"One of the Biggest Spy Scandals in German History": Ex-BND Chief August Hanning Arrested for Espionage

Germany's former intelligence chief has been arrested on suspicion of espionage, in what media are calling one of the biggest spy scandals in the history of the Federal Republic. August Hanning, who led the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) from 1998 to 2005, was detained on Tuesday morning at his home in Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen in Bavaria. His former chief of staff, identified only as Manfred D., was arrested in Steinfurt in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe said Hanning is under investigation for "treasonous espionage, spying out state secrets, attempted treason, and espionage." Manfred D. is suspected of aiding and abetting attempted treason and treasonous espionage. A government spokesman said the federal government would not comment "due to the ongoing investigations."

According to the prosecutors, the two men agreed in the spring of 2010 — five years after Hanning left the BND — that Manfred D. would continuously transmit valuable intelligence from the service to Hanning "in exchange for remuneration." Over the years, Manfred D. allegedly provided Hanning with approximately 2,000 documents, many of them classified and intended exclusively for internal BND use, particularly for executive intelligence briefings prepared for the Chancellery.

Manfred D. worked as Hanning's chief of staff during his presidency and then continued to serve as chief of staff for several subsequent BND presidents from March 2012 until March 2026 — giving him access to confidential information throughout that period.

The prosecutors allege that on one occasion, Hanning used classified intelligence provided by Manfred D. to draft an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service. They did not say which country the foreign agent worked for, adding that "it has yet to be determined if the material reached the intended recipient." German media reported that the foreign service in question was not Russia.

Hanning also allegedly maintained contact with a member of another intelligence service over several years and supplied that person with political information, though Der Spiegel reported that this material was likely not classified as secret.

The investigation emerged from searches of Hanning's home and office in connection with the kidnapping case involving Hamburg businesswoman Christina Block. In that case, Block's children — who lived with their father in Denmark — were taken from their father and brought to Germany by employees of an Israeli security firm. Hanning and a retired Hamburg police officer were suspected of accepting a contract from Block in 2022 to arrange the child abduction. Hanning denied the allegation.

During searches in that case, investigators discovered a storage device containing highly sensitive BND information that Hanning should never have possessed — including material on Iran's nuclear program and the Russian military.

Hanning, now 80, served as BND president from December 1998 to November 2005, then as a state secretary in the Interior Ministry under Wolfgang Schäuble until 2009. He subsequently moved into the private sector, working as a security consultant. He had long faced suspicions of being a source for Russian intelligence, which he consistently dismissed as "nonsense."

Both suspects were to be brought before an investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice, who will decide on pre-trial detention. The Green Party's intelligence expert, Konstantin von Notz, demanded swift consequences: "This is an iron-hard and abysmal story. We expect a speedy and complete clarification of the monstrous allegations against former BND chief Hanning." He added that "dubious and diverse lobbying activities" by former senior officials are "a gateway for hostile intelligence services."

For now, the man who once ran Germany's foreign intelligence service sits in a cell, accused of betraying the very secrets he was sworn to protect. The documents are found, the arrests are made, and the investigation is ongoing. What remains to be determined is how much damage was done — and who, exactly, was reading the intelligence briefings meant only for the Chancellery.

Written by Freya Stensrud freya.stensrud@alpineweekly.com