Stasi, Ministry for State Security, East Germany T-Shirt

The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, MfS), commonly known as the Stasi (abbreviation German: Staatssicherheit, or State Security), was the state security service of the German Democratic Republic or GDR (informally known as East Germany). The Stasi was headquartered in East Berlin, DDR with a comprehensive complex in Berlin-Lichtenberg and several smaller facilities throughout the city. It was widely regarded as one of the most effective and repressive intelligence and secret police agencies in the world. The Stasi motto was "Schild und Schwert der Partei" (Shield and Sword of the Party), that is the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). Now considered a criminal organisation, several Stasi officials were prosecuted after 1990.