Show Navigation

Search Results

Refine Search
Match all words
Match any word
Prints
Personal Use
Royalty-Free
Rights-Managed
(leave unchecked to
search all images)
{ 144 images found }

Loading ()...

  • A year after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Communist Eastern Bloc, sunbathing Germans face away from the wind on the beach at the Baltic coast, a region of East Germany, 1st June 1990, Bezirk Rostock, eastern Germany (former DDR). The Bezirk Rostock, the northernmost part of the DDR, was on the coast of the Baltic Sea, in front of the Danish coasts. It bordered with the Bezirke of Schwerin and Neubrandenburg, with Poland and West Germany.
    90s_germany-15-06-1994.jpg
  • Six months after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Communist Eastern Bloc, two east German women walk past a closed and decaying Pharmacy and photography business where a poster advertising a New Germany weekly newspaper has been attached to a rotting door, on 15th June 1990, in Zwickau, eastern Germany (former DDR).
    90s_germany-15-06-1990.jpg
  • A year after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Communist Eastern Bloc, a cigarette brand marketing lady  hands out promos for 'Prince of Denmark' and photographs unhappy-looking former east Germans with a Polaroid camera in Leipzig's town square, on 4th November 1990, in Leipzig, Germany.
    90s_germany-15-06-1990_11.jpg
  • A year after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Communist Eastern Bloc, a wooden crate of cauliflowers are displayed underneath the prices of other vegetables at a street market in Leipzig in eastern Germany, on 4th November 1990, in Leipzig, Germany.
    90s_germany-15-06-1990_8.jpg
  • A year after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Communist Eastern Bloc, the stone decoration on an office building wall has been eaten away by atmospheric pollution, on 4th November 1990, in Leipzig, Germany.
    90s_germany-15-06-1990_9.jpg
  • A year after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Communist Eastern Bloc era, pro-Communist Germans carrying Soviet and DDR flags march in Berlin, on 4th November 1990, in Berlin, Germany.
    90s_germany-15-06-1990_4.jpg
  • A year after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Communist Eastern Bloc era, German youths gather at a war memorial, on 4th November 1990, in Berlin, Germany.
    90s_germany-15-06-1990_1.jpg
  • A year after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Communist Eastern Bloc, are the partially-collapsed ballustrade and porch of a semi-derelict German house, on 4th November 1990, in Leipzig, Germany.
    90s_germany-15-06-1990_10.jpg
  • Six months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a pair of hands cup some nuts that go towards the construction of Trabant cars at the car factory in the former East Germany (DDR) where the last Trabants await buyers outside the factory production line, on 1st June 1990, in Zwickau, eastern Germany (former DDR). The DDR-produced Trabant suffered poor performance, but its smoky two-stroke engine regarded with affection as a symbol of the more positive sides of East Germany. Many East Germans streamed into West Berlin and West Germany in their Trabants after the opening of the Berlin Wall. It was in production without any significant change for nearly 30 years. The name Trabant means "fellow traveler" in German.
    trabant_factory-15-06-1990.jpg
  • Detail of a rusty Wartburg 312 car standing at the kerbside in an eastern Berlin district. A sticker with the letters DDR as the German Democratic Republic (DDR in German and GDR in English) as East Germany was called during the Cold War. Any car was a highly-prized possession when ownership of luxury goods like vehicles aroused suspicion for other than Communist Party officials. This car may have been someone of rank or influence. The GDR was a self-declared socialist state, referred to in the West as a "communist state" in the Soviet Sector of occupied Germany created after the second world war and partitioned when DDR leaders built the Berlin Wall that eventually segregated Germany and Europe. The East Germany state existed from 7 October 1949 until 3 October 1990 and was a potent symbol of a divided Europe during the Cold War...
    DDR_travel01-06_1990.jpg
  • Six months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a Trabant car sits wrecked on the corner of Mollstrasse and Hans-Beimler-Strasse in east Berlin (former DDR), on 1st June 1990, in Berlin, Germany. The DDR-produced Trabant suffered poor performance, but its smoky two-stroke engine regarded with affection as a symbol of the more positive sides of East Germany. Many East Germans streamed into West Berlin and West Germany in their Trabants after the opening of the Berlin Wall. It was in production without any significant change for nearly 30 years. The name Trabant means "fellow traveler" in German.
    DDR_trabant-01-06-1990.jpg
  • Six months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the last Trabant cars go through the factory production line, on 1st June 1990, in Zwickau, eastern Germany (former DDR). The DDR-produced Trabant suffered poor performance, but its smoky two-stroke engine regarded with affection as a symbol of the more positive sides of East Germany. Many East Germans streamed into West Berlin and West Germany in their Trabants after the opening of the Berlin Wall. It was in production without any significant change for nearly 30 years. The name Trabant means "fellow traveler" in German.
    trabant_factory-15-06-1990_1.jpg
  • Six months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the last Trabant cars come off the factory production line, on 1st June 1990, in Zwickau, eastern Germany (former DDR). The DDR-produced Trabant suffered poor performance, but its smoky two-stroke engine regarded with affection as a symbol of the more positive sides of East Germany. Many East Germans streamed into West Berlin and West Germany in their Trabants after the opening of the Berlin Wall. It was in production without any significant change for nearly 30 years. The name Trabant means "fellow traveler" in German.
    DDR_trabant-01-06-1990_1.jpg
  • Six months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the last Trabant cars await buyers outside the factory production line, on 1st June 1990, in Zwickau, eastern Germany (former DDR). The DDR-produced Trabant suffered poor performance, but its smoky two-stroke engine regarded with affection as a symbol of the more positive sides of East Germany. Many East Germans streamed into West Berlin and West Germany in their Trabants after the opening of the Berlin Wall. It was in production without any significant change for nearly 30 years. The name Trabant means "fellow traveler" in German.
    DDR_trabant-01-06-1990_2.jpg
  • Displayed on a table at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall, peaked caps of the former East German (DDR in German) border police are on sale in orderly rows for the sake of tourists to this German city. The border troops of the German Democratic Republic (Grenztruppen), were a military force of the GDR and the primary force guarding the Berlin Wall and the border between East and West Germany. The Border Troops numbered at their peak approximately 47,000 troops and other than the Soviet Union, no other Warsaw Pact country had such a large border guard force. In all, 1,065 persons were killed along the GDR's frontiers and coastline, often by the border guards. The East Germany state existed from 7 October 1949 until 3 October 1990 and was a potent symbol of a divided Europe during the Cold War.
    DDR_travel02-06_1990.jpg
  • Months after the fall of the Berlin wall and the collapse of the communist GDR state (the German Democratic Republic), a Trabant is worked on at the company factory, on 15th June 1990, in Berlin, Eastern Germany. The East German auto maker VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke was at Zwickau in Saxony. The Trabant was the most common vehicle in East Germany - Like the Beetle in the West, its Peoples' Car with a 595 cc, two-cylinder air-cooled engine. It had space for four, was compact, light and durable with its distinctive body shape constructed from Duroplast panels attached to a galvanized steel shell. It was in production without any significant changes for about 34 years, becoming a symbol for the cheap, cheerful and polluting possessions for Communist Europeans. When the Berlin Wall eventually fell, Trabants coughed and spluttered onto West German roads for the first time. (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images)
    GDR_trabant02-15-06-1990.jpg
  • A young skateboarder leaps into the air beneath the huge memorial to the German Communist leader Ernst Thalmann, the leader of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) during much of the Weimar Republic. He was arrested by the Gestapo in 1933 and held in solitary confinement for eleven years, before being shot in Buchenwald on Adolf Hitler's orders in 1944. The Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation, consisting of the Young Pioneers and the Thälmann Pioneers, was a youth scouting-styled organisation of schoolchildren aged 6 to 14, in East Germany. Its motto was" "Für Frieden und Sozialismus seid bereit - Immer bereit" ("For peace and socialism be ready - always ready") but the Pioneers were disbanded in 1989 after early protests here in Leipzig at the same time as the Berlin Wall and the Socialist state's fall.
    DDR_travel05-06_1990.jpg
  • A new Trabant car shell is lifted by forklift from a truck at the East German auto maker VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau in Zwickau, Saxony.  A worker carefully manoeuvres the unfinished bodywork into a crate where other vehicles await completion on the production line. The Trabant was the most common vehicle in East Germany - Like the Beetle in the West, its Peoples' Car with a 595 cc, two-cylinder air-cooled engine. It had space for four, was compact, light and durable with its distinctive body shape constructed from Duroplast panels attached to a galvanized steel shell. It was in production without any significant changes for about 34 years, becoming a symbol for the cheap, cheerful and polluting possessions for Communist Europeans. When the Berlin Wall eventually fell, Trabants coughed and spluttered onto West German roads for the first time.
    DDR_travel03-06_1990.jpg
  • Taken six months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a German lady from the old German Democratic Republic (DDR or GDR) looks back over her shoulder nostalgically at an abandoned Trabant car on a sunlit street in eastern Berlin, once in the eastern zone before the Communist-inspired Berlin Wall was breached in November 1989. Blocks of modern East German-designed flats line the street and a tram line can be seen in the middle of the highway. The DDR-produced Trabant suffered poor performance, but its smoky two-stroke engine regarded with affection as a symbol of the more positive sides of East Germany. Many East Germans streamed into West Berlin and West Germany in their Trabants after the opening of the Berlin Wall. It was in production without any significant change for nearly 30 years. The name Trabant means "fellow traveler" in German.
    RB-0029.jpg
  • A detail from the oversized artwork entitled Brotherhood Kiss (Bruderkuss) by Dmitry Vrubel that once adorned a section of the notorious Berlin Wall in western Germany Russian. Two seemingly gay men are kissing on the lips but this is one of the most famous paintings - a symbol of a divided Europe during the Cold War. It shows Communist Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev kissing his East German (DDR) counterpart Erich Honecker, which was ultimately copied on to coffee cups and T-shirts across the world before being destroyed by the authorities. The artist was angry but he says he will paint a new image which was derived from a photograph of the two leaders taken 1979 but became a potent symbol of Communism's corruption and ultimate failure.
    berlin_wall_kiss-04-11-1990.jpg
  • Six months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a lady shovels East German Lignite coal briketts left outside her home, on 1st June 1990, in Aue, Saxony, eastern Germany (former DDR). The coal was delivered as Briketts and was either Lignite or Braunkohle, imported from either Poland or northern Czech Republic.
    DDR_coal_lady-01-06-1990.jpg
  • Months after the fall of the Berlin wall and the collapse of the communist GDR state (the German Democratic Republic), the wreckage of a Trabant car still remains, on 15th June 1990, in Berlin, Eastern Germany. (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images)
    GDR_trabant01-15-06-1990.jpg
  • Six months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, an elderly lady is handed her change after buying some cauliflowers at a market stall, on 1st June 1990, in Leipzig, eastern Germany (former DDR).
    DDR_market_stall-01-06-1990.jpg
  • Six months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a young man sells memorabilia and merchandise from the former DDR (DGR) at a market stall near the Brandenburg Gate, on 1st June 1990, in Berlin, Germany.
    selling_DDR-01-06-1990.jpg
  • A coal delivery man deposits chunks of brown coal into the cellar via a conveyor belt for an elderly lady who stands outside in the bitter cold wearing only a housecoat this grim day. Her slippers can be seen standing among fallen briquettes that have dropped on to the wet cobbled street as the man oversees the delivery from a truck that has backed on to the pavement near a junction. A passing Trabant car rattles up the hill past a mother who pauses to ensure a safe crossing for her baby. Aue is a mining town in the Ore Mountains known for its copper, titanium, and kaolinite. The town was a machine-building and cutlery manufacturing centre in the East German era with a population of roughly 18,000 inhabitants. It was the administrative seat of the former district of Aue-Schwarzenberg in Saxony and part of the Erzgebirgskreis since August 2008..
    DDR_travel04-06_1990.jpg
  • Months after the fall of the Berlin wall and the collapse of the communist GDR state (German Democratic Republic), a brown coal delivery man stops to shovel his polluting fossil fuel into local cellars, on 15th June 1990, in Aue, Saxony. Aue is a mining town in the Ore Mountains known for its copper, titanium, and kaolinite. The town was a machine-building and cutlery manufacturing centre in the East German era with a population of roughly 18,000 inhabitants. It was the administrative seat of the former district of Aue-Schwarzenberg in Saxony and part of the Erzgebirgskreis since August 2008. (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images)
    GDR_coleman-15-06-1990.jpg
  • Visitors enjoy the art and an old Trabant car at the old Berlin Wall at the East Side Gallery, the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. Trabants were the common Socialist vehicle in East Germany, exported to countries both inside and outside the communist bloc. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    berlin_wall_gallery12-06-04-2013.jpg
  • Young men re-enact the former border crossing between Communist East and West Germany during the Cold War at the site of the former Checkpoint Charlie, the border. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    checkpoint_charlie_tourists04-05-04-...jpg
  • Visitors enjoy the art on the old Berlin Wall at the East Side Gallery, the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    berlin_wall_gallery04-06-04-2013.jpg
  • Visitors enjoy the art on the old Berlin Wall at the East Side Gallery, the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    berlin_wall_gallery08-06-04-2013.jpg
  • Visitors enjoy the art on the old Berlin Wall at the East Side Gallery, the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    berlin_wall_gallery10-06-04-2013.jpg
  • Visitors enjoy the art on the old Berlin Wall at the East Side Gallery, the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    berlin_wall_gallery11-06-04-2013.jpg
  • The faces and names of those killed while trying to cross  Berlin Wall, the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    berlin_wall_victims01-07-04-2013.jpg
  • The faces and names of those killed while trying to cross  Berlin Wall, the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    berlin_wall_victims02-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Aerial landscape of Bernauer Strasse, showing a section of preserved Berlin wall where East Germans were killed while trying to cross the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    berlin_wall_bernauer02-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Aerial landscape of Bernauer Strasse, showing a section of preserved Berlin wall where East Germans were killed while trying to cross the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    berlin_wall_bernauer03-07-04-2013.jpg
  • The faces and names of those killed while trying to cross  Berlin Wall, the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    berlin_wall_victims03-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Actors in US and Soviet army uniforms hold flags to recount German history during the second world war and later, the cold war - beneath the Brandenburg Gate in Unter den Linden in central Berlin, Germany. The site is near the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. Here also, Berlin was separated by the occupying sectors of US, British, French and Soviet forces after WW2. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany.
    brandenburg_gate_tourism02-05-04-201...jpg
  • An outdoor exhibition panel near the former Checkpoint Charlie, the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    checkpoint_charlie_tourists06-05-04-...jpg
  • Visitors learning about the Berlin Wall read outdoor exhibition panels near the former Checkpoint Charlie, the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    checkpoint_charlie_tourists01-05-04-...jpg
  • The portrait of a Soviet soldier sits high above modern Friedrishstrasse in modern Berlin at the location of  the former Checkpoint Charlie, the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    checkpoint_charlie_soviet01-05-04-20...jpg
  • Visitors learning about the Berlin Wall read outdoor exhibition panels near the former Checkpoint Charlie, the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    checkpoint_charlie_tourists02-05-04-...jpg
  • Under old sections of the Berlin wall, visitors read outdoor exhibition panels near the former Checkpoint Charlie, the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    checkpoint_charlie_tourists03-05-04-...jpg
  • A poster for original Berliner Bratwurst sausage next to a section of the Berlin wall near the former Checkpoint Charlie, the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    berlin_wall_ad01-05-04-2013.jpg
  • Colourfully-painted sections of the old Berlin Wall are exhibited by local artists opposite the former Checkpoint Charlie, the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    berlin_wall_art02-05-04-2013.jpg
  • Colourfully-painted sections of the old Berlin Wall are exhibited by local artists opposite the former Checkpoint Charlie, the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    berlin_wall_art01-05-04-2013.jpg
  • A cyclist stops to read a map of Berlin near the former Checkpoint Charlie, the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. Many cycling rental companies operate in the city where pavements and streets include cycle lanes. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    berlin_cyclist01-05-04-2013.jpg
  • A painted section of the old Berlin wall standing in a pedestrian precinct, near Checkpoint Charlie in central Berlin. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the Communist German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    bderlin_wall01-05-04-2013.jpg
  • Where young Germans once risked their lives, graffiti and tags now adorn the concrete surfaces of original sections of the Berlin wall at the East Side Gallery on Muhlenstrasse, Berlin. The site is the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    berlin_wall_gallery15-08-04-2013.jpg
  • Where young Germans once risked their lives, graffiti and tags now adorn the concrete surfaces of original sections of the Berlin wall at the East Side Gallery on Muhlenstrasse, Berlin. The site is the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    berlin_wall_gallery07-06-04-2013.jpg
  • Where young Germans once risked their lives, graffiti and tags now adorn the concrete surfaces of original sections of the Berlin wall at the East Side Gallery on Muhlenstrasse, Berlin. The site is the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    berlin_wall_gallery14-08-04-2013.jpg
  • Where young Germans once risked their lives, graffiti and tags now adorn the concrete surfaces of original sections of the Berlin wall at the East Side Gallery on Muhlenstrasse, Berlin. The site is the former border between Communist East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
    berlin_wall_gallery13-08-04-2013.jpg
  • ID papers for an anonymous secret agent from Cottbus, Germany, an exhibit in the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. The Stasi Museum is a 22-hectare complex of research  and memorial centre concerning the political system of the former East Germany. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum08-07-04-2013.jpg
  • ID papers for an anonymous secret agent from Cottbus, Germany, an exhibit in the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. The Stasi Museum is a 22-hectare complex of research  and memorial centre concerning the political system of the former East Germany. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum09-07-04-2013.jpg
  • ID papers for an anonymous secret agent from Cottbus, Germany, an exhibit in the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. The Stasi Museum is a 22-hectare complex of research  and memorial centre concerning the political system of the former East Germany. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum07-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Wall map of Communist East Germany in the conference room where the heads of the GDR secret police met with district administrators, an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum35-07-04-2013.jpg
  • The office of Major General Hans Carlsohn, an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. Carlsohn was personal assistant to Mielke then director of the Minister's secretariat. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum45-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Lenin bust in preserved office of former Minister in charge of GDR secret police chief, Erich Mielke - an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. After the fall of the socialist state, Mielke was sentenced to 6 years in prison and died in 2000, aged 92. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum22-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Desk in the preserved office of former Minister in charge of GDR secret police chief, Erich Mielke - an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. After the fall of the socialist state, Mielke was sentenced to 6 years in prison and died in 2000, aged 92. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum27-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Desk in the preserved office of former Minister in charge of GDR secret police chief, Erich Mielke - an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. After the fall of the socialist state, Mielke was sentenced to 6 years in prison and died in 2000, aged 92. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum28-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Socialist light switches in the preserved office of former Minister in charge of GDR secret police chief, Erich Mielke - an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. After the fall of the socialist state, Mielke was sentenced to 6 years in prison and died in 2000, aged 92. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum30-07-04-2013.jpg
  • The conference room where the heads of the GDR secret police met with district administrators, an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum33-07-04-2013.jpg
  • A soldier image on a rug, an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum11-07-04-2013.jpg
  • An open, empty safe, an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum15-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Secretariat offices for the staff to Erich Mielke, an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum17-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Exterior of 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum01-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Exterior of 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum04-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Socialist wall thermometer in preserved office of former Minister in charge of GDR secret police chief, Erich Mielke - an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. After the fall of the socialist state, Mielke was sentenced to 6 years in prison and died in 2000, aged 92. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum23-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Secretariat offices for the staff to Erich Mielke, an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum34-07-04-2013.jpg
  • A 'Bodil' passive eavesdropping transmitter from Bulgaria powered by a phone line, an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum37-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Socialist decor near the conference room where the heads of the GDR secret police met with district administrators, an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum36-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Decor in the conference room where the heads of the GDR secret police met with district administrators, an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum43-07-04-2013.jpg
  • The private quarters of GDR secret police Minister Erich Mielke, an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum44-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Secretariat offices for the staff to Erich Mielke, an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum19-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Secretariat offices for the staff to Erich Mielke, an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum20-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Meeting furniture in the preserved office of former Minister in charge of GDR secret police chief, Erich Mielke - an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. After the fall of the socialist state, Mielke was sentenced to 6 years in prison and died in 2000, aged 92. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum24-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Desk in the preserved office of former Minister in charge of GDR secret police chief, Erich Mielke - an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. After the fall of the socialist state, Mielke was sentenced to 6 years in prison and died in 2000, aged 92. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum26-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Desk in the preserved office of former Minister in charge of GDR secret police chief, Erich Mielke - an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. After the fall of the socialist state, Mielke was sentenced to 6 years in prison and died in 2000, aged 92. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum29-07-04-2013.jpg
  • The cafeteria and informal meeting place for secret police generals, an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum31-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Decor in the conference room where the heads of the GDR secret police met with district administrators, an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum32-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Anti-police message outside of 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum02-07-04-2013.jpg
  • A soldier in uniform, an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum10-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Secretariat offices for the staff to Erich Mielke, an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum13-07-04-2013.jpg
  • The main entrance of 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum05-07-04-2013.jpg
  • The main entrance of 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum18-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Forecourt of 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum38-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Exterior of 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum39-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Forecourt of 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum42-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Exterior of 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum40-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Secretariat offices for the staff to Erich Mielke, an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum21-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Exterior of 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Erich Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum41-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Secretariat offices for the staff to Erich Mielke, an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. Here at the Stasi HQ alone 15,000 were employed plus the many regional stations. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    berlin_stasi_museum14-07-04-2013.jpg
  • Old Soviet parade ground illustrations show self-defence positions for Russian soldiers in the former Russian army camp in occupied East Germany (ex-GDR/DDR), on 16th June 19990, on Halb Insel Wustrow, near Rostock, Germany. Wustrow was once a WW2 German anti-aircraft artillery position then housing civilian refugees before the eventual Soviet occupation of the former DDR during the Cold War, up until 1990 and the fall of communism and the Berlin Wall. The camp was ransacked and all its assets stripped before its desertion that summer and is a reminder of a fallen ideology
    soviet_village-16-06-1990_2.jpg
  • Old Soviet parade ground murals show the physical style of Russian marching techniques in the former Russian Soviet army camp in occupied East Germany (ex-GDR/DDR), on 16th June 19990, on Halb Insel Wustrow, near Rostock, Germany. Wustrow was once a WW2 German anti-aircraft artillery position then housing civilian refugees before the eventual Soviet occupation of the former DDR during the Cold War, up until 1990 and the fall of communism and the Berlin Wall. The camp was ransacked and all its assets stripped before its desertion that summer and is a reminder of a fallen ideology
    soviet_village-16-06-1990_3.jpg
  • The kitchen of an abandoned in the former Russian Soviet army camp in occupied East Germany (ex-GDR/DDR), on 16th June 19990, on Halb Insel Wustrow, near Rostock, Germany. The occupants appear to have left in a hurry - or were careless enough to leave possessions and fresh fruit, now rotting on the kitchen table.
    soviet_village-16-06-1990.jpg
  • A deserted landscape of a street and overgrown paths and empty housing in the former Russian Soviet army camp in occupied East Germany (ex-GDR/DDR), on 16th June 19990, on Halb Insel Wustrow, near Rostock, Germany. Wustrow was once a WW2 German anti-aircraft artillery position then housing civilian refugees before the eventual Soviet occupation of the former DDR during the Cold War, up until 1990 and the fall of communism and the Berlin Wall. The camp was ransacked and all its assets stripped before its desertion that summer and is a reminder of a fallen ideology
    soviet_village-16-06-1990_1.jpg
  • Peeled paint and security at the entrance of the notorious secret police (Stasi) Hohenschonhausen prison. The Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial is now a museum and memorial located in Berlin's north-eastern Lichtenberg district. Hohenschönhausen was a very important part of the Socialist GDR's (German Democratic Republic) system of political and artistic oppression. Although torture (including Chinese water torture) and physical violence were commonly employed at Hohenschönhausen (especially in the 1950s), psychological intimidation was the main method of political repression and techniques including sleep deprivation, total isolation, threats to friends and family members. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. The Hohenschonhausen prison's existence was largely unknown to locals - another blank on the map. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    hohenschonhausen_stasi_prison04-05-0...jpg
  • Peeled paint and security at the entrance of the notorious secret police (Stasi) Hohenschonhausen prison. The Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial is now a museum and memorial located in Berlin's north-eastern Lichtenberg district. Hohenschönhausen was a very important part of the Socialist GDR's (German Democratic Republic) system of political and artistic oppression. Although torture (including Chinese water torture) and physical violence were commonly employed at Hohenschönhausen (especially in the 1950s), psychological intimidation was the main method of political repression and techniques including sleep deprivation, total isolation, threats to friends and family members. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. The Hohenschonhausen prison's existence was largely unknown to locals - another blank on the map. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    hohenschonhausen_stasi_prison05-05-0...jpg
  • Detail of an air pressure pump mounted to a wall in the notorious secret police (Stasi) Hohenschonhausen prison. The Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial is now a museum and memorial located in Berlin's north-eastern Lichtenberg district. Hohenschönhausen was a very important part of the Socialist GDR's (German Democratic Republic) system of political and artistic oppression. Although torture (including Chinese water torture) and physical violence were commonly employed at Hohenschönhausen (especially in the 1950s), psychological intimidation was the main method of political repression and techniques including sleep deprivation, total isolation, threats to friends and family members. Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. The Hohenschonhausen prison's existence was largely unknown to locals - another blank on the map. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    hohenschonhausen_stasi_prison06-05-0...jpg
  • CCTV cameras and barred windows and architecture of the notorious secret police (Stasi) Hohenschonhausen prison. The Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial is now a museum and memorial located in Berlin's north-eastern Lichtenberg district. Hohenschönhausen was a very important part of the Socialist GDR's (German Democratic Republic) system of political and artistic oppression. Although torture (including Chinese water torture) and physical violence were commonly employed at Hohenschönhausen (especially in the 1950s), psychological intimidation was the main method of political repression and techniques including sleep deprivation, total isolation, threats to friends and family members.Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. The Hohenschonhausen prison's existence was largely unknown to locals - another blank on the map. During Hitler's Third Reich, the Gestapo had one agent for every 2,000 citizens whereas the Stasi had approximately an spy for every 6.5. German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time' - administered from this complex of offices.
    hohenschonhausen_stasi_prison08-05-0...jpg
Next
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
x

Richard Baker Photography

  • Archive
    • All Galleries
    • Search
    • Cart
    • Lightbox
    • Client Area
  • Portfolio
  • About
  • Contact
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Blog