FAQs

Before visiting the archives, please book an appointment with the reading room service in the archive you intend to visit and reserve a workstation. If you are already in the reading room, please contact the person in charge. If you have not already, you must now sign the research request form (PDF, 252 KB, File does not meet accessibility standards). Afterwards, you will find out what you need to do to receive files.

No, unfortunately, this is not possible. The number of workstations in the reading room is limited and archive materials have to be prepared in advance of your visit. Furthermore, to use the reading rooms, you must complete and submit a research request form (PDF, 252 KB, File does not meet accessibility standards). You can download the request form prior to your visit, complete it and return it scanned by e-mail or post to the Federal Archives.

No, archive material can only be used on site and its use is regulated by the Reading Room Regulations. In general, original archival documents cannot be taken out of the reading room, but copies can usually be made that you can take with you.

You can book or cancel workstations online in the reading rooms of the Federal Archives in Berlin-Lichterfelde, Koblenz, and Freiburg (limited availability here; to view BMVg, Bundeswehr and NVA documents please consult first with the reading room staff. Email: benutzersaal.freiburg@bundesarchiv.de or Tel: +49 0761/47817-911).

Detailed information on using the electronic booking system for reading room reservations in the Federal Archives can be found in our research area.

Appointments can be booked up to one year in advance.

No, a separate appointment is required for the personal use of pictures and films. This cannot be done via the online booking system. To use pictures, please contact us at: bild@bundesarchiv.de. For film, please contact us at: filmbenutzung@bundesarchiv.de.

For pictures and films, please send the request form for audiovisual media. To use this archive material, you must first complete the request form (PDF, 1.53 MB, File does not meet accessibility standards) and send it to us. This is necessary because when you sign the form you agree to comply with the Federal Archives Act, Use Ordinance and Fee Ordinance. You must also state the subject and purpose of your research on the request form.

Please do not send the request form to the Federal Archives without enclosing a written enquiry describing your request as precisely as possible. This allows the staff of the Federal Archives to prepare for your visit, offer specific recommendations for your research and provide you with finding aids and files.

You can also send your enquiry directly to the department or office whose archive records you wish to use. However, we ask that you not send the same request to different departments of the Federal Archives. Our staff will coordinate the processing of your request internally. If your enquiry has a good chance of being successful, the Federal Archives will also provide information on further enquiry options at other institutions.

Yes, you can independently research documents, images and films online. An overview of the available research systems is found on our research pages.

You can independently research digitised sources online. Most of the digitised data consists of files or images. Detailed information on the research systems can be found in the ‘Digitised Records’ section.

The archive records of the Federal Archives contain a large number of personal documents. We have compiled information on frequently requested areas pertaining to individual persons and on conducting genealogical research in the section on ‘Genealogical Research’.

We have set up service teams at the Federal Archives to ensure that staff are always available even when employees are on sick leave or holiday. For this reason, however, we often do not list a specific person. Instead we provide the telephone number and e-mail address of a service team. If you are unsure who to contact, it is best to use the contact form.

The word is a colloquial term for state security, and refers to the former East German Ministry for State Security, abbreviated as MfS.

The Stasi, or rather the MfS, was both an intelligence service and a secret police and it engaged in severe violations of civil and human rights. The SED, the governing state party in the GDR, used the Stasi as an instrument to systematically monitor its own population and to assert its claim to power through repression.

More detailed information about this is found under: What was the “Stasi”?

If you want to find out whether the State Security Service collected information about you, please send a written request to the Federal Archives - Stasi Records Archive. You can use the paper request form or the online form with the new ID card with an activated online ID function (German only). Please follow the instructions on completing the form. If you have any questions, please use our Help page.

Confirmation of identity is issued by your registration office or citizens’ registration office. If you submit the request in person to the Berlin Central Office or one of our branch offices, your personal details will be confirmed by the staff of the Stasi Records Archive. Please bring a valid identity card or passport with you.

This is not necessary for online applications (German only), as the required data will be read from your ID card with the activated online ID function.

Persons concerned, third parties and near relatives are exempted from normal fees and expenses for viewing files. A fee of 5.11 euros is charged for the production of copies. In addition, expenses for the number of copies will be charged if these exceed 2.56 euros. The A 4 copy is charged at 3 cents.

Former employees and beneficiaries of the State Security Service are subject to a fee of 76.69 euros for receiving information or viewing files. A fee of 10 cents is charged for each A4 copy.

Details can be found in the Fee Ordinance and Schedule of Fees and Expenses (German only).

You will be notified within six months as to whether you are registered in the files of the State Security Service. Because we continue to receive many requests and it takes time to process them, it can take up to two years before you can view the records or receive copies. Efforts are being made to reduce this waiting period.

If there is only a small amount of material, the documents will usually be sent to you free of charge. In other cases, you will be invited to come to the location of the Stasi Records Archive designated in your request form (central office in Berlin or one of the branch offices). If you cannot or do not wish to travel to view files in person, please apply for copies to be made by ticking the appropriate box on the request form. Please note that you may be charged for a large number of document copies.

The complete list of fees and expenses and the current version of the fee ordinance is found on our website.

If you require someone’s assistance, you may bring a trusted person with you to view the files. Your need for assistance, however, must be plausible.

There is no deadline. You can apply to view the files at any time.

The Stasi files are still being catalogued in the Stasi Records Archive.

If you have already viewed files or if no documents were found following a first request, you should consider submitting a new request a few years later since there may be new results.

As a rule, you can simply send an informal written request – ideally including reference to the first one.  In some cases, you may have to resubmit your proof of identity.

All information found about you will be prepared so that you can view the documents or receive copies. In general, your right to view files refers only to information that concerns you personally. 

Information about other concerned persons or third parties has to be rendered anonymous to protect their personal rights. For this reason, certain text passages and in some cases entire pages of text will be redacted. When original documents are viewed, the pages in question will be covered or copies of the originals are provided with blackened out passages.

The names or code names of full-time and unofficial employees of the State Security Service remain unredacted. After you have viewed the files or received copies, you can request to have the code names decrypted.

Stasi Records Act (Stasi-Unterlagen-Gesetz - StUG) regulates how we handle the files. It stipulates that the Stasi Records Archive is responsible for the registration, safekeeping, administration and use of all files created by the Ministry for State Security in accordance with this law. Naturally, every person has the right to view the documents that the MfS created about them. Because documents often contain information about more than one person and we are obliged to respect personal rights, we cannot release these files to you. However, it is possible to obtain copies of Stasi files that concern you. To do so, you must submit a request to view files.

In general, the State Security Service did not maintain records on children or teenagers. However, when a minor was suspected of being involved in a crime that the State Security Service suspected was politically motivated, it often investigated the entire family. Records on underage members of a family were only maintained when the child was the main reason for the investigation. Files may also have been kept on minors when the State Security Service engaged in recruitment efforts in the minors’ surroundings (i.e. in school).

Information about another person is only provided when the applicant is a near relative of a person who is missing or deceased and the information sought serves a legitimate interest.

Third-degree relatives may view files for the purposes designated in Art. 15 Para.1 Sentence 1 of the StUG. Let us advise you as to whether your case meets these preconditions and what proof needs to be provided. 

Yes, you can leave a decree stating your wishes to the contrary. This statement will be added to your Stasi file in the Stasi Records Archive.

No. Examinations to determine whether a person was an employee or unofficial collaborator of the State Security Service are only conducted for a certain group of people on the basis of a written petition from a public or private agency. The lawmakers did not grant you as a private individual the right to receive information about whether the State Security Service kept records on other individuals or whether other individuals worked for the State Security Service.

Submit a request for information and state on the request form in the field ‘Additional comments’ that you require confirmation that you were not employed full-time or unofficially for the State Security Service. This information can be presented to your employer.

On our Facebook, X (Twitter) and Instagram pages, we provide daily updates on our archive work, announce special events and the dates for guided tours of our archive exhibition ‘Access to Secrecy’ („Einblick ins Geheime“). We also provide information about our educational work and new publications from the archive. We present interesting documents from our archive (the Stasi Records Online Resource („Stasi-Mediathek“) is a window into the archive), explain the structure and working methods of the State Security and commemorate important anniversaries pertaining to the history of the Stasi and the GDR. We also include external links to other sites related to the Stasi and the GDR, such as newspaper articles, radio or television programmes.

The Stasi Records Archive does not endorse the opinions expressed in publications on the social media sites that it provides links to and is not liable for the content of the linked websites.