Surveillance Monitor. Citizens as a source of danger
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| Admission: 10 EUR, reduced 5 EUR |
| Planning: Duration: 60 min |
| Suitable for: 16 years and older |
| Which languages: German |
| Venue: Treppenhalle 2. OG Süd / Rolltreppe, 2. OG |
| Group size: max. 25 persons |
| Part of: One Object, Many Questions |
| Belongs to: Blown Away: The Palace of the Republic |
In terms of object security and surveillance, there was a special constellation in the Palace of the Republic: as a “House of the People”, the Palace was freely accessible to the public. At the same time, it was the seat of the GDR People’s Chamber, so the Ministry for State Security (Stasi) treated it as an object of special attention. Controls were supposed to ensure security of the building and prevent “actions critical of the state”: Employees were screened, visitors kept under surveillance, telephones tapped and central areas observed with cameras. Equipment such as the RFT FB 2011 were used to monitor the interior and exterior areas.
Curator Uta Kornmeier and Dagmar Hovestädt, former head of outreach and research of the Stasi Records Archives in the Federal Archives, discuss the question of what went beyond the “normal” level of object security and thus turned into the persecution of unpopular persons. What role did the Stasi play in the Palace of the Republic? How did it define “critical actions”, and how far did it go to intervene?
Participants
Dagmar Hovestädt is a freelance author, consultant and moderator. She was the spokesperson for the Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records from 2011 to 2021 and was previously a journalist in Berlin and Los Angeles. Her areas of expertise are the intersection of archives, dealing with injustice and human rights as well as non-profit journalism and disinformation education.
Uta Kornmeier studied art history and museum studies and curated several exhibitions at the Berlin Museum of Medical History. Since 2020, she has been curator for academic events and programmes at the Humboldt Forum.