Culver City,
California
DDR Archiv Scrapbook Collection
Preserved at the Wende Museum in 159 binders, this collection offers a continuous history of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) through the activities of the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS, Ministry for State Security, or Stasi). The binders are arranged chronologically, covering the organization’s history from 1945 and the earliest days of the Soviet Occupation Zone through the mid-1990s and the GDR’s dissolution. The materials include newspaper clippings, articles, copied documents and reports, photographs, and publications, alongside what appear to be primary documents originating from the MfS and its subsidiary offices.
Though just one part of the GDR’s governing structure, the Ministry controlled so many areas of public life that it became practically synonymous with the state itself. Best known as the government’s surveillance arm, the MfS also held authority over the military economy, foreign trade, passports and tourism, and all matters of intelligence and counterintelligence.
The cataloging and digitization of this collection was made possible by the support of Arcadia – a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin.
Showing search results 136-150 of 159
Showing search results 136-150 of 159
