Lenin bust in preserved office of former Minister in charge of GDR secret police chief, Erich Mielke - an exhibit in 'Haus 1' the ministerial headquarters of the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany, the GDR. Built in 1960, the complex now known as the Stasi Museum. Before the fall of the Wall, it was a 22-hectare complex of espionage whose centrepiece is the office and working quarters of the former Minister of State Security, Mielke who considered their role as the 'shield and sword of the party', conducting one of the world's most efficient spying operations against its political dissenters during its 40-year old socialist history. After the fall of the socialist state, Mielke was sentenced to 6 years in prison and died in 2000, aged 92.