History UsefulNotes / TheStasi

Despite attempts by officers to destroy them, most of the archives were taken intact after the Wall fell - the old headquarters is now a museum.

The Stasi also took [[BigBrotherIsWatching mass surveillance]] to new heights. To give you a baseline, the old [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre KGB]] "only" had one officer for every 5830 citizens and its modern counterpart, the FSB in Putin's Russia, can work about 1 officer for 273 citizens. The best the Gestapo could manage was one officer for 2000 citizens. The Stasi had one officer for every ''166'' citizens of East Germany. And these numbers only count official full-time agents--when you include the vast numbers of East Germans who were at one time or another acting as part-time or even full-time informants for the Stasi, the number goes up to ''one in seven'' by some estimates. No one was sure if they were being watched or not, and could never tell if their friends or family were informing on them. Often people had no choice.

* ''Film/TheLivesOfOthers''. The central character is an agent of the Stasi who is tasked to spy the life of a playwright. The actor who plays him was himself spied on by his wife working for them-[[{{Irony}} just like what happens in the film]].

-->Stasi Chief Erich Mielke

* How can you tell that the Stasi has bugged your apartment? [[IncrediblyObviousBug There's a new cabinet in it]]. ''[they may have had a lot of people, but their tech was horrible]''

* In ''{{Series/Deutschland 83}}'', the main character is forced to infiltrate the West by the Stasi. It's one of the few pieces of media in reunified Germany to show the Stasi in a GreyAndGreyMorality setting than automatic AcceptableTargets [[http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/17/deutschland-83-wowed-world-germans-dont-like-it which led to some]] [[AmericansHateTingle Germans disavowing the film.]]

What especially made Stasi infamous was their decision in the 1970s to drop the old totalitarian MO of arresting and torturing dissents after deeming it too ineffective, and instead instigate campaigns of psychological harassment and manipulation of their targets, something which also extended to their interrogation and punishment techniques were "cruder" courses of actions, such as beatings and hard labor, were often foregone in favor of more insidious things, such as ''extremely'' prolonged solitary confinement. As an old saying goes ''"UsefulNotes/TheGestapo were bone breakers. The Stasi were ''soul'' breakers."''

At their height, they had one officer for every 166 East German citizens. For comparison, the old [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre KGB]] "only" had one officer for every 5830 citizens and its modern counterpart, the FSB in Putin's Russia, can work about 1 officer for 273 citizens. The best the Gestapo could manage was one officer for ''2000'' citizens. And these numbers only count official full-time agents--when you include the vast numbers of East Germans who were at one time or another acting as part-time or even full-time informants for the Stasi, the number goes up to ''one in seven'' by some estimates. No one was sure if they were being watched or not, and could never tell if their friends or family were informing on them. Often people had no choice.

[[caption-width-right:150:The sword and shield of the Party.]]

At their height, they had one officer for every 166 East German citizens. For comparison, the old [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre KGB]] "only" had one officer for every 5830 citizens and its modern counterpart, the FSB in Putin's Russia, can work about 1 officer for 273 citizens. The best the Gestapo could manage was one officer for ''2000'' citizens. No one was sure if they were being watched or not, and could never tell if their friends or family were informing on them. Often people had no choice.

At their height, they had one officer for every 166 East German citizens. For comparison, the old [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre KBG]] "only" had one officer for every 5830 citizens and its modern counterpart, the FSB in Putin's Russia, can work about 1 officer for 273 citizens. The best the Gestapo could manage was one officer for ''2000'' citizens. No one was sure if they were being watched or not, and could never tell if their friends or family were informing on them. Often people had no choice.

* In ''{{Series/Deutschland 83}}'', the main character is forced to infiltrate the West by the Stasi.

At their height, they had one officer for every 166 East German citizens. The FSB in Putin's Russia can work about 1 officer for 273 citizens. The best the Gestapo could manage was one officer for ''2000'' citizens. No one was sure if they were being watched or not, and could never tell if their friends or family were informing on them. Often people had no choice.

What especially made Stasi infamous was their decision in the 1970s to drop the old totalitarian MO of arresting and torturing dissents for after deeming it too ineffective, and instead instigate campaigns of psychological harassment and manipulation of their targets, something which also extended to their interrogation and punishment techniques were "cruder" courses of actions, such as beatings and hard labor, were often foregone in favor of more insidious things, such as ''extremely'' prolonged solitary confinement. As an old saying goes ''"UsefulNotes/TheGestapo were bone breakers. The Stasi were ''soul'' breakers."''

* In ''{{Series/Deutschland83}}'', the main character is forced to infiltrate the West by the Stasi.

What especially made Stasi infamous was their decision in the 1970s to drop the totalitarian MO of arresting and torturing dissents for after deeming it too ineffective, and instead instigate campaigns of psychological harassment and manipulation of their targets, something which also extended to their interrogation and punishment techniques were "cruder" courses of actions, such as beatings and hard labor, were often foregone in favor of more insidious things, such as ''extremely'' prolonged solitary confinement. As an old saying goes ''"UsefulNotes/TheGestapo were bone breakers. The Stasi were ''soul'' breakers."''

What especially made Stasi infamous was their decision in the 1970s to drop the totalitarian MO of arresting and torturing dissents for after deeming it too ineffective, and instead instigate campaigns of psychological harassment and manipulation of their targets, something which also extended to their interrogation and punishment techniques were "cruder" courses of actions, such as beatings and hard labor, were often foregone in favor of more insidious things, such as ''extremely'' prolonged solitary confinement. An old saying is ''"UsefulNotes/TheGestapo were bone breakers. The Stasi were ''soul'' breakers."'' At their height, they had one officer for every 166 East German citizens. The FSB in Putin's Russia can work about 1 officer for 273 citizens. The best the Gestapo could manage was one officer for ''2000'' citizens. No one was sure if they were being watched or not, and could never tell if their friends or family were informing on them. Often people had no choice.

The ''Ministerium für '''Sta'''ats'''si'''cherheit'' ("Ministry of State Security") was the SecretPolice / StateSec of UsefulNotes/EastGermany. Their job was to find dissenters and torture them into becoming productive members of the state. From this emerged the most frighteningly effective and efficient secret police in Europe. An old saying is ''"UsefulNotes/TheGestapo were bone breakers. The Stasi were ''soul'' breakers."'' At their height, they had one officer for every 166 East German citizens. The FSB in Putin's Russia can work about 1 officer for 273 citizens. The best the Gestapo could manage was one officer for ''2000'' citizens. No one was sure if they were being watched or not, and could never tell if their friends or family were informing on them. Often people had no choice.

[[caption-width-right:350:The sword and shield of the Party.]]

* In ''Series/Deutschland83'', the main character is forced to infiltrate the West by the Stasi.

The ''Ministerium für '''Sta'''ats'''si'''cherheit'' ("Ministry of State Security") was the SecretPolice / StateSec of EastGermany. Their job was to find dissenters and torture them into becoming productive members of the state. From this emerged the most frighteningly effective and efficient secret police in Europe. An old saying is ''"The {{Gestapo}} were bone breakers. The Stasi were ''soul'' breakers."'' At their height, they had one officer for every 166 East German citizens. The FSB in Putin's Russia can work about 1 officer for 273 citizens. The best the Gestapo could manage was one officer for ''2000'' citizens. No one was sure if they were being watched or not, and could never tell if their friends or family were informing on them. Often people had no choice.

* ''NightCrossing'': referred to as the "SSD", or Staatsicherheitdienst

* ''Film/TheLivesOfOthers''. The central character is an agent of the Stasi who is tasked to spy the life of a playwright.

The ''Ministerium für '''Sta'''at'''si'''cherheit'' ("Ministry of State Security") was the SecretPolice / StateSec of EastGermany. Their job was to find dissenters and torture them into becoming productive members of the state. From this emerged the most frighteningly effective and efficient secret police in Europe. An old saying is ''"The {{Gestapo}} were bone breakers. The Stasi were ''soul'' breakers."'' At their height, they had one officer for every 166 East German citizens. The FSB in Putin's Russia can work about 1 officer for 273 citizens. The best the Gestapo could manage was one officer for ''2000'' citizens. No one was sure if they were being watched or not, and could never tell if their friends or family were informing on them. Often people had no choice.

The ''Ministerium für ''Sta'''at'''si'''cherheit'' ("Ministry of State Security) was the SecretPolice / StateSec of EastGermany. Their job was to find dissenters and torture them into becoming productive members of the state. From this emerged the most frighteningly effective and efficient secret police in Europe. An old saying is ''"The {{Gestapo}} were bone breakers. The Stasi were '''soul''' breakers."'' At their height, they had one officer for every 166 East German citizens. The FSB in Putin's Russia can work about 1 officer for 273 citizens. The best the Gestapo could manage was one officer for '''2000''' citizens. No one was sure if they were being watched or not, and could never tell if their friends or family were informing on them. Often people had no choice.

The '''''Sta'''at'''si'''cherheit'' was the SecretPolice / StateSec of EastGermany. Their job was to find dissenters and torture them into becoming productive members of the state. From this emerged the most frighteningly effective and efficient secret police in Europe. An old saying is ''"The {{Gestapo}} were bone breakers. The Stasi were '''soul''' breakers."'' At their height, they had one officer for every 166 East German citizens. The FSB in Putin's Russia can work about 1 officer for 273 citizens. The best the Gestapo could manage was one officer for '''2000''' citizens. No one was sure if they were being watched or not, and could never tell if their friends or family were informing on them. Often people had no choice.

The '''''Sta'''at'''si'''cherheit'' was the SecretPolice / StateSec of EastGermany. Their job was to find dissenters and torture them into becoming productive members of the state. And boy, were they good at their job. An old saying is ''"The Gestapo were bone breakers. The Stasi were '''soul''' breakers."'' At their height, they had one officer for every 166 East German citizens. The FSB in Putin's Russia can work about 1 officer for 273 citizens! The best the Gestapo could manage was one officer for '''2000''' citizens. No one was sure if they were being watched or not, and could never tell if their friends or family were informing on them. Often people had no choice.

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* Appears in ''TheSpyWhoCameInFromTheCold''.