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Guided tours
Führung durch das Stasi-Gefängnis

Guided tours

Visit the Stasi prison

Guided tours of the former remand centre

Guided tours for individual visitors and groups

We offer public tours for individual visitors and groups up to six people several times a day at fixed times. Our special tours and inclusive tours also take place regularly.

Groups of seven or more people can book a guided tour for groups in different languages.

Guided tours for individual visitors

Are you in a group of up to six people and would like to visit the former Stasi prison? Make a reservation for our public tours.

The central remand prison of the GDR State Security was located on this site. Between 1951 and 1989, over 11,000 people were imprisoned here for political reasons.
Large parts of the site and the buildings have been preserved and provide an authentic impression of the conditions and everyday life in prison.
The tour includes a visit to the grounds of the former detention centre, the cells and the interrogation rooms. It is led by former political prisoners and historians.

Info box with key points

When:

  • Tour in German: March-October Mon-Sun 10am-4pm; November-February Mon-Fri 11am, 1pm and 3pm and Sat-Sun 10am-4pm
  • Tour in English: daily 10.40am, 12.40pm and 2.40pm
  • Tour in Russian: first Sunday of the month at 2pm

Duration: Approx. 1,5 hours plus introductory film

Admission: Standard rate €9, concessions €5, students €2.50

Booking: Via our ticket shop

Accessibility: The new building and basement prison are wheelchair-accessible via lift (no wide electric wheelchairs). This requires a little more time. For better coordination, please register in advance by email to besucherdienst@stiftung-hsh.de or by phone: +49 30 98 60 82 30

Guided tour in German through the inside of the remand prison with a tour of the “Grotewohl Express”

The site was the GDR State Security central remand prison. Between 1951 and 1989, over 11,000 people were imprisoned here for political reasons.
Large parts of the site and the buildings have been preserved and provide an authentic impression of the conditions and everyday life in prison.
The tour includes a visit to the outdoor facilities, the cells and interrogation rooms and the last existing prisoner transport wagon from GDR times.
The so-called "Grotewohl Express", named after the former GDR Prime Minister Otto Grotewohl, was used to transfer prisoners between different prisons. 
 

Info box with key points

When: Tour in German on Thursdays at 1pm

Duration: Approx. 2 hours plus introductory film

Admission: Standard rate €9, concessions €5, students €2.50

Booking: Via our ticket shop

Accessibility: The new building and basement prison are wheelchair-accessible via lift (no wide electric wheelchairs). This requires a little more time. For better coordination, please register in advance by email to besucherdienst@stiftung-hsh.de or by phone: +49 30 98 60 82 30

The Grotewohl Express is not wheelchair-accessible.

Between 1951 and 1989, over 11,000 people were imprisoned for political reasons in the GDR State Security central remand prison.
Large parts of the site, which also houses the only State Security prison hospital, have been preserved and provide an authentic impression of prison conditions and everyday prison life.

The tour includes a visit to the grounds, the cells and interrogation rooms as well as the prison hospital including the X-ray unit, treatment, operating and laboratory rooms.
This is where the Stasi treated GDR refugees shot by border guards, political prisoners with injuries after suicide attempts and those who had gone on hunger strike or suffered from prison psychosis.
 

Info box with key points

When: Tour in German on Wednesdays and Sundays at 1pm

Duration: Approx. 2 hours plus introductory film

Admission: Standard rate €9, concessions €5, students €2.50

Booking: Via our ticket shop

Accessibility: The new building and basement prison are wheelchair-accessible via lift (no wide electric wheelchairs). This requires a little more time. For better coordination, please register in advance by email to besucherdienst@stiftung-hsh.de or by phone: +49 30 98 60 82 30

In the prison hospital, only the ground floor is wheelchair-accessible.

Between 1951 and 1989, over 11,000 people were imprisoned for political reasons in the GDR State Security central remand prison.
Large parts of the site, which also houses the only State Security prison hospital, have been preserved and provide an authentic impression of prison conditions and everyday prison life.

The tour offers a visit to the outdoor facilities, the cells and interrogation rooms as well as the work and accommodation rooms of the women's prison labour detail, which the Stasi used to accommodate the prisoners on remand. 
 

Info box with key points

When: Tour in German on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 1pm

Duration: Approx. 2 hours plus introductory film

Admission: Standard rate €9, concessions €5, students €2.50

Booking: Via our ticket shop

Accessibility: The kitchen area is not wheelchair-accessible.

The remand centre at Berlin-Hohenschönhausen was located in a large Stasi military restricted area. Only closed metal gates, watchtowers, surveillance cameras and armed security guards were visible from the outside to unauthorised people. The site was marked as an empty area on the city maps of East Berlin.

The tour leads past buildings of the Stasi's so-called Operative Technical Sector, where eavesdropping devices and miniature cameras were manufactured, the Stasi's Nazi archive in the Heike Villa and "Camp X", where prisoners had to perform forced labour from the early 1950s onwards. 
 

Info box with key points

When: Tour in German on Fridays at 2.20pm

Duration: Approx. 2 hours plus introductory film

Admission: Standard rate €9, concessions €5, students €2.50

Booking: Via our ticket shop

Guided tours for groups

You can book guided tours of the Stasi prison in various languages for groups of seven or more.

The GDR State Security central remand prison was located on this site. Between 1951 and 1989, over 11,000 people were imprisoned here for political reasons.
Large parts of the site and the buildings have been preserved and provide an authentic impression of the conditions and everyday life in prison.
The tour includes a visit to the grounds of the former detention centre, the cells and the interrogation rooms. It is run by former political prisoners and historians.

Info box with key points:

When: by appointment only

Duration: tour approx. 1.5 hours plus introductory film

Group size: Max. 25 participants per group; larger groups will be devided.

Prices: €110 per group (standard rate), €90 per group (concessions), €60 per group (students)

Languages: German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Russian, Swedish, Norwegian

Booking: Via the booking form

Accessibility: The new building and basement prison are wheelchair-accessible via lift (no wide electric wheelchairs). This requires a little more time. For better coordination, please inform us on the booking form if the group includes wheelchair users.

Tour guides

Historians and contemporary witnesses lead visitor groups through the former prison and explain the history of the prison site.

 

Contemporary Witnesses

Historians