The lives of others: inside the Stasi Museum – in pictures
Since 1990, the museum has served as a research and memorial centre investigating the political system of the former East Germany. A quarter of a century ago, the German government declassified records of the Stasi – the state police – and made them available to public access. German citizens can request surveillance files the East Germany government gathered about them
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The Stasi Museum building, which is the former ministry for state security (Stasi) of East Germany
Photograph: Felipe Trueba/EPA
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An office room, preserved in original condition, of Erich Mielke, the former minister for state security (Stasi) of the German Democratic Republic (GDR)
Photograph: Felipe Trueba/EPA
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A member of the museum shows folders with records gathered by an informer of the Stasi, or Ministerium für Staatssicherheit
Photograph: Felipe Trueba/EPA
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Handwritten dates on records books containing information on thousands of people who had been under surveillance
Photograph: Felipe Trueba/EPA
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A woman is reflected in a glass box with a mini camera disguised under a button as part of the Stasi surveillance tactics
Photograph: Felipe Trueba/EPA
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Folders and suitcases containing information on those under police watch
Photograph: Felipe Trueba/EPA
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A civil servant opens one of the file galleries
Photograph: Felipe Trueba/EPA
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The records of the Stasi, former East German secret police, are stored at the Stasi Museum, in Berlin
Photograph: Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images
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A corridor lined with pictures of the surveillance tactics employed by the Stasi
Photograph: Felipe Trueba/EPA
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The card index room with the names of those under surveillance
Photograph: Felipe Trueba/EPA
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A woman looks at a panel with card boxes
Photograph: Felipe Trueba/EPA
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An oversized example card
Photograph: Felipe Trueba/EPA
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A telephone inside an office room at the museum
Photograph: Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images
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A conference room
Photograph: Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images
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An employee shows a copy of records
Photograph: Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images
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Records that were shredded by the Stasi
Photograph: Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images
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