The historical site - the Stasi headquarters

Up until 1990, the Stasi headquarters in Berlin-Lichtenberg were the main offices of the Ministry of State Security, the East German secret police. Up to seven thousand Stasi employees worked here, and the Stasi minister Erich Mielke had his office in House 1 from 1962 to 1989.

On 15 January 1990, thousands of demonstrators flooded into the sealed-off complex. The “storm on Normannenstraße” was one of the key events of the revolution, marking the end of the feared secret police and destroying an important power base of the SED dictatorship for good. The people’s protests at this historical site helped to prevent the destruction of the Stasi files.

The Stasi files are still stored on the premises to this day. The archive of the Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records can be viewed in public guided tours. The Stasi Museum is now housed in the former offices of the Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke, whose office rooms are maintained in their original state, forming the core of the museum since 1990.