The Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung (HVA) (en. Main Reconnaissance Administration) of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR, "East Germany") was the foreign intelligence service of the GDR and was an integral part of the GDR Ministry of State Security (Ministerium für Staatssicherheit / MfS). After the MfS 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 Records of the State Security Service of the former German Democratic Republic (Official site). 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 Worl