Museum at the Runde Ecke

This building at Leipzig's Runde Ecke (Round Corner) was the home to the city's Stasi Headquarters. For some reason, I've been fascinated by life behind the Iron Curtain, most probably because growing up as a teenager it seemed so "off limits" and "far away", but mostly because I know it was SUCH a different life than one I experienced growing up as a teenager in Seattle.

The KGB was the secret police in Russia, but East Germany took the entire concept of State Security, based on the KGB, to the nth degree, as you will see.

The Museum at the Runde Ecke has kept the Stasi main office in Leipzig in the exact condition it was when it found and opened up by the peaceful protesters in December 1989. Those Stasi's LOVED their linoleum!

Right as you entered the offices, here's the wall that greets you!

"Imperialism -- The Enemy of the State of Socialism"

EVERYTHING was monitored and filmed. There were security cameras at everypoint, here at the entrance.

The Stasi monitored schools to identify youth that would be ideal future Stasi members. They looked for students with no family in the West and then fit their "model", which basically meant Aryan Male and German. Here's a kids "application" to join the Stasi youth program.

The plan once you entered into the "program."

The Stasi were still signing up youth on October 31st, 1989 even as their world was about the end within a few weeks.






The organizational chart of the Leipzig area Stasi office. Each little town had a center and reported to the central office here.

The Stasi taped peoples phone conversation. The tapes they used were generally ones they confiscated from peoples packages from the West. Nice reuse policy.

The Stasi had a huge operation where they steamed open peoples letters and read them and then sent them onto the addressee. It was all in a fear having their citizens undermine and dissent from the State.

This sheet lists prices of different items in the west, and in the east. Some person has written, "So, where is this then" referring to an item on the list. This snarky comment probably got this person a Stasi file.

The wiretaps the Stasi used. Their desire to control and gather information probably kept then at the forefront of technology is my guess.

Cameras......

....to take photos, and LOTS of them.

The Stasi kept track of every western car that came across the border. Photos, photos, photos.

The Unofficial Informants were the cornerstone of Stasi information gathering. The Stasi would identify a person to be an informant. They would approach the person and pressure the person into serving their country. Often times, these informants would be rewarded with gifts as enticement. But my guess is that most would really have no choice but to report on their friends, neighbors and family. I wonder what I would have done had I grown up in East Germany and been confronted with the proposition of being an informant. Would I have capitulated?

One way that the Stasi "got" people they suspected is to have them come into the office and when questioning, have them sit on a cloth to pick up that person's "scent." Then use that "scent" when they matched it with the person operating "against" the state.

"Decomposition" This was the Stasi's way of ruining your life. If they wanted to, for whatever reason, they could make sure you didn't get a job, or have all these bad things happen to you, to ultimately demoralize you and basically break you. This was a systematic procedure they was approved and actively used against its own citizens.

Data cards, everything was recorded.

This is just a partial list of the armory that was located in the Stasi Leipzig office. It's like they knew they were going to get attacked. That top line does say 8,060 hand grenades.

The East German government dissolved at the beginning of November 1989. For the next month, the Stasi systematically began destroying its files. The protesters set up a committee at the beginning of December 1989 to halt the destruction of the files. This was successful and now the files are open and anyone can look at their file if they have one.

The Stasi used a bunch of these machines to turn the data into the "pulp balls" you see on the left. But many of they files were simple ripped up into pieces and put into bags. Today, there is a set of people who are piecing together those pieces, they are called the "puzzle people."

Here's the Runde Ecke today. It was here in Leipzig that the peaceful protests started in East Germany and eventually brought down the police state government. It was on the sidewalk here in front that the 1989 candlelight vigils were held and eventually accomplished their goal.