Centre

(the Centre) - the conventional term to describe the central apparatus of intelligence. Czechoslovak Intelligence Service from 1948 housed in several buildings in Prague. First was the former Chinese embassy. The Operational Section was located in a secret building on Národní třída (Danube Palace). Since February 1949, it was housed in Vodičkova Street no. 39 in the building of the nationalized company Centrokomise under the cover of its technical department. The entrance to the building codenamed the "Cottage" was through the passage that opened into the Franciscan Gardens. In 1953, the headquarters of Directorate I of the Ministry of the Interior was housed in the former Masaryk dormitory in Sadová Street in Dejvice, then was moved in 1961 into the building of the Monastery of the Knights of the Cross in Prague 1. From February 1976 until mid-April 1977, Directorate I of the Federal Ministry of the Interior (except for the Illegal Intelligence Sections) moved from the old buildings into the newly constructed building in Střelničná Street in the Kobylisy district of Prague – codenamed the "Cottage" (see picture).