Stasi - Museum in The Old Headquarters

Museum in The Old Headquarters

The Anti-Stalinist Action Normannenstraße (ASTAK), an association founded by former GDR Citizens' Committees, has transformed the former headquarters of the Stasi into a museum. It is divided into three floors:

• Ground floor

The ground floor has been kept as it used to be. The decor is original, with many statues and flags.

• Between the ground and first (upper) floor:
  • Surveillance technology and Stasi symbols: Some of the tools that the Stasi used to track down their opponents. During an interview the seats were covered with a cotton cloth to collect the perspiration of the victim. The cloth was placed in a glass jar, which was annotated with the victim's name, and archived. Other common ways that the scents would be collected is through breaking into a home and taking parts of garments. The most common garment taken was underpants, because of how close the garment is to the skin. The Stasi would then use trained dogs to track down the person using this scent. Other tools shown here include a tie-camera, cigarette box camera, and an AK-47 hidden in luggage.
  • Display gallery of Directorate VII. This part of the museum tells the history of the Stasi, from the beginning of the GDR to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

• First (upper) floor
  • Mielke's offices. The decor is 1960s furniture. There is a reception room with a TV set in the cafeteria.
  • Office of Colonel Heinz Volpert
  • Lounge for drivers and bodyguards
  • Office of Major-General Hans Carlsohn, director of the secretariat
  • Secretariat
  • The Cafeteria
  • Kitchen
  • The Minister’s Workroom
  • The Conference Room with a giant map of Germany on a wall—one of the most impressive rooms.
  • The cloakroom

• Second (upper) floor
  • Repression—Rebellion—Self-Liberation from 1945 to 1989

Photo gallery: