The headquarters of Stasi Minister Erich Mielke were located in the central building on the grounds of the State Security in Berlin-Lichtenberg. This is where important conferences and meetings with Mielke and his deputies were held. Soviet liaison officers and secret police delegations from other socialist states were also received in House 1. It was from here that Mielke issued orders and directives to the ministry’s main departments, the 15 district administrations and 216 county and on-site offices in the GDR. A decisive factor in all of this were the guidelines set by the party leadership of the Socialist Unity Party, the SED.

People who opposed the state socialism practised in the GDR were intimidated, ostracised and, in some cases, punished. These measures were applied both to the GDR’s general population as well as to the Stasi’s own ranks. Mielke impressed upon his staff the importance of being everywhere at once and staying vigilant so that alleged traitors and enemies could be promptly identified and apprehended. Adherence to secrecy and maintaining the military and internal order was carefully monitored. Misconduct led to disciplinary action.

Building Measures and Security 

House 1 was constructed under strict secrecy. The minister moved into his offices on the 2nd floor in 1964. The building closed the gap between the "old building" – the former tax office on the corner of Normannenstrasse – and House 7, which was built from 1957 and known as the "new building". The location of House 1 led the Stasi to refer to it as the ‘interim building’ or "Object Z" for many years. The main entrance to House 1 with its glass doors turned out to be a weak point in the design. When the high-rise buildings were erected on Frankfurter Allee in the mid-1970s, the MfS added a structure to the front of the building to block it from view from the outside.

In addition to the leadership offices of the minister and his deputy, Department XII Central Data/Storage also worked on the 5th and 6th floors of the building. The Intelligence Department was located on the top floor until 1979. Three 15-metre-high antenna masts made it possible for the Stasi leaders to communicate with their own offices, the SED leadership and their Soviet "friends". 

Inside the Centre of Power 

In appointing Erich Mielke as minister, Walter Ulbricht strengthened his own position. Party leader Ulbricht was under the impression that Mielke’s predecessors, Wilhelm Zaisser and Ernst Wollweber, had become too powerful and independent because of their close ties to Moscow and the Soviet secret service. He thought that the new minister would be a devoted follower and not pose a risk to him because of his criminal past. Among other things, Mielke had participated in the murder of two policemen on Berlin's Bülowplatz in August 1931 and fled to Moscow to avoid arrest.