The Development of the Complex After 1945

The Soviet Army used the buildings left standing after 1945 as housing. A squad of the People’s Police was stationed here in 1949/50. The buildings located in Eiche were used by units of the National People’s Army between 1956 and 1990, and today they are the Havelland Barracks of the German Armed Forces. The “Academy for the Ministry for State Security” was built in the western part of the complex in Golm in June 1951. It was a central training institution, under various names, for Stasi employees in the GDR until 1990. The complex hosted the everyday life of officers and “Kursants” (students of military and police academies), and it was largely screened off from the outside world. In addition to an outpatient clinic and institutions for child care, there was also a gymnasium, a swimming pool, and as of 1969 the complex’s own restaurant, which was built in the restored former vehicle and equipment hall (building 8). The complex also had its own gas station starting in 1980. Over time, the complex expanded to the west. Construction included three residence halls (building 15, 16, 17). Everything that happened on these premises was subject to the strictest secrecy. The facilities in Golm therefore did not appear in the higher education register of the GDR; they were under the direct control of the Ministry for State Security.