The Memorial and Education Centre Andreasstraße commemorates the oppression and resistance exerted during the Socialist dictatorship in Thuringia in the years 1949 to 1989. The building in which the Centre is situated was formerly a remand prison run by the East German Ministry of State Security (Stasi). Over 5.000 people were held there by the authorities for daring to oppose the Communist regime. On 4th December 1989, however, freedom prevailed when a group of courageous individuals entered and occupied the local Stasi headquarters, which were situated in the same street. This was the first such occupation of a bastion of the dreaded Stasi in the uprising that was to become known as the Peaceful Revolution.
