Storming of the Stasi headquarters in Normannenstrasse in 1990
The GDR State Security Headquarters in Normannenstrasse in East Berlin were attacked on January 15, 1990. Citizens rushed into the building complex to prevent the destruction of files by the disbanding State Security. The occupation of the headquarters of the Ministry for State Security (MfS) became the prerequisite for the fact that many files could be saved at that time and are now visible in the Stasi records authority in reunified Germany .
Previous events
On the morning of December 4, 1989, the Stasi district administration in Erfurt, and in the evening also those in Leipzig, Suhl and Rostock and a number of district offices were occupied by civil rights activists. In the following two days all other district offices were filled. The main demands of the occupiers were: stop the destruction of files and dissolve the Ministry of State Security. The dissolution of the Stasi began with the citizens' committees and civil guards that were then founded.
At that time, however, the headquarters in Normannenstrasse in Berlin was still working under a different name. It was officially renamed the National Security Bureau on November 17th. The new head of State Security had noticed that the political framework for the work of the Stasi was changing and reacted with external "reforms". Because with the occupations in the districts, the political conditions for the Stasi had changed radically. Stasi chief Erich Mielke had lost his office and was placed under house arrest in the Waldsiedlung Wandlitz on December 5, 1989, along with Erich Honecker and other former SED politburo members . Under the leadership of former Stasi officers, including Colonel General Rudi Mittig , the old structures of the state security continued to exist. Mittig and other senior employees announced their resignation on December 5, 1989. The controversial Head of State Security, Wolfgang Schwanitz , remained in office . After his appointment, Schwanitz had distanced himself from the Stasi’s earlier practices and announced a reduction in the number of employees by 8,000. However, on December 7, 1989, he had to admit that he had ordered the destruction of files in his area.
At this time, according to official information from the GDR government, 30,000 of the original 85,000 full-time employees had already been laid off and a further 20,500 had been integrated into the GDR's economy. Of the remaining 32,500 Stasi employees, 20,000 should be dismissed in the near future. According to the government, the remaining 12,500 would still be needed to accelerate the dissolution of the former MfS.
According to many civil rights activists, Prime Minister Hans Modrow pursued the entire dissolution of the state apparatus only half-heartedly. Many citizens therefore demanded an immediate dissolution of the state security without the formation of successor authorities.
That the headquarters of the former MfS in Berlin continued to work, particularly annoyed many. There were repeated protests across the GDR, even threats of strikes and demonstrations. In this situation, the citizens' committees that were holding the district administrations of the MfS decided to intervene in Berlin. On the morning of January 15th, in front of the round table in front of the television cameras, they asked for an end to the hustle and bustle. In the afternoon, they entered into a security partnership with the police, prosecutors and the government. Even before the demonstrators arrived, the Stasi had to capitulate.
Storm
In order to increase the pressure on the government, the citizens' movement Neues Forum had called for a protest demonstration on January 15, 1990 in Normannenstrasse in East Berlin. Thousands of demonstrators followed the call and huddled in front of the gate of the old Ministry for State Security in the Lichtenberg district . The site was a restricted area for decades. According to GDR television , 100,000 demonstrators were gathered in front of the Stasi headquarters. The GDR Council of Ministers asked the People's Police to locate representatives of the civil rights movement and to discuss with them the security of the Stasi headquarters from outside. The People's Police cordoned off the area with emergency vehicles, but did not intervene in the action.
The protesters loudly called for the entrance gate to be opened. Around 5 p.m., a protester jumped over the gate. The citizens' committee members and the police inside behind the gate decided not to intervene. In this way, people were able to stream into the courtyard of the Stasi premises between Ruschestrasse and Normannenstrasse. There were only a few officials on the premises because, after consultations with an improvised "citizens 'committee", the authorities' management asked their employees to leave the premises by 3:00 p.m.
On the premises, the crowd turned left to the brightly lit supply wing of the complex and the counterintelligence wing. There were tumultuous scenes in which the windows burst and furniture and files flew out of the windows. There was no violence against people and no firearms were used. After three hours, most of the people had left the premises.
While the Central Round Table had demanded that the Stasi headquarters be checked by independent lawyers and proven opposition members, a former NVA Colonel General took over the dissolution of the Stasi and 21 police officers were deployed in a three-shift system to guard the extensive grounds. At the same time, “thousands of Stasi cadres were still working in the complex. They continued to come and go unhindered. Even trucks entering and leaving were only examined sporadically. "
Second occupation
One of the most important demands of the occupiers was that the files be opened for the clarification of the GDR injustice and for the rehabilitation of the victims. There were repeated attempts by the GDR government to enforce the destruction of the files and to prevent them from being inspected. The Volkskammer of the GDR, freely elected in 1990, passed a corresponding law in its last session, but this was not incorporated into the Unification Treaty. A second occupation of the building and a hunger strike in September 1990 ensured that the secured files of the state security did not disappear in the BRD Federal Archives in Koblenz. Leading western politicians from the government , as well as Helmut Kohl himself, preferred to destroy the files or have them taken to the Federal Archives . It should be kept under lock and key there.
effect
After the occupation, the GDR government under Prime Minister Hans Modrow gave way and dissolved the Ministry of State Security, as requested by the New Forum.
Journalist Marcel Fürstenau is of the opinion that if the Stasi headquarters had been stormed at the end of October 1989, shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall , there might have been a bloodbath. At that time, the use of firearms for security purposes was still planned.
Remembrance and appreciation
The occupation of the district and district offices and the storming of the main office of the State Security saved files en masse from destruction and thus laid the foundation for coming to terms with the SED dictatorship, said the federal commissioner for the Stasi files, Roland Jahn 2015. With a citizens' day the historic event was commemorated on January 17, 2015 on the site. A new permanent exhibition on the work of the Stasi was inaugurated.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Christian Booß: From storming the Stasi to opening files . Federal Agency for Civic Education
- ^ The 1st Stasi occupation in Erfurt in 1989. Gesellschaft-zeitgeschichte.de
- ↑ Stasi documents
- ↑ Thilo Schmidt : Was this all a coincidence? The storm on the Stasi headquarters in Berlin . Deutschlandradio culture country report.
- ↑ morgenpost.de
- ↑ January 15, 1990: a Stasi success? Federal Agency for Civic Education , January 15, 2017; accessed on May 8, 2018
- ↑ dw.de
- ↑ Citizens' day planned. Storming of the Stasi headquarters 25 years ago. (Not available online.) In: Welt.de . January 12, 2015, archived from the original on January 15, 2015 ; accessed on January 16, 2015 .
Coordinates: 52 ° 30 ′ 52 ″ N , 13 ° 29 ′ 15 ″ E