesamt für Verfassungsschutz (1951–2000)

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Period Name Notes
1951–1952 Werner Otto From March 1951, first head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution; former district court judge[20]
1952–1953 Gotthard Friedrich
1953–1965 Heinz Wiechmann Dismissed on February 8, 1965, by Berlin's mayor Heinrich Albertz after, despite being asked, he denied three times in a row that there was any evidence of visits by celebrities to the Pension Clausewitz.
1965–1966 Heinz Fahs
1966–1974 Eberhard Zachmann[21]
1975–1986 Franz Natusch Involvement in the cover-up of the murder of Ulrich Schmücker
1986–1989 Dieter Wagner 1973–1986 President of the Office for Protection of the Constitution of Baden-Württemberg
1990–1995 Heinz Annussek
1995–2000 Eduard Vermander[22] 1977–1987 Police President im State Criminal Police Office of Baden-Württemberg, 1988–1995 President of theState Office for the Protection of the Constitution of Baden-Württemberg

Verfassungsschutz Berlin (since 1 July 2000)

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Period Name Notes
01.07.2000–31.12.2000 Bernhard Dybowski Acting management while State Secretary Mathilde Koller reduced the number of employees by around 30 and had a new secret service law drawn up.
01.01.2001–14.11.2012 Claudia Schmid Resignation after scandal surrounding the destruction of files on right-wing extremism with possible links to the Nationalist Socialist Underground.
19.11.2012–15.09.2018[23] Bernd Palenda until 19 August 2013 acting Senate Director Palenda was previously responsible for the supervision of the Berlin Police Service
since 21.11.2018[24] Michael Fischer previously provisionally led by Katharina Fest[25]
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References

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  1. ^ "PDF – Haushaltsplan Verfassungsschutz Seite 86" (PDF). 2020-08-15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-03-05.
  2. ^ "Mitarbeiteranzahl". Senatsverwaltung für Inneres und Sport. 2020-07-30.
  3. ^ "Mitarbeiteranzahl". Senatsverwaltung für Inneres und Sport. 2020-07-30. Archived from the original on 2025-07-27. Retrieved 2020-08-15. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 2024-07-27 suggested (help)
  4. ^ "Verfassungsschutzbericht 2019" (PDF). berlin.de. Senatsverwaltung für Inneres und Sport. 2020. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  5. ^ Holger Stark (1999-11-16). "Der Berliner Verfassungsschutz zieht aus finanziellen Gründen an den Kleistpark". Der Tagesspiegel. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
  6. ^ Matthias Bieder (2000-03-31). "Berliner Verfassungsschutz: Die Liste der Pannen ist lang". DIE WELT. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
  7. ^ Pannen beim Verfassungsschutz – Wieder rollt ein Kopf.[dead link] Greenpeace, 14. November 2012
  8. ^ Holger Stark (2000-12-17). "Berliner Geheimdienst: Neue Führung für den Verfassungsschutz". Der Tagesspiegel. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
  9. ^ "Landesbehörden für Verfassungsschutz". BfV. 2018-11-28. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
  10. ^ "Dienstsitz" (in German). Senatsverwaltung für Inneres und Sport. 2020-07-30. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
  11. ^ "Arbeitsweise des Verfassungsschutzes Berlin". Senatsverwaltung für Inneres und Sport. 2015-01-19. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
  12. ^ "Organigramm des Senatsverwaltung für Inneres und Sport" (PDF). Senatsverwaltung Inneres und Sport. 2023-04-01. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
  13. ^ Chaussy, Ulrich (1983). Die drei Leben des Rudi Dutschke: eine Biographie. Darmstadt: Luchterhand. ISBN 978-3-472-86576-6.
  14. ^ "Deckname Flach". Der Spiegel (in German). 1988-04-24. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2024-09-13.
  15. ^ "Ungeheurer Wildwuchs". Der Spiegel (in German). 1989-07-23. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2024-09-13.
  16. ^ Ulrich Kraetzer (2021-01-25). "Verfassungsschutz-Leck: Berliner AfD stellt sich als Opfer dar". Berliner Morgenpost. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  17. ^ Alexander Fröhlich (2021-01-23). "Berlins Innensenator stellt Verfassungsschutz-Beamten frei". Der Tagesspiegel. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  18. ^ "AfD-Affäre stürzt Berliner Verfassungsschutz ins Chaos". rbb. 2021-01-25. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  19. ^ Gareth Joswig (2021-01-22). "Referatsleiter abgesetzt". Die Tageszeitung: Taz. taz. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  20. ^ "Ich bin bespitzelt worden". Der Spiegel. 1953-12-08. Archived from the original on 2021-11-03. Retrieved 2024-09-13.
  21. ^ "Kleiner Herr mit Hut". Der Spiegel (in German). 1988-03-27. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2024-09-13.
  22. ^ Richter, Christine (1995-07-05). "Eduard Vermander leitet den Berliner Verfassungsschutz". Berliner Zeitung. Archived from the original on 2016-02-21. Retrieved 2024-09-13.
  23. ^ "Chef des Berliner Verfassungsschutzes wechselt in Senatskanzlei" (in German). Der Tagesspiegel. 2018-08-20. Retrieved 2018-11-22.
  24. ^ "Berliner Verfassungsschutz hat einen neuen Chef" (in German). Der Tagesspiegel. 2018-11-21. Retrieved 2018-11-22.
  25. ^ Kraetzer, Ulrich (2018-06-28). "Neue Chefin für den Verfassungsschutz". www.morgenpost.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-09-13.
  26. ^ "Rechtsgrundlagen Verfassungsschutz". Senatsverwaltung für Inneres und Sport. 2020-07-30. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
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