Our Local Stasi

Turns out the Stasi had their local headquarters and apartment building just a few doors down from our place. It is actually just behind where the old synagogue was before it got burnt down by the Nazis. Wandering around the place you can still see the old guard posts near the entrances, now all boarded up, but not yet torn down.

The photo below shows the apartment building that used to house the Stasi officials. There's actually a pretty neat mural just below that I'll also post when I manage to get a photo without cars parked in front of it.

The building itself is the largest around and clearly stands out, looming over the old city. I like the contrast between the photo, with the clear blue sky background and how many of the locals probably felt about it before the collapse of East Germany. I imagine that that area was probably actively avoided by a great many folks.

I find it personally difficult to reconcile the fact that the Stasi were one of the largest and most repressive secret police organizations within the communist world with the apparent high opinion that East Germans have of their former government, but perhaps that is just my snarky American attitude coming out.