Main Directorate for Reconnaissance

The Main Directorate for Reconnaissance (German: Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung, or HVA) was the foreign intelligence service of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR, "East Germany") and was an integral part of the GDR Ministry of State Security, commonly known as the Stasi. After the Stasi was disbanded in 1990, its mode of operation was revealed to the public and the HVA was subjected to broad interest, as well as intensive research, which falls under the responsibilities of the Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records. The end of the HVA and the discovery of its internal structure, its methods and its employees was an exceptional event, which to date is unique in modern history, after World War II. The HVA is regarded as the most effective foreign intelligence service during the Cold War.

Duties

Focus

The primary mandate of the HVA was foreign reconnaissance (espionage), which included political, military, economic and technological intelligence-gathering. Among its other duties were activities against western intelligence agencies (by means of infiltrating their operations), preparing acts of sabotage, as well as the so-called "Active Measures" (distributing false intelligence) in the "Operational Sector Federal Republic of Germany", including West Berlin.