BND branch in Rheinhausen

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The BND branch in Rheinhausen (former (camouflage) name: Ionosphere Institute ) is a specialized branch of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) that processes signals from international telecommunication networks. It is located in the municipality of Rheinhausen ( Emmendingen district ) in Breisgau . Similar BND branches exist in Schöningen and Bad Aibling . In the BND branch in Rheinhausen mainly satellite routes are recorded as part of telecommunications reconnaissance . Of the 28 parabolic antennas, the currently largest have a diameter of 18 meters.

history

The branch goes back to the ionospheric research that began in the 1930s at the Technical University of Munich under Jonathan Zenneck . Initially, the BND and its predecessor, the Gehlen Organization , obtained radio weather forecasts from an ionosphere observation station in Breisach am Rhein , which was under the French Navy and headed by the German Karl Rawer . The state of the ionosphere has for the wireless weather the short wave of considerable importance in terms of communications intelligence, leadership and agents radio . On July 1, 1956, the station was taken over as an independent ionosphere institute in the subordinate area of ​​the Central Telecommunications Office (FTZ, headquarters: Darmstadt ) of the German Federal Post Office . At the end of 1962, the FTZ and the BND agreed that the institute would switch to the BND. In March 1963 the first 24 employees were taken on. Seven employees were refused entry for security reasons.

The branch in Rheinhausen was built between 1972 and 1976 for 90 million marks. Soviet spy satellites were tracked until the end of the Cold War . For branch office included a 56-meter grid dish antenna that was purchased for one dollar from the Americans and previously on the north coast of Scotland was set up. It was separated in early 1997 and given to the nearby Europa-Park in Rust , where it can be seen today. The BND gave up the legend of the BND branch as an ionosphere institute on June 6, 2014. The federal government had previously claimed that the facility was a federal facility for national defense purposes and that the focus of the "Institute" was on military development and research tasks in the field of communications technology.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Recommendation for a resolution and report of the 1st committee of inquiry according to Article 44 of the Basic Law: Printed matter 18/12850. (PDF) In: German Bundestag : 18th electoral term. June 23, 2017, accessed February 17, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Our locations: Branch offices for technical clarification. In: Federal Intelligence Service . Retrieved February 17, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Die Spione im Elm: A visit to the BND ( memento from April 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) at ndr.de from April 16, 2015
  4. ^ André Meister: Secret project "ABSINTH": The BND is working on a considerable expansion of its satellite surveillance. In: netzpolitik.org . February 13, 2017, accessed February 17, 2020 .
  5. ↑ a b Felix Bender: BND is officially spying. In: Lahrer Zeitung . October 18, 2018, accessed February 17, 2020 .
  6. ^ Armin Müller: Wellenkrieg - agent radio and radio reconnaissance of the Federal Intelligence Service 1945-1968 . Ed .: Jost Dülffer et al. (=  Publications of the Independent Historical Commission for Research into the History of the Federal Intelligence Service 1945–1968 . Volume 5 ). Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-86153-947-6 , pp. 61 .
  7. ↑ a b Armin Müller: Wellenkrieg - agent radio and radio reconnaissance of the Federal Intelligence Service 1945–1968 . Ed .: Jost Dülffer et al. (=  Publications of the Independent Historical Commission for Research into the History of the Federal Intelligence Service 1945–1968 . Volume 5 ). Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-86153-947-6 , pp. 272 ff .
  8. ↑ Transparency offensive: BND is now giving up some cover names. In: The world . June 6, 2014, accessed February 17, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Answer of the Federal Government to the minor question from Ms. Teubner and the GREEN parliamentary group: Ionosphere Institute in Rheinhausen / Südbaden (printed matter 11/7613). In: German Bundestag , 11th electoral term. August 13, 1990, accessed February 17, 2020 .
  10. ^ Written questions with the answers received from the Federal Government in the week of September 9, 2013 (Drucksache 17/14744). In: German Bundestag , 17th electoral term. September 13, 2013, accessed on February 17, 2020 (p. 1).

Coordinates: 48 ° 15 ′ 29 ″  N , 7 ° 42 ′ 0 ″  E