 | Leipzig Museum Runde Ecke (Round Corner) Reviews | Tips 1 - 6 of 6 |  |
A very sad and depressing part of Leipzig's history. When the GDR still existed the "Ministry of State Security" (Stasi in German) had one of the headquarters in Leipzig. During the peaceful revolution in 1989 the people of Leipzig occupied the building, making sure many of the files and "corpus delicti" of the time of terror were not hidden or destroyed. They building was finally turned into a museum telling about the threats, constant surveillance and dictatorship.
You can see a typical office and a prison cell, bugs and wigs, hidden cameras, machines to open and re-seal letters, false stamps and passports, and lots and lots of documents. For example an essay written by a student at school opposing the government - and the letters and records of meetings discussing this students' statements. Frightning!
The museum is well worth a visit, you learn a lot about the time of the GDR, how difficult it was to live there in former years especially if you had an independent, democratic and free mind. Just one of the times in history that must not be forgotton in order to keep freedom and democracy in our world.
Entrance to the museum is free! Leave a Comment
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I didn't manage to find the Stasi Museum, despite asking locals where it was. I think they confused my heavily accented "Stasi Museum" with the "Stadt Museum", although the directions I got could probably have taken me to either in the end. I should have taken my guide book or picked up a map.
The Stasi Museum is a unique look into the oppressive Secret Police force of the former East German nation, the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (Ministery for State Security or Stasi for short). The Stasi were also unique in their monitoring of the East German citizens, with nearly 100,000 staff and 300,000 paid informants, there were approximately one informant for every 50 East Germans.
The Stasi kept a huge library of information on the people it monitored. When the files were opened up at the fall of the Berlin wall, they discovered an estimated 33 million pages of files written on East Germans and visitors to the country.
Many East Germans have sought to investigate these archives to find out exactly who had been spying on them during this time, and many were shocked to find close family friends, and even family members, had been reporting on them. Leave a Comment Directions: Walk down Thomasgasse towards St. Thomas's Church from the Market Place. It's somewhere there on the big Dittrichring, in the old Round House.Website: http://www.runde-ecke-leipzig.de/
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The museum of the Runde Ecke was the former headquarters of the Stasi, the East German Secret Police. The present museum exhibits the techniques of the Stasi and contains many of the instruments used in their work.
Have a look at my detailed travelogue to get an impression of life in the last days of the GDR and to see some photos of the museum. Leave a Comment
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The museum of the runde ecke (round square). A former headquarters of the Stasi, the East German secret police. Was a focal point of the protests during the revolution and the storming of the building led to the discovery of thousands of files revealing who was spying on who. This included neighbours, relatives, friends and even couples spying on one another and led to a great deal of social problems. The former citizens of the GDR have the right to see their own files but the sheer number of files means a delay of several years between requesting your file and receiving it. It will probably be ca. 15 years before all of the files are processed. The present museum details the operational techniques of the Stasi and contains many of the instruments used in their work. Leave a Comment
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'Museum der Runden Ecke' (museum of the Round corner): IIRC it was the main buliding for the Stasi´s activity: now it´s turned into a museum where you can see films and look at old documents of that time... Quite interesting. Leave a Comment Other Contact: Free entry, but they sort of exp
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This museum gives you a very interesting overview on how the German Ministry of State Security worked. A lot of documents and photes give you an idea, how close people have been watched until a few years ago. Leave a Comment
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