Stasi Museum

The Stasi Museum (also known in German as the Forschungs- und Gedenkstätte Normannenstraße)[2] is a research and memorial centre concerning the political system of the former East Germany. It is located in the Lichtenberg locality of Berlin, in the former headquarters of the Stasi (officially the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit), on Ruschestraße, near Frankfurter Allee and U-Bahn station Magdalenenstraße.

For the other Stasi memorial in Lichtenberg, see Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial.

Stasi Museum
Stasi-Museum
The main entrance to the Stasi Museum
Established1990 (1990)
Coordinates52°30′52″N 13°29′15″E
Visitors100,000 in 2017[1]
Websitestasi-museum.de

History

The centrepiece of the exhibition is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security – i.e. head of the Stasi – Erich Mielke. The museum is operated by the Antistalinistische Aktion Berlin-Normannenstraße (ASTAK),[3] which was founded by civil rights activists in Berlin in 1990.[4][5][6] It aims to foster the development of the museum as a "centre for the collection, preservation, documentation, rehabilitation and exhibition of evidence and research materials relating to East Germany".[4]

In 2010 the German government announced its intention to take over the Stasi Museum, which led to a three-way dispute between ASTAK, local government in Lichtenberg, and the German national government over the future of the site.[6][7][8] ASTAK subsequently announced that Building 1 of the Stasi headquarters, the museum's original location, would be reconstructed and renovated, and the museum would be temporarily moved to Building 22.[9]

The museum has approximately 100,000 visitors per year.[1]

Erich Mielke's office

See also

References
  1. Austilat, Andreas (25 March 2017). "Stasi-Zentrale in Lichtenberg: Die Nachmieter des Erich Mielke" (in German). Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  2. "Haus 1 des Ministeriums für Staatssicherheit in Berlin – ein Zentrum der Aufarbeitung kommunistischer Diktatur in Deutschland" [Outline of the concept of the museum] (PDF). stasi-museum.de (in German). p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 July 2011.
  3. "Satzung des Vereins "Antistalinistische Aktion Berlin-Normannenstraße" e.V. (ASTAK)" [ASTAK's charter] (PDF) (in German). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  4. Trägerverein ASTAK e.V. From the home page. (in German)
  5. C.2. "Antistalinistische Aktion Berlin-Normannenstraße" e. V. (ASTAK) Robert Havemann Society. (in German)
  6. Why Berlin cannot forget the Stasi Tony Paterson, The Independent, 17 June 2010. (in English)
  7. Fighting Over the Past: Former Stasi Headquarters Provide Headache for Berlin Wiebke Hollersen, Der Spiegel, 6 March 2010. (in English)
  8. Mielkes Machtzentrale wird saniert Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, 21 March 2010. (in German)
  9. StasiMuseum Berlin Home page, as announced on 3 August 2010. (in English)
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