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Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung (HVA) | |
Agency overview | |
---|---|
Formed | November 1955 |
Dissolved | 13 January 1990[1] |
Type | Secret police, Intelligence agency |
Headquarters | Lichtenberg, East Berlin, East Germany |
Parent agency | Ministry of State Security |
The Main Directorate for Reconnaissance[2] (German: Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung; German: HVA, German pronunciation: [haːfaʊ̯ˈaː] ) was the foreign intelligence service of the Ministry of State Security (Stasi), the main security agency of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), from 1955 to 1990.
The HVA was an integral part of the Stasi, responsible for operations outside of East Germany such as espionage, active measures, foreign intelligence gathering, and counterintelligence against NATO-aligned countries and their intelligence agencies.
The Stasi was disbanded in January 1990 and the HVA's mode of operation was revealed to the public, including its internal structure, methods, and employees. The HVA became the subject of broad interest and intensive research under the responsibilities of the Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records. The HVA is regarded by some as the most effective foreign intelligence service during the Cold War and the second largest after Soviet Union's intelligence forces. It provided up to 80 percent of all information about NATO countries before the Warsaw Pact, according to the CIA.[3]