STASI. State Security in the SED Dictatorship

The permanent exhibition of the BStU illustrates the consequences of the secret police’s activities on individuals and society. Its nine narrative chapters document the history, ideology, structure and influence of the Ministry for State Security (MfS) of the GDR. The exhibition consists of an anteroom with a multivision, a passage room with a filing cabinet illustrating the STASI's working methods and an exhibition room presenting an array of documents and other materials. Hovering above the ground, visitors see an intricately designed »biographer« with the paradigmatic life stories of nine GDR citizens, each of whom had become targets of the STASI. Each of the stories has been supplemented by a short film and an object. A labyrinth of grey vitrines appearing to grow from the ground and movable doors covered with fabric illustrate how the STASI's working methods seamlessly fit into citizens’ everyday life.