Geheime Staatspolizei (Austria)

The Geheime Staatspolizei (Secret State Police) was the secret police service of the Archduchy of Austria.

The Secret State Police was established in September 1786, during a general reorganization of the Austrian
police, under the leadership of Johann Anton von Pergen.[1] In addition to Von Pergen, the force initially
consisted of two additional officers—or three personnel in total—and was tasked with domestic
counterintelligence as well as the monitoring of political subversives and public opinion.[1][2] However, at
the insistence of the Archduke Joseph II, the force was to be conservative in its operations—particularly in
the monitoring of mail—so as "not to damage the reputation of the post and civil freedom".[2] Indeed,
Joseph II's sanction for the creation of the Secret State Police was borne more out of his insatiable craving
for information than a desire to suppress criticism, as he believed the public should be permitted to critique
the government.[2]

The Secret State Police gathered its information through black-room operations, through the recruiting of
domestic servants as informants, and through the collection of information from the regular police.[1] Some
of the methods of intelligence gathering employed by the Secret State Police, such as the monitoring of
mail, produced information to guide investigations but was itself not admissible in court under Austrian
law.[3] Nonetheless, the Secret State Police occasionally employed secret detention against certain
Staatsverbrecher (political criminals), those suspected of high treason who could not be subject to public
detention and trial without the risk of igniting public sympathy.[4][1] To avoid transforming them into social
or political icons, the guilt and punishment of Staatsverbrecher was secretly and singularly determined by
the Archduke.[1]

See also
Police Union of German States
Prussian Secret Police

References
1. Adams, Jefferson (2009). Historical Dictionary of German Intelligence. Scarecrow Press.
pp. 342–343. ISBN 0810863200.
2. Judson, Pieter M. (2016). The Habsburg Empire: A New History (https://books.google.com/boo
ks?id=Kiy7CwAAQBAJ). Harvard University Press. pp. 83–84. ISBN 0674047761.
3. Wagar, Chip (2018). Double Emperor: The Life and Times of Francis of Austria (https://books.g
oogle.com/books?id=WT9xDwAAQBAJ). Rowman & Littlefield. p. 119. ISBN 0761870784.
4. Bernard, Paul P. (1979). The Limits of Enlightenment: Joseph II and the Law. University of
Illinois Press. p. 97. ISBN 0252007352.

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