Germany Opens Massive Intelligence Complex (Maybe the World’s Largest) in Berlin

BERLIN — In the heart of Berlin, where memories of the Gestapo and the Stasi remain and distrust of secret-service agencies still runs high, Germany has opened what is being called the world’s largest intelligence service headquarters.

Chancellor Angela Merkel was on hand on Friday to inaugurate the massive, $1.23 billion complex, which stands on 26 hectares (about 64 acres), but in keeping with the secret mission of the place, dignitaries and members of the news media were not allowed deep into the building.

The notoriously understated Ms. Merkel said in a briefing room: “I have to say quite honestly: This modest conference room does not even give any idea of what is actually hidden behind the gates. I would say it would impress any foreign intelligence service.”

In extolling the building, whose interior is a state secret, Ms. Merkel was apparently hoping to seal the post-Cold War transition of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service — or BND — and to cast it as a necessary defense in an increasingly complicated and dangerous world.

“The Federal Intelligence Service has successfully accepted the change in its mission since the end of the Cold War,” she said. “Today, it observes events worldwide for the government.”

For most of its six-decade history, the intelligence service was focused on Cold War enemies, especially the East German state. It handles intelligence beyond German borders and is one of two major nonmilitary intelligence services in Germany.

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