Safe house
Conspiratorial apartment is the general name for a mostly private apartment , which primarily does not serve the purpose of homely accommodation, but another, mostly illegal or secret service purpose.
Because of the terrorist attacks in connection with the kidnapping of Hanns Martin Schleyer by the RAF in 1977, Konspirative Wohnung was chosen as Word of the Year 1978.
Organized and General Crime
These apartments are rented by terrorists , for example , in order to prepare illegal actions. Since these actions can be described as conspiratorial, their name is probably derived from the word conspiracy .
Secret services
On the other hand, apartments rented by secret services are also called this if they are used for the purpose of observing suspects or as quarters for special actions. Opponents living in the same house are often enlightened with the help of conspiratorial apartments. Conspiratorial apartments are also used for meetings between senior officers and their agents . In addition, apartments for the temporary accommodation of witnesses could also be referred to as “conspiratorial apartments”.
The GDR Ministry for State Security (MfS) used a large number of conspiratorial dwellings, so-called KWs . The owners of these apartments were mostly reliable comrades who were advertised as IMK - a special form of unofficial staff - and paid for the use of the apartment or room. For this purpose, the MfS preferred apartments on the middle floors of buildings with a lot of public traffic.
The density of conspiratorial dwellings was particularly high in the district towns in the 1980s ( Frankfurt (Oder) : approx. 538; Erfurt : approx. 480; Leipzig : 1062). At the end of the GDR, there were around 2.4 conspiratorial apartments for every 1000 inhabitants in Erfurt.
The MfS also maintained its own rooms in public GDR institutions such as universities, which were used for conspiratorial meetings.
Publications
- Heinrich Best / Joachim Heinrich / Heinz Mestrup (Eds.): Secret meeting places of the MfS in Erfurt , LStU Thuringia 2006.
- taz (Die Tageszeitung) : Heimatkunde - the infinitely long list of former Stasi objects , special print from June 20, 1990.
Web links
- Stasi in Erfurt - information on conspiratorial apartments of the MfS in general and in Erfurt.
- German-British project “Konspirative Wohnen / Conspiracy Dwellings” with exhibitions in Erfurt and Bracknell 2007/2008.
- Conspiratorial housing of the Stasi in Lausitz, a publication of the Lausitzer Rundschau from December 2008 [2]
Individual evidence
- ↑ See Helmut Müller-Enbergs : Konspirative Wohnung . In: Roger Engelmann / Bernd Florath / Walter Süß et al. (Eds.): Das MfS-Lexikon - terms, persons and structures of the state security of the GDR , Ch. Links, Berlin 2011, p. 193.
- ↑ Jeanette Bederke, in 'Berliner Morgenpost' on November 15, 2008 [1]
- ↑ Leipziger Internet Zeitung: Digital map now makes the conspiratorial Stasi objects in the Leipzig city area visible - L-IZ.de. Retrieved December 14, 2019 .
- ↑ For example at the TU Magdeburg . Source: BStU , AS Magdeburg 3899 Note from Department XX / 8 of November 30, 1987.