Headquarter of the Stasi in Berlin |
The Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (German for Ministry for State Security), commonly known by the abbreviation
"Stasi", was the main security (secret police) and intelligence organisation of the
German Democratic Republic
(East Germany). The Stasi was headquartered in the capital, East Berlin, with an extensive complex in Lichtenberg
and several smaller complexes throughout the city. The Stasi was widely regarded as one of the most effective
intelligence agencies in the world.
The Stasi was founded on 8. February 1950. Wilhelm Zaisser was its first leader, and Erich Mielke his deputy.
In 1955, Mielke became head of the Stasi, and Markus Wolf became head of the Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung (HVA),
its foreign intelligence section. The Stasi was modeled on the Soviet NKVD, and was regarded by the KGB as an
extremely loyal and effective partner among the intelligence services of the Warsaw Pact countries.
Many early Stasi officers were former officers of the Nazi SS with East German Communist leaders actively seeking
former Gestapo and SD personnel to lead the Stasi in its formative years.
The Stasi's influence over almost every aspect of life in the German Democratic Republic cannot be overestimated.
Until the mid-1980s, a civilian network of informants (Inoffizielle Mitarbeiter) grew within the GDR, and in West
Germany as well. By the East German collapse in 1989, it is estimated that the Stasi had 91,000 full time employees
and 300,000 informants. This means approximately one in fifty East Germans collaborated with the Stasi, possibly the
highest penetration of any society by a security apparatus.
The Stasi monitored politically "incorrect" behavior among all citizens of East Germany, comparable to activity of
the former Gestapo. During the 1989 peaceful revolution, the Stasi offices were overrun by enraged citizens, but not
before a huge amount of compromising material was destroyed by Stasi officers. The remaining files are available for
review to all people who were reported upon, often revealing that friends, colleagues, husbands, wives, and other
family members were regularly filing reports with the Stasi.
After German unification, it was revealed that the Stasi also secretly aided left-wing terrorist groups such as the
Red Army Faction in West Germany. Loss of support from the Stasi was a major factor in the dissolution of these groups.
Please have a look at some sample banknotes from East Germany.
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