High proper motions of various Herbig Haro Object near Cep A are reported. For a distance of 725 pc we derive tangential velocities of 200 to 250 km/s which have their common origin near the compact HII regions 2 and 3. The resulting kinematic age is 1800 ±400 years. A weak, pointlike source (I = 20.6 mag) is detected at the
position of the compact HII region 3a. No further source (I ≤ 23 mag) could be found in the region of radio continuum emission. However, an elongated feature of diffuse 1 μm emission is observed in line with the northern chain of compact radio knots. We conclude that a center of activity near the H2O-maser positions in HW2 and 3 is responsible for Cep A. It drives the molecular outflow, and also excites the compact radio continuum knots and surrounding HH-objects. The observed total luminosity and the 21 cm radio continuum data are consistent with B0.5V star or three B1V ZAMS stars.