State Security in the SED Dictatorship

The exhibition on the work of the GDR secret police is on display in the renovated House 1 of the Stasi Museum, the former residence of the GDR's Minister for State Security Erich Mielke. Documents, photos, emorabilia as well as video and audio recording offer an insight into the history, functioning and methods of the SED secret police and show what this meant for the people of the former GDR.

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A prisoner transport van stands behind a sign at the opening of the new permanent exhibition "State Security in the SED Dictatorship" at the Stasi Museum in Berlin on Jan. 14, 2015.
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"Stasi Museum" lettering in front of the former Stasi headquarters on Normannenstrasse in Berlin, taken on Jan. 14, 2015, at the opening of the new permanent exhibition "State Security in the SED Dictatorship."
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Signs with designations of the different types of so-called "unofficial collaborators" of the State Security hang on a wall at the opening of the new permanent exhibition "State Security in the SED Dictatorship "at the former Stasi headquarters in Berlin on Jan. 14, 2015.
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View into the former study of the Minister for State Security of the GDR, Erich Mielke, at the opening of the new permanent exhibition "State Security in the SED Dictatorship" on Jan. 14, 2015.
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Uniforms and equipment worn by members of the State Security are on display at the opening of the new permanent exhibition "State Security in the SED Dictatorship" at the former Stasi headquarters on Normannenstraße in Berlin on Jan. 14, 2015.
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The red suitcase in which Stasi Minister Mielke kept information about party and state leader Erich Honecker is on display at the opening of the new permanent exhibition "State Security in the SED Dictatorship" at the former Stasi headquarters on Normannenstraße in Berlin on Jan. 14, 2015.
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Pictures and the writing "Stasi everywhere?" are seen in an exhibition room at the former Stasi headquarters on Normannenstraße in Berlin on Jan. 14, 2015, during the opening of the new permanent exhibition "State Security in the SED Dictatorship."
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Surveillance methods are described at the opening of the new permanent exhibition "State Security in the SED Dictatorship" at the Stasi Museum in Berlin on Jan. 14, 2015.
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Index cards on display case at the opening of the new permanent exhibition "State Security in the SED Dictatorship" at the Stasi Museum in Berlin on Jan. 14, 2015.
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An index card cabinet in a secretary's office at the opening of the new permanent exhibition "State Security in the SED Dictatorship" at the Stasi Museum in Berlin on Jan. 14, 2015.
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A timeline shows the date of the occupation of the Stasi headquarters in Berlin-Lichtenberg at the opening of the new permanent exhibition "State Security in the SED Dictatorship" at the former Stasi headquarters on Normannenstraße in Berlin.
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Dec. 01, 2019, Berlin: The entrance to the Stasi Museum in House 1 of the former headquarters of the Ministry of State Security of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) is illuminated in the evening.
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The words "deviant," "anti-socialist" and "harmful" are written on a wall at the opening of the new permanent exhibition "State Security in the SED Dictatorship" at the Stasi Museum on Normannenstraße in Berlin on Jan. 14, 2015.
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Dec. 01, 2019, Berlin: The entrance to the Stasi Museum in House 1 of the former headquarters of the Ministry of State Security of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) is illuminated in the evening.