Welcome to Berlin-Lichtenberg—you are standing right in the middle of the grounds of the former headquarters of the Ministry for State Security—or, in short: the Stasi.
Where grass grows and people stroll today, an atmosphere of control, surveillance, and fear once prevailed. For this was the very place where the GDR’s most powerful secret service was based.
From the 1950s onwards, these grounds served as the heart of the Stasi—comprising some 50 buildings spread across an area of over 20 hectares. At its peak, more than 7,000 people worked here—around the clock.
Directly in front of you stands Building 1. Today, it houses the Stasi Museum. This building was the seat of Erich Mielke, the feared Stasi Minister. His office remains preserved to this day—complete with his red telephone, GDR-era coffee set, and a politically orthodox mural.
The Stasi wanted to know everything. It wiretapped phone calls, opened letters, and searched apartments—often secretly, and often with the help of informants, known as “unofficial collaborators.” These could be neighbors, colleagues, or even close friends.
In total, over 180,000 of these “IMs” operated across the country—serving one of the largest surveillance apparatuses in the world.
The message was clear: anyone who thought or lived differently was dangerous.
Dissidents were imprisoned and mistreated.
Stasi facilities and prisons were located throughout the country.
But in the autumn of 1989, something new began: the people of the GDR had had enough. They took to the streets—peacefully, courageously, and loudly.
On January 15, 1990, civil rights activists stormed these grounds—entirely without violence. They sought to put an end to this “headquarters of fear”—and, above all, to prevent Stasi files from being destroyed.
It was a moment of liberation—a turning point in history. Today, the site is known as the “Campus for Democracy.” It is a place of remembrance—and of learning.
At the Stasi Museum, you can still see today how power and control were organized.
The Federal Archives preserve the millions of pages of files that the Stasi collected on its citizens.
Former Stasi Headquarters / Stasi Museum
from the audio walk Berlin Like You’ve Never Heard It Before – True Stories & Secrets
254:05 min Audio
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Other stops on this audio tour:
A Brief Excursion into Berlin's History (7:59 min) • St. Nicholas' Church / St. Nicholas' Quarter (2:49 min) • Newspaper District (4:28 min) • Checkpoint Charlie (1:55 min) • Former Gestapo Headquarters (2:57 min) • Former Tempelhof Airport (3:46 min) • 7 Wannsee Conference (4:45 min) • Walther Rathenau Memorial (2:34 min) • Olympic Stadium / 1936 Olympic Games (5:36 min) • Commune 1 (2:27 min) • Benno Ohnesorg / Student Movement (2:16 min) • Rolf Eden (1:54 min) • Café Kranzler (2:08 min) • Kurfürstendamm (3:03 min) • Zoo Palace (3:47 min) • Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (2:22 min) • Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg (3:28 min) • Schöneberg Town Hall (2:33 min) • Former Sportpalast / Sportpalast Speech (5:12 min) • Bendlerblock/Stauffenberg assassination attempt (4:47 min) • Kroll Opera House / Enabling Act (3:09 min) • Reichstag Building (4:14 min) • Reichstag Fire (4:28 min) • Brandenburg Gate (2:52 min) • People's Court (3:08 min) • Potsdamer Place (2:58 min) • Former "Führerbunker" (5:06 min) • "Tresor" (Safe) (1:43 min) • Popular Uprising in the GDR (2:11 min) • Reich Chancellery / Hitler's Seizure of Power (5:11 min) • "Die weiße Maus" (The White Mouse) (2:57 min) • Friedrichstraße Station / "Tränenpalast" (Palace of Tears) (3:46 min) • Humboldt University (1:56 min) • Berlin Palace (5:04 min) • Red City Hall (2:30 min) • Alexanderplatz (2:30 min) • Otto Weidt's Workshop for the Blind / Anne Frank Center (2:05 min) • Hackesche Höfe (5:21 min) • Rosenthaler Platz (2:58 min) • St. Sophia's Church (3:03 min) • Sophie-Gips Courtyards (2:08 min) • Koppenplatz (3:16 min) • Clärchen's Dance Hall (3:54 min) • New Synagogue (2:19 min) • Berliner Ensemble (3:55 min) • Friedrichstadt-Palast (4:02 min) • Dorotheenstadt Cemetery (2:25 min) • Bloody May (2:18 min) • Humboldthain Flak Tower (5:17 min) • Chris Gueffroy and the Victims of the Wall (1:28 min) • Tunnel 57 / Egon Schultz (2:40 min) • AMIGA (1:37 min) • Bernauer Street (4:07 min) • Former Bornholmer Straße Border Crossing (3:26 min) • Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn Sports Park (3:43 min) • Mauerpark (4:07 min) • Arkonaplatz (3:03 min) • Zion Church (3:44 min) • Prenzlauer Berg Fire Station (3:18 min) • Hirschhof (2:41 min) • Freya Klier (2:28 min) • Prater (2:28 min) • Oderberger Straße Municipal Baths (3:36 min) • Oderberger Street 2 (1:58 min) • Currywurst (2:16 min) • Konnopke's Snack Bar (2:43 min) • Gethsemane Church (2:09 min) • Museum in the Kulturbrauerei (1:06 min) • Kulturbrauerei (3:24 min) • Frannz-Club (2:31 min) • Husemann Street (1:58 min) • Jews' Passage (3:32 min) • Prenzlauer Berg Water Tower (2:37 min) • Rosa Luxemburg Square (4:34 min) • Mont Klamott (1:43 min) • Samaritan Church (2:23 min) • Berlin-Karlshorst Museum / Unconditional Surrender (2:54 min) • East Side Gallery (2:59 min) • House Squatting in the 1980s (2:34 min)
