ter (unofficial collaborators) formed the key component of the vast
surveillance and intelligence network of the German Democratic
Republic (GDR). These agents were described by Ernst Wollweber
as his organization’s “respiratory organs.” Prior to 1968, their official
name was Geheime Informatoren (secret informers), a term derived
from Soviet practice, even though the designation IM had been in use
since the MfS’s founding in 1950.
Five major ministerial guidelines—three during the 1950s, one in
1968, and one in 1979—enumerated the functions of the many dif-
ferent IM categories and stressed the necessity of regular meetings
along with the systematic cultivation of the agent’s trust by the Füh-
rungsoffizier, the officer directly responsible for an individual agent.
The most prevalent type of agent—the IMS—had the task of pro-
viding information about specific security concerns and helping to
identity individuals engaged in subversive activity. The IMBs—the
most prized category that included Alexander Anderson, Rainer
Schedlinski, and Paul Wiens—were significantly fewer in number
and assiduously sought to infiltrate and influence groups considered
hostile to the state. By the mid-1980s, there was on average one IM
for every 120 citizens of the GDR, with the highest concentration in
the area surrounding Cottbus and the lowest in the region of Halle.
Women and minors formed only a small percentage of the total
number of agents. Likewise voluntary denunciations were viewed
with considerable skepticism, as the MfS much preferred to select
and develop their own IM candidates. The entire procedure—from
the initial contact to the signing of an oath of commitment—could
be completed within a few weeks but might extend up to seven
years. In certain special cases such as those of Robert Havemann
and Manfred Stolpe, the written pledge was waived. A Deckname
for the IM was selected at the outset and used exclusively thereafter
as a security precaution. Clandestine meetings generally took place
on a weekly basis, mostly at a konspirative Wohnung but also in
restaurants and parks.
The motivation to become an IM varied greatly and usually in-
volved a complex number of reasons. While compromising materi-
als might be used in the recruitment process, prime emphasis was
placed on avoiding outright coercion and finding points of mutual
agreement. Even though IMs received some financial remuneration,
INOFFIZIELLE MITARBEITER • 205