Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

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Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
- BfV -

logo
State level Federation
position Higher federal authority
Business area Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Home Affairs
founding November 7, 1950
Headquarters Cologne
president Thomas Haldenwang
Vice President Michael Niemeier
Sinan Selenium
Servants 3864 (2019)
Budget volume EUR 467.19 million (2020)
Web presence www.verfassungsschutz.de
Emblem of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution ( BfV ) is a German domestic intelligence service whose most important task is the collection and evaluation of information on efforts against the free democratic basic order and counter-espionage ( Section 3 (1) BVerfSchG ). The office may use methods, objects and instruments to secretly obtain information ( Section 8 (2) sentence BVerfSchG), but has no police enforcement powers.

Together with the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) and the Military Counter-Intelligence Service (MAD), the BfV is one of the three federal intelligence services .

The BfV is subordinate to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Home Affairs (BMI), is subject to its service and technical supervision and is headed by the President of the BfV . Tasks and powers as well as the cooperation with the state authorities for the protection of the constitution (LfV) are regulated in the Federal Constitutional Protection Act (BVerfSchG). The state authorities are not part of the BfV and are not subordinate to it.

In accordance with Section 5 (2) BVerfSchG, the BfV investigates efforts and activities directed against the federal government or transnational (see mandate ), in matters of importance to foreign policy or at the request of one of the 16 state authorities for the protection of the constitution which, as state offices or departments of the Ministry of the Interior, do not BfV, but - like the state police - are subordinate to the respective interior minister of the respective federal state. The federal government has the right to issue instructions to the federal states in matters relating to the protection of the constitution if there is an attack on the “[…] constitutional order of the federal government” ( Section 7 BVerfSchG).

history

Report on the "Office for the Protection of the Constitution" working on behalf of the US Army from September 1950

An indirect forerunner of the Federal Office in the Weimar Republic was the Reich Commissioner for Monitoring Public Order , who existed from 1920 to 1929 and also had no police powers, but coordinated the gathering of information about anti-constitutional efforts in the German Reich .

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution was founded on November 7, 1950 on the initiative of the Allied High Commissioners John Jay McCloy , Ivone Kirkpatrick and André François-Poncet on the basis of the Federal Constitutional Protection Act of September 27, 1950. His first location was in a rented building in Cologne in the street "Unter Sachsenhausen" not far from the main train station . Before that, the United States Army operated a camouflage facility in Germany called the “Office for the Protection of the Constitution”, whose agents had the task, among other things, of collecting information about the KPD, which was re-approved in 1945 . The structure in the founding phase was directed down to the last detail by the security directors of the High Commissioners in order to prevent a new Gestapo from emerging. This remained a central theme for the organizational development of the Federal Office. In addition, the Allies not only determined the first President of the Federal Office from the proposals of the Federal Government, but also controlled and approved the recruitment of staff, so that former members of the criminal Nazi organizations Gestapo , SS and SD of the Reich Main Security Office were initially not officially employed there. With the support of functionaries such as Richard Gerken , however, high-ranking members of the Nazi dictatorship could be lifted back to the offices of the secret service.

Until 1955, the authority was under the supervision of the Allies. The authority and the working methods of the office corresponded to the requirements of the police letter of the Allies of April 14, 1949; this allowed the establishment of a “body for the collection and dissemination of information about subversive activities directed against the federal government”. The basis of the activity should be the gathering of messages without police executive powers from the beginning. This separation of secret service and police activities (so-called separation requirement , cf. § 2 para. 1 sentence 2 BVerfSchG) is a reaction to the experiences with the secret state police as political police. Between 1961 and 1964, the BfV carried out around 4,600 cases in the area of ​​counter-espionage.

In 1964 it had several branch offices. The three "pre-testing centers" in Berlin , Gießen and Zirndorf near Nuremberg were established in 1951/52 and were used, among other things, to interview refugees from Eastern Europe. The four “Bundesnachrichtenstellen” (BUNAST) in Lübeck , Hanover , Kassel and Bayreuth came into being on September 1, 1952 (Bayreuth 1953). Her job was the smuggling of agents, questioning refugees, cross-border commuters, interesting people, attracting informants and cooperating with the Federal Customs Administration and the Federal Border Guard . The "Küstennachrichtenstelle" (KÜNAST) established in Hamburg in 1953 with city offices in Bremen and Kiel carried out intelligence activities against enemy infiltration by sea as well as against representations from eastern countries (legal residencies ), companies and individuals. Liaison points to US intelligence services had a coordinating function and served to exchange information. The branch in Frankfurt am Main was opened in 1958 and was used to monitor legal residences, companies and people in the east. The “Oskar City Office”, established in Oberursel in 1962, was responsible for interviewing refugees, members of opposing services and important political functionaries in the GDR as well as recruiting people for Western intelligence services. The observation and investigation groups in Cologne and Bad Godesberg ultimately served to monitor and investigate left-wing extremism, espionage and sabotage.

Despite this organizational demarcation, there were strong personal continuities; Until the end of Allied supervision in 1955, many former Gestapo employees were employed as freelancers or in front companies, after which they were also regularly in office. In addition, a younger generation of legally trained employees grew up who were suspicious of the methods of the "old hands". In 1963, 16 employees were identified as former members of the Gestapo, SS or SD. The Allies knew this, but it was no longer important to them in the anti-communist struggle of the Cold War. You have been transferred to other offices. Afterwards, membership in the NSDAP was increasingly suspicious of a managerial position, so that Schrübbers , the head of the authorities, was put into early retirement in 1972. With the New Left , the field of constitutional opponents to be observed differentiated, in particular through the left- wing terrorism of the RAF since 1968 and the international terrorism that has become noticeable in Germany since the attack at the 1972 Olympic Games .

The then President of the Office, Heinz Fromm , convened a commission in 2009 to clarify in detail this past and other references of the Office to the Nazi era on the basis of the archive data. The commission only started its work in November 2011. On October 1, 2013, a first interim result was published in which the responsible Bochum historians Constantin Goschler and Michael Wala found a "source inventory that has been greatly reduced due to various circumstances". By evaluating vaccination lists and documents from staff council elections, a personnel database with around 1500 names was created. A Nazi background was found in 13% of all BfV employees.

On 5 November 2018 asked Interior Minister Horst Seehofer the Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier , the then President of the Federal Office for Constitutional Protection Hans-Georg Maassen with immediate effect in the temporary retirement to put what took place on 8 November 2018th This was preceded by numerous controversial statements by the president (e.g. the relativization of the importance of right-wing extremist forces or the claim that there were no hunts during the riots in Chemnitz in 2018 ). He was succeeded by the previous Vice President Thomas Haldenwang , who is to realign the BfV.

assignment

General mandate: A prerequisite for warding off dangers posed by enemies of the free democratic basic order is comprehensive information of the state organs and the public about anti-constitutional efforts and developments, with the aim of defending the values ​​of the basic order. The BfV has the task of an "early warning system" .

The specific tasks of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution result from § 3 BVerfSchG (tasks of the protection of the constitution) in connection with § 5 BVerfSchG (demarcation between the federal government and the states):

1. Defensive democracy

An essential task of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is the collection and evaluation of information, for example factual or personal information, messages or documents about efforts that are directed against the free democratic basic order . It is therefore integrated into the concept of defensive democracy , according to which an "early warning system" is set up in order to recognize threats "in advance of a concrete danger in order to be able to react politically and / or legally in good time."

This includes political or violent activities that endanger the security or continued existence of the Federal Republic of Germany due to their anti-democratic attitudes or intentions, such as extreme left or right- wing parties and organizations or terrorist groups . For example, the right-wing extremist NPD , the left-wing extremist German Communist Party , the Scientology association or the Al-Qaida terror network are under observation by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution due to activities classified as anti-constitutional or terrorist.

The Center for Information and Communication Technology of the Federal Police supports the BfV in accordance with Section 10 of the Federal Police Act in the field of radio technology.

In 2008, the heads of the constitution protection authorities specifically requested the strategic monitoring of relevant Internet nodes (such as the DE-CIX ).

2. Counterintelligence

The legal mandate of the BfV is the investigation of "security-endangering or secret service activities [...] for a foreign power" ( § 3 para. 1 no. 2 BVerfSchG), d. H. counter-espionage in Germany. To this end, the BfV clarifies the activities of external intelligence services in order to prevent espionage activities against political and public institutions (e.g. political parties or government authorities) or commercial enterprises. This also includes the detection of illegal transactions or leaks of know-how that could serve the proliferation of nuclear, biological or chemical weapons. Corresponding activities that take place abroad are monitored by the Federal Intelligence Service.

The defense against espionage in the area of ​​the Bundeswehr or the division of the Federal Ministry of Defense ( Section 1 (1) MADG ) is the task of the Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD).

3. Secret and economic protection

Another area of ​​responsibility of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is security and economic protection. In relation to the work of the BfV, this includes regulations and instructions or recommendations that are intended to ensure the protection of classified information of the state and the industry it has commissioned (confidentiality) or of business secrets (economic protection) from unauthorized access. The BfV offers publications on the Internet as well as advice from commercial enterprises. In addition, the BfV carries out security checks for personnel in areas of commercial enterprises that are subject to secret protection . The transfer of information between the BfV and the private sector has been taken over by the working group for economic security since 2008 in the "Department of Economic Protection" .

Locations

The BfV is based in Cologne , with a branch in Berlin .

Cologne

At its headquarters in Cologne, the BFV has a 1,989 completed property in the district Volkhoven / hamlet in the district Cologne-Chorweiler . Before that, it had been spread over several properties in Cologne since it was founded, including at Barthelstrasse 74 Innere Kanalstrasse.

Berlin

After reunification, several outposts were initially scattered around the city in Berlin. These were to be amalgamated on the Am Treptower Park barracks area, for which purpose a new office building with 3,600 square meters of usable space was built for the Federal Office from 2002 to 2004 for around 20 million euros. On the site, building C and building G, both originally intended for the Federal Criminal Police Office (Germany) , were prepared for around 19.6 million euros for around 19.6 million euros and for around nine million euros for the BfV. Building C, built in 1903 as a field vehicle, chamber and depot building for the telegraph battalion No. 1, offers around 3000 square meters of floor space. The H-shaped building G with two three-storey transverse wings and a single-storey central wing was built from 1901 to 1904 and offers 1000 square meters of floor space. Department 6 ( Islamism and Islamist terrorism ) was to move there by 2009 , which, remarkable for an intelligence service, led to public protests by BfV employees.

Observation objects

Definition of politically motivated crime (PMK)

"Politically motivated crime (PMK)" is used to describe and record criminal offenses that meet the criminal offenses of state protection offenses. These include Sections 80 to 83, 84 to 91, 94 to 100a, 102 to 104a, 105 to 108e, 109 to 109h, 129 a, 130, 234a and 241 of the Criminal Code (StGB) . The BfV divides the PMK objects for reconnaissance and observation into the following fields in the 2018 report on the protection of the constitution:

Examples of politically motivated crime (PMK)

Examples of groups of people from which individual members have been or are being questioned or observed by the BfV and affiliated organizations are:

Activity and methodology

The intelligence service primarily serves to inform the federal and state governments as well as the public, who must draw political conclusions from the findings.

The prerequisite for an observation by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution is the existence of factual indications , that is, “a sufficiently weighty suspicion of anti-constitutional efforts” (BVerwGE 114, 258 [268]). This finding can be judicially controlled by the observed. In order to establish the basis for an observation in court, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution must be able to conduct an examination. For this purpose, only the evaluation of publicly accessible sources comes into consideration, which is not yet relevant to fundamental rights in the case of public communication content. At this stage, the BfV speaks of a " test case ".

If the examination reveals a suspicion of anti-constitutional activities, the Federal Office initiates a " suspected case ". The BfV is now allowed to collect personal data and clarify it using individual intelligence services. This includes in particular the use of observers who attend specific events. In this case, covert employees or communication monitoring is not permitted unless further requirements are met.

Together with the state authorities for the protection of the constitution, the BfV uses a computer system called NADIS to store personal data.

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution makes use of various options to collect information:

Public sources

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution obtains most of its information from public sources such as newspapers , television , the Internet , leaflets and the like. In addition, employees of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution visit public information events of observed organizations.

Main article: Open Source Intelligence

Intelligence means

According to § 8 BVerfSchG, the BfV may use so-called intelligence services . Thus, for example, by the BFV information from V-people ( sources ) won, which move in extremist or terrorist groups. These were z. B. are also active in the NPD, which ultimately led to the failure of the first NPD ban proceedings because they could not be named as witnesses in the ban proceedings for reasons of source protection .

The BfV is also allowed to conduct observations , make secret video and audio recordings and use camouflage signs and camouflage papers .

The BfV is also authorized to monitor letters and telecommunications (recording of telephone calls, internet and other data transmissions, cell phone calls). In carrying out these actions, however, it is bound by the law on the restriction of the secrecy of letters, mail and telecommunications . The monitoring of so-called bundled telecommunications (e.g. via satellite or in Internet nodes ) is reserved for the Federal Intelligence Service in accordance with Section 5 G 10 .

Online searches

The authority does not provide the public with any information on the practice of online searches . It is controversial whether online searches by authorities are generally permitted. Publications by the Chaos Computer Club in October 2011 reported deficiencies in the software used by the police and the intelligence service to monitor source telecommunications and triggered the so-called state Trojan affair .

tax rate

Informants (informants) of the secret service authorities in Germany only have to pay a reduced tax rate of 10 percent on their income.

Cooperation with other secret services

The Federal Office works together with domestic and foreign secret services. In at least one case, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution turned to US authorities for assistance in order to expose a US spy. It was a spy for the US intelligence agency NSA, who spied on the NSA investigation committee .

Legal basis and control

The central legal basis for the BfV's activities is the Act on Cooperation between the Federation and the Länder in matters relating to the protection of the constitution and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesverfassungsschutzgesetz, BVerfSchG) from 1950 in its currently valid version.

Control or accountability

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution - like the BND and the MAD - is monitored within the framework of parliamentary control by the parliamentary control body of the Bundestag in cooperation with the trust committee pursuant to Section 10a (2) BHO . The latter is responsible for approving the secret business plans of the intelligence services.

For accountability and general information on political extremism , counter-espionage and security , the Federal Minister of the Interior publishes an annual report for the protection of the constitution , which is available free of charge and can also be downloaded from the website.

The Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI) subjects the BfV to a continuous review based on the data protection provisions in the BVerfSchG and special legal regulations that affect the BfV. Inquiries from persons directed to the BfV about their stored data are issued on the basis of the provisions of Section 15 BVerfSchG, provided there are no grounds for refusal.

Observer independent from the state

In the 1980s in particular, there were groups nationwide, such as the “Citizens Watching the Police” initiative, which critically monitored the activities of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. In the Humanist Union and in many (left) liberal and left organizations, the protection of the constitution has long been one of the central issues when it comes to questions about an open and democratic society. This also includes the “Committee for Fundamental Rights and Democracy” and other human rights organizations . Since then, the magazine Bürgerrechte & Polizei / CILIP has been reporting regularly on problems related to the protection of the constitution.

A scandal broke out in 1991 when, in the Berlin autonomous community, the constitutional protection report was presented and discussed in plenaries and in the autonomous weekly “ interim ” even before it was officially published . So-called “attempted responses” by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution were made public. The discussions about “militancy” were also held against the background of the constitutional protection activities, whose actions, such as the provision of a bomb for the group “ Tupamaros West Berlin ” for a (failed) attack on the Jewish parish hall in Berlin in 1968, also gave rise to it for the general rejection of political violence. In the " Celler Loch " case, it was established that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution was both the client and the mastermind, as well as the explosives supplier for the blasting of a hole in the outer wall of the Celle prison in Lower Saxony , in order to smuggle a spy into a group of inmates that had not been adequately monitored until then .

organization

Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Cologne
The new building on the barracks site at Am Treptower Park in Berlin

The management level of the BfV consists of the office management, the “ Chief Technology Officer ” and the presidential area. The authority is divided into twelve departments and the Academy for the Protection of the Constitution:

The office management consists of the President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (since November 15, 2018 Thomas Haldenwang ) and the two Vice-Presidents (since January 21, 2019 Michael Niemeier and Sinan Selen ).

staff

President

Known employees

  • Thomas Bönders, President of the Federal University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration from 2006 to October 31, 2019 , before that various positions in the BfV and the Federal Administration Office
  • Rita Breuer , Head of Division 6 (Islamism and Islamist Terrorism) of the BfV, author of brochures for the BMI
  • Dinchen Franziska Büddesfeld, was the head of department in the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and was responsible for the G20
  • Bernadette Droste, 1990–1995 in the BfV as a consultant in the right-wing extremism department, data protection officer in the BfV and head of the President's department
  • Alexander Eisvogel , Head of Department 6 of the BfV from 2004 to 2006, President of the LfV Hessen from 2006 to 2010, Vice President of the BfV from May 2010 to July 2013
  • Klaus-Dieter Fritsche , Vice President of the BfV from 1996 to 2005
  • Heinz Fromm , President of the LfV Hessen from 1991 to 1993, President of the BfV from 2000 to 2012
  • Rudolf van Hüllen , research associate in Department 2 (German left / right-wing extremism and terrorism) at the BfV
  • Thilo Korte, head of the international contacts department
  • Dirk Menden, Director at the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
  • Werner Pätsch , employee until 1963, who uncovered the violation of postal and telecommunications secrecy by German, American and British secret services and the employment of former Nazis
  • Armin Pfahl-Traughber , author of numerous magazines, since 1994 with the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Dept. of Right-Wing Extremism, initially as a speaker, later promoted to head of department, today professor at the Federal University of Public Administration, intelligence services department, constitutional protection department
  • Tânia Puschnerat , author of the yearbook Extremism & Democracy , Head of Section 6 Islamism / Islamist Terrorism at the BfV, Associate Professor at the Ruhr University in Bochum
  • Ralf Frauenrath, Head of the Academy for the Protection of the Constitution
  • Joachim Seeger, head of right-wing extremism department, previously left-wing extremism
  • Thomas Sippel , lawyer, until 2012 President of the Thuringian Office for the Protection of the Constitution as successor to Helmut Roewer , 1987–2000 BfV

Well-known informants

Recruitment and training

The BfV employs civil servants and employees in the public service . As in the rest of the federal service, the careers for civil servants are divided into simple , middle , upper and higher service .

The BfV publishes job offers on its homepage, places advertisements and is present at job fairs. It offers direct entry for different qualification levels as well as career training in the middle and upper service. Legal clerkship and internship positions are not offered for security reasons. In contrast to the BND, the BfV does not conduct any career training for civil servants in the technical service. However, there is a grant for bachelor's degrees in computer science . In addition, the BfV sends candidates to the administrative informatics course, which is carried out by the Federal University for Public Administration (HS Bund).

Like all federal intelligence services, the BfV pays a monthly security allowance of EUR 120.80 for civil servants in grades A 2 to A 5, EUR 161.06 for civil servants in grades A 6 to A 9 and EUR 201.32 for civil servants of grades A 10 and higher.

According to § 10 SÜG , an extended security check with security investigations (Ü3) must be carried out for employees of the BfV before starting their work .

Middle service training

The career training (preparatory service) for the middle service in the BfV takes two years. It is based on the “Ordinance on the preparatory service for the middle service in the Federal Intelligence Service and the middle service in the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution” ( MDBNDVerfSchVDV ). The training conveys the theoretical knowledge and methods as well as the practical professional knowledge and skills that are required for the fulfillment of the tasks in the middle service in the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. In addition, the training should enable the candidates to act responsibly in a liberal, democratic and social constitutional state . This also includes the ability to recognize and classify potential dangers for the security of the Federal Republic of Germany in a national and international context.

The prerequisite for career training is a secondary school diploma or a secondary school diploma with completed vocational training and German citizenship . In addition, a selection process must be completed, which consists of a written and an oral part.

The training consists of a basic, advanced and final course at the Center for Intelligence Training and Advanced Training (ZNAF) in Berlin (a total of ten months) as well as courses at the Academy for the Protection of the Constitution (AfV) in Heimerzheim (a total of three months) and internships in the BfV (11 months in total). The subject areas of the theoretical training are operational procurement and observation , operational information analysis , state and constitutional law , criminal law , laws on the intelligence services and other laws relating to intelligence services, international politics and forms of political extremism , security fields relating to intelligence services, in particular self-security, security and security Counter-espionage , intelligence psychology, foreign language training as well as household, cash and accounting. An intermediate examination must be taken after the basic course. At the end of the training there is the career test , which consists of five 180-minute exams and an oral final exam.

During their training, trainees are civil servants on revocation and use the title “Government Secretary Candidate ”. After successful completion, the appointment as a probationary civil servant takes place as government secretary and the assignment as an office clerk . Possible areas of application are operational information analysis, operational information procurement (e.g. in observation), administration and cross-sectional areas of the intelligence service.

Presumably from March 1, 2020, subject to the entry into force of the Salary Structure Modernization Act, candidates for government secretaries will receive a gross basic salary of EUR 1258.99 plus EUR 126.90 increase amount for candidates (corresponds to a news service allowance for candidates).

Higher service training

The career training (preparatory service) for the senior service in the BfV lasts three years. It is based on the "Ordinance on the preparatory service for the senior service in the Federal Intelligence Service and the senior service in the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution" ( GDBNDVerfSchVDV ). The preparatory service is carried out in the form of a diploma course "Higher non-technical service in the federal intelligence services" in the field of protection of the constitution at the HS Bund. There is an intelligence services department there. In a close connection between science and practice, the course conveys the scientific methods and knowledge as well as the practical professional skills and knowledge that are required for the fulfillment of tasks in the higher service in the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. In addition, it lays the foundation for a cross-agency knowledge and method base. The course is intended to promote cooperation between the intelligence services and contribute to the standardization of intelligence work. Furthermore, the course should enable students to act responsibly in a liberal, democratic and social constitutional state. This also includes the ability to recognize and classify potential dangers for the security of the Federal Republic of Germany in a national and international context.

Condition for the running web formation is a high school or University student with an average score of at least 2.5 and the German nationality . In addition, a selection process must be completed, which consists of a written and an oral part.

The course consists of six months of basic studies at the HS Bund in Brühl , a total of twelve months of main studies I and II at the ZNAF in Berlin, nine weeks of courses at the AfV and a total of 11 months of internships at the BfV and a three-month internship at an LfV . In the basic course, the legal, constitutional, political, business, economic, financial and social science fundamentals of administrative action are taught, as well as organization and information processing. Topics of the main course are operational procurement and observation, intelligence service information analysis, state, administrative, criminal, international and European law, international politics and the history of political ideas as well as forms of political extremism, internal security, security and counter-espionage, intelligence psychology, foreign language training and intelligence service relevant topics from business and technology.

The basic course ends with an intermediate examination. A diploma thesis must be completed during the preparatory service . Individual final / seminar papers by junior officers of the protection of the constitution are published in the series of articles on internal security of the HS Bund or on the BfV homepage. At the end of the training there is the career test , which consists of six exams of 240 minutes each and an oral final examination.

The students are civil servants on revocation during their preparatory service and use the title " Government Inspector Candidate ". After successful completion, the appointment as a civil servant on probation as a government inspector and assignment as a clerk takes place . Possible areas of application are operational information analysis, operational information procurement, administration and cross-sectional areas of the intelligence service.

Probably from March 1, 2020, subject to the entry into force of the Salary Structure Modernization Act, prospective government inspectors will receive EUR 1,511.86 gross plus a EUR 151.19 increase in amount.

Higher service

Above all, the BfV offers fully qualified lawyers entry into the higher non-technical administrative service as junior executives with direct employment as a civil servant and appointment to the government council ( BBesO A 13). Various departments are passed through as part of a trainee program. In the higher non-technical administrative service and as a comparable grouped collective bargaining employee with the basic possibility of later civil service there is still a regular need for foreign languages ​​(especially Arabic , Turkish , Persian , Chinese , Russian , Hindi ), graduates of MINT courses as well as for political , history , Islamists and business scientists as well as sociologists .

Personnel development

Personnel development until 1999

Personnel development since 2000

budget

The grant from the federal budget (actual value) amounted to 399,114,450 euros in 2019 after 345,879,829 euros in 2018 and 306,918,024 euros in 2017.

Dropout programs

For right-wing extremists and left-wing extremists who wish to drop out, there is a drop-out program in which experts from the BfV advise and support those who wish to drop out.

Cases of known surveillance

Wiretapping affair 1963

In 1963, Werner Pätsch, an employee of the secret service, uncovered the violation of postal and telecommunications secrecy by the secret service in cooperation with American and British secret services, as well as the employment of former National Socialists. There was a legal dispute over the disclosure of state secrets, as a result of which the disclosure of illegal activities was legally strengthened.

Eavesdropping grape

In 1976, a " bugging attack " began for several months on the former atomic manager Klaus Traube , suspected of RAF terrorism , who became known in public as the " Traube bugging affair ". The suspicion of terrorism turned out to be false, and the Interior Minister responsible at the time, Werner Maihofer, had to resign.

The Tatjana Wolfhart case

In 1992 the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution was jointly responsible for the dismissal of Tatjana Wolfhart. Wolfhart's employer dismissed the press assistant from the Lurgi plant construction group, classified by the BfV as a “security risk”, due to her contacts with two former RAF terrorists who had been released from prison. Tatjana Wolfhart herself hadn't done anything wrong. It was sufficient for the BfV that Tatjana Wolfhart had contact with these people in order to blacken them at her employer .

Passing on private information to political opponents

The former President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Eckart Werthebach , passed on private information about Thilo Weichert , a data protection specialist, to the FDP MP Rosemarie Fuchs when he applied for the office of the Brandenburg data protection officer. His candidacy then failed.

NPD ban proceedings

The BfV also made a name for itself as part of the ban proceedings against the NPD. One of the main reasons why the prohibition procedure failed is that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, in agreement with the responsible Interior Minister Otto Schily, refused to disclose which party activities were carried out by the party itself and which were carried out by the protection of the Constitution or by confidants of the Protection of the Constitution smuggled into the party apparatus as functionaries were initiated. Since the Federal Constitutional Court could not judge which actions were originally attributable to the party and for which activities the constitution protection was indirectly responsible, it rejected the application to ban the NPD.

The agency report from the dpa that around every seventh function holder in the NPD management level is financed by the Cologne Federal Office was not contradicted.

Boy freedom judgment

Junge Freiheit judgment : In May 2005, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled in the legal dispute between the weekly newspaper Junge Freiheit and the State of North Rhine-Westphalia that the mention of the specific press organ as a right-wing extremist publication in a decided individual case in the Constitutional Protection Report of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia is an inadmissible restriction of the Represent freedom of the press.

Judgment on the observation of the party "The Republicans"

In April 2006, the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court ruled that the party “ The Republicans ” was wrongly included in the Berlin Constitutional Protection Report after the Berlin Senator for the Interior issued instructions in December 1992 to have the Republicans monitored.

Judgment on the observation of civil rights activist Rolf Gössner

Due to a "contact guilt", the lawyer and publicist Rolf Gössner was monitored by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution for 38 years. Shortly before the first oral hearing of a lawsuit to establish the illegality before the Administrative Court in Cologne, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution surprisingly announced that the observation had been discontinued “after the current examination”. The lawsuit was intended to oblige the domestic secret service to block all data collected about it and to delete it after inspection.

On February 3, 2011, the Cologne Administrative Court ruled that the ongoing observation had been illegal from the start.

Shredder affair

Shortly after the murders, bomb attacks and bank robberies of the right-wing extremist terrorist group National Socialist Underground became known, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution destroyed potentially relevant files on the perpetrators' environment, whereupon President Heinz Fromm resigned. Before the Bundestag committee of inquiry into the NSU , Fromm testified that the incident had "led to a serious deterioration in the reputation of the BfV", "the consequences of which for the functioning of the office cannot be foreseen". He was "duped" by his own employees and did not rule out the possibility that a section head wanted to cover up something.

A total of seven operational files are said to have been destroyed in two steps with an interval of two days. Most of the seven files on Operation Rennsteig were shredded on November 11, 2011. A small part, according to Sebastian Edathy, only two days later, after the authorities had initially ordered a stop.

The chairman of the Turkish community Kenan Kolat said:

“The Office for the Protection of the Constitution has a life of its own, [...] Here people are tricked, deceived and covered up. [...] Whoever shreds files wants to hide something "

After the investigative errors, Federal Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich announced a fundamental restructuring of the protection of the constitution in early July 2012. He did not rule out a reduction in the previous 16 state offices for the protection of the constitution and spoke of a possible expansion of the powers of the federal prosecutor .

The families of the murder victims filed criminal charges against the Office for the Protection of the Constitution with the charge of thwarting punishment in office .

"The ARD magazine Report Mainz identified 50 informants from the neo-Nazi scene and analyzed their work [...]: Almost every fourth person was involved in criminal offenses while working for the security authorities."

There is a temporal overlap with two vehicle rentals in Zwickau by the undercover agent with the code name " Primus " and two NSU murders in Nuremberg and Munich. In a survey by officials from the Federal Criminal Police Office, the undercover agent stated that he did not know anything about it.

The first Thuringian NSU investigative committee accuses the constitutional protection offices of "indirect support" and "favoritism" of right-wing extremist structures.

The official who had the NSU files shredded (code name "Lothar Lingen") was one of the members of the special commission to clarify the "NSU issue", officially he initiated this as head of the line work of Department 2 of the BfV and not as a member of the commission .

Since 2005 the BfV had a data DVD with the NSU abbreviation. However, the Federal Office had always asserted that it had never had any substantial information about the terror trio.

The left

Of the 53 members of the parliamentary group of the party Die Linke , 27 were observed by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution during the 16th legislative period. In response to a complaint from MP Bodo Ramelow , the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe ruled on September 17, 2013 that the surveillance of Ramelow violated the Basic Law and should be discontinued, since the surveillance was only linked to his party membership and he himself was not suspicious of "efforts against the to pursue a free democratic basic order ”.

Well-known critics

Wolfgang Neuss

In an allusion to the history of the creation of the German protection of the constitution through the recruitment of former officials from the staff of Nazi prosecution authorities such as the Gestapo or the Reich Security Main Office subordinate to the SS , the actor and cabaret artist Wolfgang Neuss stated in an open letter published by the weekly newspaper Die Zeit to the person designated at the time SPD Chancellor candidate Willy Brandt in February 1966: "You have to protect the Basic Law from your fathers and the constitution from their protectors."

Dietrich Murswiek

An important critic of the constitution protection practice is the constitutional lawyer Dietrich Murswiek . In various publications he dealt with the problem of the encroachment on fundamental rights by constitutional protection officers. Most recently, in December 2006, at a conference on “Islam and the Protection of the Constitution”, he spoke on this subject and criticized the practice of the protection of the Constitution reports again. Murswiek's criticism is primarily directed against the "suspicious transaction reports":

“Most reports on the protection of the constitution report not only about proven enemies of the constitution, but also about those organizations that the constitution protection authority only suspects of pursuing anti-constitutional efforts. This practice is illegal. It finds no basis in the constitutional protection laws and also violates the Basic Law. "

According to the constitutional protection laws, the prerequisite for reporting in the constitutional protection report is that the organizations that are reported on are organizations that actually pursue extremist endeavors and not those for which there is only actual evidence that they may be pursuing such endeavors could. In fact, the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg forbade reporting suspicions in Berlin. The Administrative Court of Düsseldorf and the Higher Administrative Court of Münster as well as the Federal Constitutional Court declared them admissible. However, if one considers the reports of suspicion to be admissible, it must be ensured, according to Murswiek, that it is possible in the reports to distinguish between cases of proven anti-constitutional and suspicious cases. Although the Federal Constitutional Protection Report has now drawn conclusions from the Junge Freiheit ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court by expressly labeling its categories as “efforts and suspected cases”, the current Constitutional Protection reports do not meet the requirements of the Basic Law in this respect either. There should be no “rule of suspicion” in official reporting in the sense of a “negative sanction”: “The constitutional protection laws and the criteria established by the Federal Constitutional Court for the protection of the constitution do not allow reporting to be based only on suspicion.” Murswiek considers the practice of constitutional protection reports to build up "cascades of suspicion" to be particularly problematic:

“The Office for the Protection of the Constitution fights organizations for which it only has indications that they are pursuing anti-constitutional endeavors, as well as proven enemies of the constitution, and it also uses its sanctioning instruments against those who - because they do not share the suspicion - are marginalized Only organizations suspected of extremism are not involved. Even the first stage - fighting on suspicion - is contrary to the rule of law. The second level, suspecting and combating even those who do not exclude those suspected on the first level, is even worse. Consistently thinking ahead, the second-level suspect must now also be marginalized, and anyone who does not do so is in turn considered an extremist in need of marginalization. This is how cascades of suspicion can be constructed. "

Rolf Gössner

Civil rights activist Rolf Gössner , who himself was monitored for decades, compared the methods of the protection of the constitution with those of the Stasi . These are more similar "than many politicians wanted to admit". He therefore considers the designation as "protection of the constitution" to be falsified and speaks of "secret service".

Gössner doubts the rule of law of the so-called in-camera procedure because of the extensive secrecy powers of the constitutional protection and the associated limited decision-making basis of the criminal courts . He also criticizes the waste of taxpayers' money on illegal surveillance measures.

Alliance 90 / The Greens

In 2001 the green member of the Bundestag, Hans-Christian Ströbele, called for the protection of the constitution to be abolished. In the following year, the Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety , Jürgen Trittin , spoke in favor of such a dissolution .

Lower Saxony's Greens stipulated in their election manifesto in October 2012 that they wanted to abolish the protection of the constitution at state level. This happened after it became known that Jan Wienken, board member of the Green Youth of Lower Saxony was monitored by the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution. As a result, more than 100 members of the Green Youth made inquiries to the protection of the Constitution whether files were also kept about them at the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution. In September 2012, the federal spokesman for the Green Youth , Karl Bär , called for the protection of the constitution to be abolished.

The Greens parliamentary group decided in November 2012 to want to abolish the offices for the protection of the constitution. A major point of criticism is the lack of respect of the constitution protection authorities for the investigative work in the Bundestag or in the state parliaments.

The Greens federal chairwoman Claudia Roth said:

"Office for the protection of the constitution in the federal and state levels have developed into the blind spot of democracy."

In view of the alleged involvement of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in the series of right-wing terrorist murders of the National Socialist Underground , Cem Özdemir , Roth's colleague in the chairmanship of the Greens , said in an interview with the Reutlinger Generalanzeiger , published in the weekend newspaper Sonntag Aktuell in April 2013:

“In the end we need a new security architecture, because with this protection of the constitution the constitution cannot be protected. The officials there are at best overwhelmed; at worst, they themselves have views that make it impossible to effectively combat right-wing radicalism. In principle, we need a new institutional establishment with new staff. "

In 2019, the Greens demanded that the protection of the Constitution be reorganized. The last few years have shown that there are “considerable analytical deficits” in the area of ​​right-wing extremism. The Greens federal chairman Robert Habeck said:

“As the security authorities themselves say in the meantime, there are major deficits in the analysis and consequently in the fight against right-wing networks. (Right-wing networks increasingly formed on the Internet.) From there they spread into the real world, create the breeding ground for criminal offenses and initiate and reinforce them. "

Youth organization of the SPD (Jusos)

The then chairman of the Working Group of Young Socialists in the SPD (Jusos) Sascha Vogt spoke out in 2011 for an abolition of the constitutional protection in the federal and state levels. The Jusos themselves demand on their website: "The state should completely dispense with informants and massively reform the protection of the constitution and its methods."

The left

Many politicians of the party Die Linke criticize the observation of the left faction in the Bundestag by the protection of the Constitution, whose abolition they demand. During the current hour requested by his parliamentary group, which took place on January 26, 2012 in the 155th session of the Bundestag, Gregor Gysi , the head of the parliamentary group at the time, called the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the “domestic secret service”, literally “ballaballa and a [en] Pipe Association ". In this personal statement he referred to the fact that murders organized by right-wing terrorism (NSU) have been carried out in Germany for years and that this Federal Office is not in a position to "make a single contribution to prevent them, or at least [... ] to point out that right-wing terrorism is behind it, "while 27 MPs from the left are watched all the time.

According to media reports, a third of the 76-strong left parliamentary group is to be monitored. The left-wing MP from the Saarland, Thomas Lutze, and the left-wing MP from Hesse, Ulrich Wilken, are calling for the protection of the constitution to be abolished.

In 2012 the parliamentary group of the Left in the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia produced a brochure entitled Out of Control: How the Protection of the Constitution threatens the constitution . It deals with the involvement of the constitutional protectors in the acts of terror of the National Socialist underground.

Defector

Exhibitions

  • " The brown trap - a right-wing extremist career" was a traveling exhibition of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

Documentation

literature

  • Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Ed.): 50 years in the service of internal security . Carl Heymanns, Cologne 2000, ISBN 3-452-24669-8 .
  • Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution: Protection of the Constitution in Democracy. Contributions from science and practice . Carl Heymanns, Cologne 1990.
  • Federal Ministry of the Interior (ed.): Protection of the Constitution and the rule of law. Contributions from science and practice . Carl Heymanns, Cologne 1981.
  • Stefan Aust : Password a hundred flowers . Konkret Literatur Verlag, Hamburg 1980, ISBN 3-922144-04-7 .
  • Hendrik van Bergh: Cologne 4713. History and stories of the Cologne Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution . Naumann, Würzburg 1981, ISBN 3-88567-010-0 .
  • Jochen Bölsche : The way to the surveillance state . Rowohlt-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Reinbek 1979, ISBN 3-499-14534-0 .
  • Dirk Emunds: From the Protection of the Republic to the Protection of the Constitution? The Reich Commissioner for the Supervision of Public Order in the Weimar Republic (= University - Performance - Responsibility. Research reports of the Federal University for Public Administration . Volume 5). Hamburg 2017.
  • Rolf Gössner : Secret informants . Knaur-Taschenbuch, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-426-77684-7 .
  • Christoph Gusy : Intelligence through intelligence and protection of fundamental rights . In: Federal Center for Political Education (Ed.): From Politics and Contemporary History . Supplement to the weekly newspaper Das Parlament . October 26, 2004, ISSN  0479-611X , B 44/2004 ( bpb.de ).
  • Lars Oliver Michaelis: Political parties under the surveillance of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution - The arguable democracy between tolerance and preparedness for defense . Univ.-Diss. Hagen 1999; Series of publications on political party law 26, Nomos, Baden-Baden 2000, ISBN 3-7890-6695-8 .
  • Dietrich Murswiek: The constitution protection report - the sharp sword of militant democracy. On the problem of suspicion reporting . In: Neue Zeitschrift für Verwaltungsrecht (NVwZ), 2004, pp. 769–778.
  • Dietrich Murswiek: Expressions of opinion as evidence of an anti-constitutional objective. On the legal requirements and practice of the constitution protection reports . In: Stefan Brink, Heinrich Amadeus Wolff (Ed.): Common good and responsibility. Festschrift for Hans Herbert von Arnim on his 65th birthday . Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2004, pp. 481-503.
  • Dietrich Murswiek: New standards for the protection of the constitution report - consequences of the JF decision of the BVerfG . In: Neue Zeitschrift für Verwaltungsrecht (NVwZ) 2/2006, pp. 121–128.
  • Hans Joachim Schwagerl : Protection of the Constitution in the Federal Republic of Germany . CF Müller Juristischer Verlag, Heidelberg 1985.
  • Hans Joachim Schwagerl, Rolf Walther: The protection of the constitution. A manual for theory and practice . Heymann, Cologne / Berlin / Bonn / Munich 1968.
  • Jürgen Seifert : Freedom of Association and Statutory Declarations of Disrepute . In: Joachim Perels (ed.): Basic rights as a foundation of democracy . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt a. M. 1979, ISBN 3-518-10951-0 , p. 157 ff.
  • Constantin Goschler , Michael Wala: “No new Gestapo”. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Nazi past . Rowohlt, Reinbek 2015, ISBN 978-3-498-02438-3 .

Web links

Commons : Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b President Thomas Haldenwang. In: https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/ . Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, November 15, 2018, accessed on January 21, 2019 .
  2. a b Vice President Michael Niemeier. In: https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/ . Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, January 21, 2019, accessed on January 21, 2019 .
  3. a b Vice President Sinan Selen. In: https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/ . Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, January 21, 2019, accessed on January 21, 2019 .
  4. Constitutional Protection Report 2019. (PDF) In: https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/ . Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, July 9, 2020, accessed on July 9, 2020 .
  5. Bundeshaushalt.de: www.Bundeshaushalt.de. Retrieved June 26, 2020 .
  6. ^ Heribert Hall, Werner Baecker: Cologne: his buildings 1928–1988 . Bachem-Verlag , Cologne 1991, ISBN 978-3-7616-1074-9 , p. 246 .
  7. ^ William L. Parkinson: Conflicting DAD Operations . Memorandum for Major Daniels. 66th Counter Intelligence Corps Detachment, Stuttgart 1950 (American English, foia.cia.gov ( Memento from February 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) [PDF; 100 kB ; accessed on October 28, 2011]). Conflicting DAD Operations ( Memento from February 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  8. Constantin Goschler, Michael Wala: The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Nazi Past 1950-1975 . Ruhr University Bochum, January 29, 2015.
  9. ^ Wala, Michael: "No new Gestapo" the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Nazi past . 1st edition. Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-498-02438-3 .
  10. ^ Humanist Union: Publications: processes: Online article: Online article detail. Retrieved July 16, 2020 .
  11. ^ A b Peter Carstens: Coming to terms with the past in the protection of the constitution. Brown cellar ghosts. In: FAZ.NET. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, March 19, 2009, accessed April 5, 2011 .
  12. Helmut R. Hammerich : "Always on the enemy!" - The Military Counter-Intelligence Service (MAD) 1956–1990 . 1st edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht , Göttingen 2019, ISBN 978-3-525-36392-8 , pp. 83 .
  13. Josef Foschepoth : Monitored Germany. Post and telephone surveillance in the old Federal Republic . 4th, through Edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht , Göttingen 2013, ISBN 978-3-525-30041-1 , p. 136 .
  14. Constantin Goschler, Michael Wala: “No new Gestapo”. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Nazi past. Rowohlt, Reinbek 2015, pp. 353–366.
  15. Research project on the organizational history of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution 1950–1975, with special consideration of the Nazi references of former employees in the founding phase. (No longer available online.) Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, March 19, 2009, archived from the original on March 10, 2013 ; Retrieved July 8, 2011 .
  16. ^ Research project "Organizational History of the BfV 1950–1975" , interim results October 2013, accessed on July 8, 2014.
  17. ^ Editorial staff Spiegel: Hans-Georg Maaßen has been put into temporary retirement. November 8, 2018, accessed September 18, 2019 .
  18. Florian Flade: The new man is an alternative to Maaßen. Axel Springer SE, November 12, 2018, accessed on September 18, 2019 .
  19. a b c d e f Constitutional Protection Report 2018. (PDF) In: https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/ . Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, June 27, 2019, accessed on August 12, 2019 .
  20. a b c d Klaus Ferdinand Gärditz : The alternative for Germany and the protection of the constitution . In: Verfassungsblog , January 17, 2019
  21. Networks: Report: The Protection of the Constitution wants to eavesdrop on Internet nodes . Heise-Online, April 12, 2008.
  22. ↑ Counter- espionage, defense against proliferation, secret and sabotage protection, economic protection, evaluation of "electronic attacks". Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, May 19, 2003, accessed on December 3, 2011 .
  23. Publications of the constitution protection authorities → Counter-espionage and secret protection. (No longer available online.) Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, May 18, 2003, archived from the original on November 17, 2011 ; Retrieved December 3, 2011 .
  24. Randalf Neubert: Networks of Information: Economy and the State as "Security Partners "? In: CILIP 99 , 2011, "Bürgerrechte und Polizei" by the Institute for Civil Rights & Public Security e. V. 1996-2012. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
  25. 70 years of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution 1950-2020. (PDF) Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, March 2020, accessed on June 18, 2020 (p. 32).
  26. The Defector. A life confession. Das Neue Berlin , Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-360-00863-4
  27. Administration building for the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution: New construction of an administration building and design of the outdoor facilities. In: Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning . Retrieved April 27, 2020 .
  28. ^ Building C: Fitting of building C in Berlin-Treptow for the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. In: Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning . Retrieved April 27, 2020 .
  29. ^ Building G: preparation of building G in Berlin-Treptow for the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. In: Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning . Retrieved April 27, 2020 .
  30. Agents sway against moving. Spiegel Online, accessed December 6, 2011 .
  31. ^ TV report “Local time from Cologne” from December 1, 2006. Westdeutscher Rundfunk / Youtube, accessed on December 6, 2011 .
  32. See the answer of the parliamentary state secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Interior to a request from the parliamentary group of the Greens in the Bundestag, Ministry of the Interior: The protection of the constitution, the MAD and the BND can conduct online searches ; Heise news ticker from March 24, 2007.
  33. Spiegel Online from September 10, 2012: NSU Committee of Inquiry: The 1.5 million question .
  34. Spiegel Online from July 5, 2014: Alleged double spy: the protection of the Constitution wanted to expose agents at the BND with US help .
  35. The organization of the office is no secret. In: https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/ . Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, January 2019, accessed on January 21, 2019 .
  36. ^ President - The management of the university. In: https://www.hsbund.de/ . HS Bund, accessed on January 1, 2019 .
  37. Andreas Dey and Christoph Heinemann: Did the federal government have reservations about the G20 in Hamburg? In: https://www.abendblatt.de/ . Hamburger Abendblatt, January 24, 2018, accessed on January 17, 2019 .
  38. ^ Bernadette Droste: Handbook of the constitution protection law . Boorberg, Stuttgart a. a. 2007, ISBN 978-3-415-03773-1 , pp. 821 , the author .
  39. ^ Josef Hufelschulte: What is Maaßen planning now? In: https://www.focus.de/ . October 21, 2018, accessed January 17, 2019 .
  40. ^ Junge DGAP: Unter Drei with Dirk Menden - Intelligence Service Cooperation in Security Policy. In: https://dgap.org/de . German Society for Foreign Policy, October 19, 2017, accessed on January 17, 2019 .
  41. Prof. Dr. Armin Pfahl-Traughber. In: https://www.hsbund.de/ . HS Bund, September 9, 2008, accessed on January 1, 2019 .
  42. Bonner General-Anzeiger: "Protection of the Constitution trains intelligence officers". In: https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/ . BfV, April 3, 2014, accessed on January 17, 2019 .
  43. Interior Minister Friedrich relocates senior secret service employees. In: http://www.spiegel.de/ . July 15, 2012, accessed January 17, 2019 .
  44. Ronen Steinke: Going it alone out of impatience. In: https://www.sueddeutsche.de/ . September 5, 2018, accessed January 17, 2019 .
  45. ^ Secret services: A passionate spy: The unstoppable career of the multiple agent Peter Weinmann] . In: Der Spiegel . No. 7 , 1994 ( online ).
  46. ^ The military sports group Hoffmann. (No longer available online.) November 2, 2003, archived from the original on January 1, 2011 ; Retrieved January 1, 2011 .
  47. Degree programs. In: https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/ . Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, accessed on August 18, 2019 .
  48. Appendix I to the Civil Service Salaries Act, there II 8 i. V. m. Annex IX, see also job advertisement for the head of the IT department at the BfV (PDF).
  49. Training with the domestic intelligence service. (PDF) In: https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/ . Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, June 2019, accessed on August 18, 2019 .
  50. ^ Website of the BfV: Academy for the Protection of the Constitution. Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, accessed on August 18, 2019 .
  51. Diploma theses. In: https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/ . Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, accessed on August 18, 2019 .
  52. Training with the domestic intelligence service. (PDF) In: https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/ . Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, June 2019, accessed on August 18, 2019 .
  53. a b Bernadette Droste: Manual of the constitutional protection law . Boorberg, Stuttgart a. a. 2007, ISBN 978-3-415-03773-1 , pp. 735 f . (Appendix 11: Development of the workforce of the federal and state authorities for the protection of the constitution. The years 1990-2005 are given for the MAD).
  54. Constitutional Protection Reports 2006–2018
  55. VSB2019. (PDF) In: verfassungsschutz.de. Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, July 9, 2020, accessed on July 9, 2020 .
  56. Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution: Report on the Protection of the Constitution 2018 . Ed .: Federal Ministry of the Interior, for Building and Home. 2019, ISSN  0177-0357 , p. 20th f .
  57. a b Secret Services: Blue Wonder . In: Der Spiegel . No. 15 , 1992 ( online ).
  58. ^ OVG , Az. 3 B 3.99, VG 26 A 623.97 Berlin
  59. ↑ The Office for the Protection of the Constitution stops monitoring civil rights activists. In: heise online. November 18, 2008, accessed November 18, 2008 .
  60. a b Big Brother confused friend and foe. In: Spiegel Online . April 5, 2011, accessed April 5, 2011 .
  61. Justice gives lawyer Dr. Rolf Gössner Law. In: ngo-online. February 3, 2011, accessed February 4, 2011 .
  62. taz.de
  63. Fromm: My employees deceived me . Faz.net , July 5, 2012
  64. ^ Shredder scandal at the Office for the Protection of the Constitution: Code name Lothar Lingen . Spiegel Online , July 5, 2012. The so-called Lingen promptly claimed: The files had been destroyed because it was noticed that their deletion deadlines had been exceeded. In October 2014, Lingen claimed to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, meanwhile (2016) praised by another federal authority ( Federal Office of Administration ), that it was “completely clear” to him at the time that when the NSU was blown up, the question arises “for what reason the constitutional protection authorities were over the terrorist activities of the three (sc. the two men and Zschäpe ) were actually not informed ”, despite the“ sources in Thuringia led by the BfV with eight, nine or ten cases ”. This is what it says in the interrogation protocol that the taz has received. With the destruction he hoped, according to Lingen, "that the question of why the BfV did not know anything might not arise at all". In 2016, the family of the murdered Kubaşık filed a criminal complaint against the so-called "Lingen" for thwarting punishment . Everything according to taz , October 5, 2016
  65. ^ The protection of the constitution is said to have destroyed NSU files in two batches. In: Spiegel Online , July 12, 2012.
  66. Failure: How the Office for the Protection of the Constitution worked against the police . ( Memento from July 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) ARD magazine “Monitor”, July 12, 2012 and further destruction of files in the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution . ( Memento from July 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) ARD magazine “Monitor”, press release from July 12, 2012:
  67. Committee wants special session on shredding files. In: Die Welt , July 12, 2012.
  68. ^ Neo-Nazi terror affair of the NSU: Turkish community calls for the end of the protection of the constitution . Focus Online, July 4, 2012
  69. ^ Extremism - crime: Friedrich announces restructuring of the protection of the constitution. In: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung , July 8, 2012.
  70. ↑ Destruction of files at the Office for the Protection of the Constitution: families of NSU victims report. In: Spiegel Online , July 6, 2012.
  71. Every fourth undercover agent involved in criminal offenses. ( Memento from April 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Tagesschau.de, April 2, 2013
  72. Investigations in the NSU series of murders: On the trail of rental cars. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , March 30, 2013.
  73. ^ Search for Nazi trio: NSU victims are suing the state of Thuringia. In: Spiegel Online , August 20, 2014.
  74. ^ NSU affair: special investigator at the shredder. In: Spiegel Online , August 2, 2014.
  75. NSU material: Special investigator should clear up DVD breakdown at the constitution protection. In: Spiegel Online , October 1, 2014.
  76. Principles on the decision of the Second Senate of September 17, 2013 - 2 BvR 2436/10 - - 2 BvE 6/08 -. September 17, 2013, accessed September 30, 2014 .
  77. Wolfgang Neuss : The total Neuss . Hamburg 1997, p. 467
  78. Dear Comrade Brandt . In: Die Zeit , No. 9/1966
  79. Dietrich Murswiek: State warnings, evaluations, criticism as encroachments on fundamental rights - on economic and opinion control through state information action . In: Deutsches Verwaltungsblatt , 1997, pp. 1021-1030. Dietrich Murswiek: The constitution protection report - the sharp sword of militant democracy. On the problem of suspicion reporting . In: Neue Zeitschrift für Verwaltungsrecht (NVwZ) 2004, pp. 769–778. Dietrich Murswiek: Expressions of opinion as evidence of an anti-constitutional objective. On the legal requirements and practice of the constitution protection reports . In: Stefan Brink, Heinrich Amadeus Wolff (Ed.): Common good and responsibility. Festschrift for Hans Herbert von Arnim on his 65th birthday . Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2004, pp. 481-503. Dietrich Murswiek: New standards for the protection of the constitution report - consequences of the JF decision of the BVerfG . In: Neue Zeitschrift für Verwaltungsrecht (NVwZ), 2/2006, pp. 121–128.
  80. Dietrich Murswiek: The constitution protection report - functions and legal requirements ; Abridged version of a lecture given at the conference “Islam and the Protection of the Constitution” on December 7, 2006 at the Westphalian Wilhelms University of Münster , jura.uni-freiburg.de . The text was published in: Janbernd Oebbecke, Bodo Pieroth, Emanuel Towfigh (eds.): Islam und Verfassungsschutz . In: Islam and Law 6, Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main a. a. 2007.
  81. Murswiek: Der Verfassungsschutzbericht , p. 3.
  82. Evidence in Murswiek: Der Verfassungsschutzbericht , p. 4 ff.
  83. Murswiek: Der Verfassungsschutzbericht , p. 14.
  84. Dietrich Murswiek: Protection of the Constitution - Cooperation as a civic obligation? Preprint (PDF). The text will appear in: Gedächtnisschrift für Dieter Blumenwitz . Duncker and Humblot, Berlin 2007.
  85. ^ Murswiek: Protection of the Constitution - cooperation ; P. 18.
  86. Permanent surveillance of a civil rights activist. In: Ossietzky No. 22 October 30, 2010, accessed April 5, 2011 .
  87. Ströbele wants to continue to abolish the protection of the constitution . In: Die Welt , October 18, 2001
  88. ^ Party conference of the Greens in Stade: Trittin calls for the protection of the constitution to be dissolved . Hannoversche Allgemeine, October 13, 2012
  89. Greens want to abolish the protection of the constitution. ( Memento from October 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Norddeutscher Rundfunk from December 15, 2012
  90. ^ Verfassungsschutz demo: 100 requests in protest . Göttinger Tagblatt, October 7, 2012:
  91. Alternative in form and content. (No longer available online.) Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen , September 6, 2012, archived from the original on March 27, 2019 ; accessed on April 16, 2017 .
  92. Greens want to abolish the protection of the constitution . Telepolis , December 4, 2012. Group decision Bündnis 90 die Grünen of November 27, 2012: Dissolution of the protection of the constitution, restructuring of domestic intelligence and promotion of democracy (PDF; 162 kB) ( Archive ( Memento from December 18, 2012 on WebCite ))
  93. ^ Party congress: Greens want to abolish informants completely . Spiegel Online , April 27, 2013
  94. ^ "Blind spot of democracy": The protection of the constitution before fundamental reform - relatives of NSU victims report to the secret service . Welt Online , July 4, 2012
  95. ^ Headline Özdemir wants reform of the protection of the constitution ( memento of April 17, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) in the Reutlinger Generalanzeiger of April 13, 2013; Playback of the entire interview on Cem Özdemir's website (accessed April 15, 2013)
  96. Green leader Habeck calls for a fundamental restructuring of the protection of the constitution . Zeit Online , June 27, 2019
  97. ↑ Series of murders by right-wing terrorists: Jusos want to abolish the protection of the constitution . Welt Online , November 18, 2011; Retrieved October 18, 2016.
  98. http://www.jusos-kreisgg.de/html/36061/welcome/Inneres.html
  99. Gysi, Dr. Gregor (DIE LINKE.): ZP.1) Current hour at the request of the DIE LINKE parliamentary group. Doubtful surveillance of 27 MPs of the DIE LINKE parliamentary group. by the protection of the constitution. German Bundestag, January 26, 2012, accessed March 30, 2015 .
  100. https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Linke-will-Geheimdienste-abschaffen-3740362.html
  101. ^ Ulrich Wilken (left): "Abolish the protection of the constitution". ( Memento from April 3, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Hessischer Rundfunk, December 12, 2012.
  102. Out of Control: How the Protection of the Constitution threatens the Constitution . (PDF; 2.2 MB) Left parliamentary group in the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament:

Coordinates: 51 ° 1 ′ 10 ″  N , 6 ° 53 ′ 29 ″  E