Discussion group intelligence services in Germany

The discussion group for the intelligence services in Germany V. ( GKND ) was founded on July 4th, 2003 in Berlin . The association was entered in the register of associations at the Berlin-Charlottenburg district court in January 2004 and shortly thereafter recognized as a non-profit organization.

The official concern of the association is "to contribute objectively to a constructive and public discussion about the secret intelligence services ". The initiators of the establishment were among others the former top personnel of German secret services. It was founded in agreement with the then head of the Chancellery and former Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD).

Board

Chairman of the Board of Management: Hans-Dieter Herrmann, former director of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND; since December 2011)
Deputy Chairman: Wolfgang Krieger , historian at the Philipps University of Marburg
Deputy Chairman: Colonel a. D. Klaus Schmidt, Head of Department a. D. in the BND
Treasurer: Wolfgang Bockhold, Senior Government Director in the BND a. D.
Managing director and secretary: Bodo Wegmann
5 assessors

Wolbert K. Smidt is the honorary chairman of the GKND . The former First Director in the BND played a key role in establishing the GKND and was chairman of its board for eight years.

Advisory Board

Chairman: temporarily performed by the deputy chairman of the advisory board
Deputy Chairman: Hansjörg Geiger , State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Justice a. D., President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) and the BND a. D.

Members:
- Rudolf von Hoegen , former president D. of the Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD)

The former chairman is Hans-Georg Wieck .

Members

Although it was intended when it was founded, only certain groups of people, such as B.

scientist
Former senior staff of the German intelligence services
Politician
Representatives of the judiciary, the economy, the media and civil society institutions as well as government agencies, some of which are also clients of the German services,

as members, no specific groups of people were listed in the association's statutes. To apply for membership, a written application for membership is required, on which the full board decides by a majority.

activities

The GKND supports scientific and media projects such as B. the five-part documentary Top Secret - The History of Espionage , which was produced by Bavaria Film for ARD and ORF. Members of the GKND have been available to the print, online, radio and television media as discussion and interview partners for many years. They take part in current live broadcasts that deal with topics relating to secret intelligence services, terrorism and security policy, as well as leading background discussions, appearing as speakers and acting as technical advisors.

GKND publishes the non-fiction book series "Demokratie und Wissensdienste" in LIT-Verlag. The three titles published so far are available from bookshops.

The Independent Commission of Historians (UHK) for researching the history of the Federal Intelligence Service is supported by the GKND, among other things, by contemporary witnesses. Other partners of the GKND, with whom it also organizes events on intelligence topics, include the Bund Deutscher Kriminalbeamter (BDK), the German Society for Foreign Policy (DGAP), the International Intelligence History Study Group, the European Security & Technology, the institute for terrorism research, various political foundations, the Clausewitz Society and abroad z. B. the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO, USA).

Web links

Website of the GKND e. V.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Press release on the establishment of the GKND of July 4, 2003 ( Memento of November 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) ()
↑ Otto Köhler: Eichmann, Globke, Adenauer. CIA file finds Why the Chancellor's right hand had to be spared. In: Freitag, the east-west weekly newspaper. June 16, 2006, accessed June 6, 2018 .
^ Hans Georg: Lobbying for secret services. Berlin is preparing the public for increasing espionage and surveillance activities by the German foreign secret service. The Federal Intelligence Service (BND) will in future take over the "central situation processing" for foreign missions of the Bundeswehr, according to the recently adopted Bundeswehr White Paper. In: Neue Rheinische Zeitung. November 7, 2006, accessed June 6, 2018 .
↑ Board of Directors, March 4th, 2020
↑ Honorary Chairman Wolbert Smidt May 31, 2017
↑ Statutes of the association ( Memento of February 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 95 kB)
^ Documentary “Top Secret” in the production archive of Bavaria Film

[presseerklaerung_gruendung-1] Press release on the establishment of the GKND of July 4, 2003 ( Memento of November 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) ()

[2] Otto Köhler: Eichmann, Globke, Adenauer. CIA file finds Why the Chancellor's right hand had to be spared. In: Freitag, the east-west weekly newspaper. June 16, 2006, accessed June 6, 2018 .

[3] Hans Georg: Lobbying for secret services. Berlin is preparing the public for increasing espionage and surveillance activities by the German foreign secret service. The Federal Intelligence Service (BND) will in future take over the "central situation processing" for foreign missions of the Bundeswehr, according to the recently adopted Bundeswehr White Paper. In: Neue Rheinische Zeitung. November 7, 2006, accessed June 6, 2018 .

[4] Board of Directors, March 4th, 2020

[5] Honorary Chairman Wolbert Smidt May 31, 2017

[6] Statutes of the association ( Memento of February 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 95 kB)

[7] Documentary “Top Secret” in the production archive of Bavaria Film