Headquarters of the Federal Intelligence Service, Intelligence service headquarters in Berlin-Mitte, Germany.
The BND headquarters is a complex of three interconnected buildings on Chausseestraße in Berlin-Mitte, designed under a master plan by Kleihues + Kleihues. The main building, 270 m long, 160 m wide and 30 m high, is Berlin's second-largest building after Tempelhof Airport; its pale grey concrete facades carry long horizontal bands of dark windows between light vertical pillars, and flat roofs hold rectangular glass skylights. A slender cylindrical smokestack with a red and white checkerboard top stands in the central courtyard.
The facility was constructed beginning in the early 2000s and completed in 2019, consolidating operations that had been scattered across Germany for decades. The relocation to Berlin represented a major reorganization of German intelligence functions following reunification.
The BND opened a visitor centre at the corner of Habersaathstraße and Chausseestraße in April 2019, the first such centre run by an intelligence service; since November 2019 it has housed a multimedia exhibition for registered groups. The site's earlier life is recalled by the Lili Marleen song, whose text Hans Leip wrote in 1915 in the guardroom of the Maybug Barracks that stood here.
The complex is accessible via public transportation in central Berlin and is located in an easily navigable area. Visitors should note that access is restricted to designated areas and advance arrangements may be necessary.
The headquarters stands only a short distance from where the Berlin Wall once ran, making the Cold War's division physically tangible to visitors today. This proximity to history marks the shift from divided to unified security operations.
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