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  • 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. The two men are kissing on the lips, one of the most iconic paintings that symbolised a divided Europe during the Cold War. The Communist Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev kisses 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_gallery01-06-04-2013.jpg
  • On the edge of an old Soviet parade ground, peeling murals show the physical style of Russian marching techniques seen in this army boot camp in the former East German peninsular called Halbinsel Wustrow near Rostock. For the benefit of recruits or as reminders of Soviet discipline, the picture shows a soldier marching in that unmistakable goose-stepping style reminiscent of the Nazi era, with high forward kicks and a strenuous arm movement to the chest as seen in iconic May Day celebrations in Red Square. Wustrow was once a WW2 German anti-aircraft artillery position then housed 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
    russian_wustrow02-16-06_1990.jpg
  • On the edge of an old Soviet parade ground, peeling murals show the physical style of Russian marching techniques seen in this army boot camp in the former East German peninsular called Halbinsel Wustrow near Rostock. For the benefit of recruits or as a reminder of Soviet discipline, the picture shows soldiers marching in that unmistakable goose-stepping style reminiscent of the Nazi era, with high forward kicks and a strenuous arm movement to the chest as seen in iconic May Day celebrations in Red Square. Wustrow was once a WW2 German anti-aircraft artillery position then housed 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
    russian_wustrow01-16-06_1990.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
  • 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
  • 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
  • On the edge of an old Soviet parade ground, peeling murals show an instruction mural for guarding prison camps seen in this army boot camp in the former East German peninsular called Halbinsel Wustrow near Rostock. For the benefit of recruits or as reminders of Soviet discipline, the picture shows a soldier standing at the barbed wire of a generic Gulag holding his AK-47 weapon and dressed in fur hat and uniform from that era. Perhaps those training here were eventually to guard political prisoners though it is a reminder of a fallen ideology. Wustrow was once a WW2 German anti-aircraft artillery position then housed 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.
    russian_wustrow03-16-06_1990.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. The two men are kissing on the lips, one of the most iconic paintings that symbolised a divided Europe during the Cold War. The Communist Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev kisses 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_gallery03-06-04-2013.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. The two men are kissing on the lips, one of the most iconic paintings that symbolised a divided Europe during the Cold War. The Communist Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev kisses 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_gallery05-06-04-2013.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
  • 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
  • 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_museum29-07-04-2013.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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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_prison07-05-0...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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Lying horizontal in a Budapest scrap yard are two Communist-era statues that were toppled along with the fall of the Hungarian Socialist state in March 1990. In the foreground is the statue of the once-hated Hungarian local Communist Ferenc Munnich who participated in the 1956 Hungarian revolution, then a member of the 'Revolutionary Worker-Peasant Government', the Workers' Militia and then defence minister and earning himself the Order of Lenin in 1967. After Hungary's transition to a democracy, he has been dumped horizontally on a wooden frame, sliced off its original plinth at the feet and painted red, awaiting its fate. In fact this statue is now located in the theme park called Szoborpark (Statue Park) in the south of the city where he shares a political tourist landscape of 42 pieces of art from the Communist era between 1945 and 1989.
    communist_statue-13-06-1990.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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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_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 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Security barbed wire 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_prison09-05-0...jpg
  • Entrance 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_prison10-05-0...jpg
  • CCTV cameras barbed wire over the outer wall 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_prison12-05-0...jpg
  • The outer wall and watchtower on Genzlerstrasse 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'.
    hohenschonhausen_stasi_prison13-05-0...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_victims03-07-04-2013.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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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_museum14-07-04-2013.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
  • 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_gallery14-08-04-2013.jpg
  • Members of Chinese exile community keep vigil and await more news outside their embassy a day after the Tiananmen Sq massacre. Catching up on the latest from home, the young Chinese activists read newspapers reporting of the massacre by the Chinese regime on protesting students in Beijing. The political crackdown that initiated on June 3–4 1989 became known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre as troops with assault rifles and tanks inflicted casualties on unarmed civilians trying to block the military’s advance towards Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing, which student demonstrators had occupied for seven weeks.
    tiananmen_london01-05-06-1989.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes31-06-12-2013.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes28-06-12-2013.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes29-06-12-2013.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes13-06-12-2013.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes09-06-12-2013.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes12-06-12-2013.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes18-06-12-2013.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes03-06-12-2013.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes01-06-12-2013.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes02-06-12-2013.jpg
  • Hidden behind their newspaper, an anonymous city worker exercises their body while simultaneously works their mind while on a gym bike. Spinning feet on pedals and slightly blurring of the pages, the person has their fitness regime fulfilled while reading all the latest in world finance from the Financial Times (FT) broadsheet.
    gym_bike01-16-03-1993.jpg
  • Reacting to the death earlier in Sirte of the dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi, a young Libyan child whose grandfather was killed by the Gaddafi regime in 1979, celebrates by waving the revolutionary flag with her father outside their London embassy in Knightbridge, central London.
    libyan_celebrations9-20-10-2011.jpg
  • Reacting to the death earlier in Sirte of the dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi, a young Libyan child whose grandfather was killed by the Gaddafi regime in 1979, celebrates by waving the revolutionary flag with her father outside their London embassy in Knightbridge, central London.
    libyan_celebrations6-20-10-2011.jpg
  • An elderly Hungarian woman pauses to smile at the viewer during a busy morning in Budapest's Central Market Hall (Hungarian: Nagycsarnok), on F?vám Tér in the 9th district. The market is the largest indoor market in the Hungarian capital and is where this lady and many other market traders converge on every weekday morning to sell their own produce. This woman has a lined face suggesting she has had a hard life under a Communist regime. She still wears a traditional Hungarian covered head favoured by older people in rural communities but is now dying out as headwear for a younger generation.
    hungarian_woman02-13-06-1990.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes32-06-12-2013.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes25-06-12-2013.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes24-06-12-2013.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes23-06-12-2013.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes21-06-12-2013.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes11-06-12-2013.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes10-06-12-2013.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes08-06-12-2013.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes06-06-12-2013.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes05-06-12-2013.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes07-06-12-2013.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes19-06-12-2013.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes16-06-12-2013.jpg
  • London 6th December 2013: Tributes pour in to the former South African leader and anti-apartheid ANC campaigner Nelson Mandela, who has died aged 95. Mandela made many friends in Britain, visiting many times - in the 60s to raise funds for his political struggle against the racist regime, then as President after 27 years imprisonment.
    mandela_tributes04-06-12-2013.jpg
  • Reacting to the death earlier in Sirte of the dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi, a young Libyan child whose grandfather was killed by the Gaddafi regime in 1979, celebrates by waving the revolutionary flag with her father outside their London embassy in Knightbridge, central London.
    libyan_celebrations8-20-10-2011.jpg
  • An English gentleman passes Libyan exiles opposite their London embassy during the Gaddafi uprising. Holding placards and banners that show some atrocities carried out by mercenaries and the army, they shout for regime change and for Colonel Gaddafi to be hanged for war crimes, the elderly man carefully passes their railing enclosure without looking them in the eye. Further along the railings, Islamic extremist demand Shariah law after the Gaddafi uprising. Holding up his placards that ask for Allah's Holy law and a Shariah way of life for Libya and that Democracy is the path to Hellfire
    libyan_protests16-25-02-2011.jpg
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