World's largest intelligence headquarters opens in Berlin | News from the world

No cell phones. No private laptops. No verification of personal emails or social media. And at the end of the day, all access cards must be locked in a safe.

More than 1 billion euros and 12 years after the start of construction, the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) has officially inaugurated its new headquarters in Berlin, the largest intelligence headquarters in the world, with a surface area of 36 fields.

The building, located near the old Berlin Wall, is one of the most secret places in Germany. Strict security rules govern what employees can do or not.

Angela Merkel visited the headquarters on Friday and spoke about the BND's history and its important role. "In a world often very confusing," said the Chancellor, "it is urgent today that Germany needs a strong and effective foreign intelligence service".

The site previously housed police barracks, destroyed during the Second World War. It then became the site of an East German sports stadium demolished as part of the German bid for the organization of the 2000 Olympics.

About 3,200 of the expected 4,000 employees have already arrived and are working in the new building, while others have yet to leave the former headquarters outside Munich. The agency employs around 6,500 people in Germany and around the world.

Its bold new presence is expected to mark a more confident global role, but the agency is not without criticism in Germany, where security services can evoke memories of the Stasi and the Gestapo. Edward Snowden's revelations in 2013 that the agency had closely cooperated with US and British services in monitoring digital communications had shocked many and had led to a reduction in cooperation with the US National Security Agency.

Suspicions among some were also concentrated on fake palm trees outside the building, which the Berlin Senate confirmed in January was an artistic installation and not a concealed listening device.

The building was built with 135,000 cubic meters of concrete and 20,000 tons of steel, and has 14,000 windows and 12,000 doors, the agency said on its website.

The opening ceremony on Friday was long: the building was originally scheduled to be completed in 2011, but this was delayed by construction problems and for other reasons.

In 2015, thieves stole faucets from the building's washrooms, causing floods and property damage, during an incident dubbed "Watergate" in the German press.