Stasi Museum

The Stasi Museum in Berlin's Lichtenberg district occupies Building 1 of the former headquarters of East Germany's Ministry for State Security. From here Erich Mielke ran the secret police for more than three decades. Today you can walk through his preserved offices and a bilingual exhibition on how the Stasi spied on, intimidated and persecuted its own citizens. It is one of the essential things to do in Berlin for anyone curious about the Cold War.

From headquarters to museum

Building 1 went up in 1960–61 as the office of Erich Mielke, Minister for State Security from 1957 until November 1989. On January 15, 1990, citizens occupied the headquarters to stop the destruction of files. Civil rights activists founded the association ASTAK that summer and opened the museum later in 1990. The current permanent exhibition, "State Security in the SED Dictatorship," opened in 2015. The Stasi Records Archive still works on the site, and an open-air exhibition covers the 1989 revolution and the fall of the Wall.

What to see

The highlight is Mielke's ministerial floor: his office, anteroom and conference room, kept largely as they were in 1989. Elsewhere you will find bugging devices, hidden cameras and disguised equipment, sample files, and stories of people targeted by the Stasi. All texts are in German and English. Plan 90 minutes to two and a half hours.

Tickets, opening hours and tours

Tickets cost 12 EUR for adults, 9 EUR reduced and 6 EUR for children 13 and older (as of October 2026). The museum is open Monday to Friday 10 am to 6 pm and weekends and holidays 11 am to 6 pm, closed December 24, December 31 and January 1.

English public tours run Monday to Saturday at 3 pm (German at 1 pm) for 5 EUR on top of admission, limited to 25 people, so booking online in advance is a good idea. An audio guide in seven languages costs 2 EUR.

How to get there

From Alexanderplatz take the U5 subway about 15 minutes to Magdalenenstraße and use the Ruschestraße exit. Or take the Ring S-Bahn to Frankfurter Allee and walk around ten minutes. A regular Berlin AB ticket or the Deutschlandticket covers the trip. Step-free access is through the staff entrance to the left of the main door.

Is it worth visiting?

Yes, particularly if you combine it with the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial, the former Stasi prison. Together they show both ends of the system: the office where surveillance was planned and the cells where its victims ended up. On the way back, ride the U5 to Karl-Marx-Allee to see East Berlin's showpiece socialist boulevard.