Gedenkstätte Hohenschönhausen is the former East German Ministry of State Security (MfS), or ‘Stasi’, and has been a Memorial since 1994. Following the unification of the two German states, the prison in Berlin – Hohenschönhausen was closed in October 1990. Former prisoners spoke out in favor of establishing a memorial at the site. In 1992, the prison complex was listed as a historical monument. Since 2000, it has been an independent foundation under public law. The memorial ‘explores the history of the Hohenschönhausen prison between 1945 and 1989, informing about exhibitions, events and publications and inspiring visitors to take a critical look at the methods and consequences of political persecution and suppression in the communist dictatorship’.
