Public evening lecture by Professor Dr Jan-Hendrik Dietrich (Federal University of Applied Sciences in Berlin/University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich) as part of the lecture series "Disputeable - Controversies of Democracy"

There has always been an ambivalent fascination with intelligence services working in secret. The adventures of British or American agents are followed with excitement, the crimes of the Gestapo and Stasi with horror and dismay. In contrast, the functional conditions of the German intelligence services of the present day are comparatively rarely the focus of public attention, unless a real or supposed scandal is currently in the media spotlight. The lecture therefore takes a look at the significance of the German intelligence services for a defence-oriented democracy and their role in the German security architecture beyond myth and ideology.

Jan-Hendrik Dietrich teaches public law at the Federal University of Applied Sciences in Berlin and the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich. Together with Prof. Dr Carlo Masala, he heads the "Intelligence and Security Studies" course, which is aimed at officers of the Bundeswehr and future managers of German security authorities. He is co-director of the Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies at the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich and author and editor of numerous works on security law. As an expert witness, Jan-Hendrik Dietrich regularly participates in expert hearings in the federal and state parliaments. Since 2022, he has represented the Federal Government in proceedings before the administrative courts.

Moderation: Philipp Randt B. Sc., Ole Fenske B. A.