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1945/46 Reorganisation of the police forces and founding of the "Kommissariat" 5 (K5), which is the forerunner of the Ministry for State Security. The K5 is included within the criminal investigation department of the police. The K5 is modelled on the Russian secret police, the KGB. It is controlled and directed by Russian advisors. The main task was to uncover acts of sabotage against companies, and to combat resistance to the newly formed dictatorship. Under the control of the German Administration of the Interior (DVdI, founded 1946). Vice-President of the DVdl is Erich Mielke (educated in the Soviet Union, primarily responsible for the party personnel policy and education of the police forces).
1948 Internal discussion among the SED leadership (Walter Ulbricht, Wilhelm Pieck) concerning the necessity of forming a security force. At the request of the German Economic Commission (DWK), the Committee for the Protection of Public Property is formed, with Erich Mielke as its head.
1949 Founding of the German Democratic Republic on October 7,1949. The Committee for the Protection of public Property is taken over by the Ministry of the Interior, under the direction of Minister Dr. Karl Steinhoff, and is renamed the Head Office for the Protection of the Economy. The aim of this new agency was to combat the "increasing acts of sabotage and activity of agents."
1950 Law for the establishment of a "Ministry for State Security" (MfS) is passed by the parliament. This law contains no legal basis for the work of the MfS. The first Minister of the MfS is Wilhelm Zaisser, formerly the Minister of the Interior in Saxony. Erich Mielke is the Secretary of State. Mielke becomes a member of the Central Committee (ZK) of the SED that same year.
June 17, 1953 Zaisser is forced by the SED leadership to resign (Zaisser-Hernnstadt incident). The MfS is downgraded to the State Secretariat of Security, and is incorporated into the Ministry of the Interior, under the direction of Minister Willi Stoph. The Vice-Minister and Secretary of State, as well as Zaisser's successor, is Ernst WoMber. Woflweber's deputy is Erich Mielke.
1955 MfS is re-established with Wollweber as its Minister, and Mielke as the State Secretary.
1957 Wollweber is replaced as Minister by Mielke. (Opposition group of Schirdewan, Wollweber, and others).
1961 Construction of the Berlin Wall. As a result of political events in other countries (such as the Prague Spring), the MfS decides to further specialize its structure and increase the number of employers.
1971 VIII Part Conference of the SED The election of Erich Honecker as First Secretary of the Central Committee (ZK) of the SED is confirmed. Honecker had previously been the Secretary for Security in the ZK for 13 years. He was nominated at the 14th Conference of the ZK. His election is supported by the Soviet Union and Erich Mielke himself. Election of Erich Mielke as candidate for the Politburo of the SED (he attains full membership at the IX Party Conference in 1976).
1973 Basic Treaty between the German Democratic Republic (East) and the Federal Republic of Germany (West) goes into effect. The Federal Republic of Germany recognizes the GDR as a "state." Transit regulations are eased. New areas of work for the MfS are added The "counter-espionage principle" (primarily the pursuit of agents and dissidents) is replaced by the "principle of concentration," or exhaustive espionage (The new main directive of the doctrine of security was WHO IS WHO?) Aspiration toward an all-encompassing surveillance.
1975 Treaty of the CSCE is signed in Helsinki. As a part of this treaty, the legal basis is provided by which citizens of the GDR can, for the first time in the history of their country, apply to emigrate.
1980 The opposition movement in the GDR is strengthened, and under the protection of the church, various environmental peace, and human rights groups organize themselves to oppose the party dictatorship. The SED leadership fears the increasing expansion of the opposition within the country.
1985 Mikhail Gorbachov becomes General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and introduces the policies of "glasnost" and "perestroika." The new policies of the Soviet Union give hope to the peoples of the East Bloc countries. Honecker tries to reduce the influence of glasnost within East Germany.
1989 Masses of people flee to West Germany via Czechoslovakia and Hungary.
October 1989 Riots and demonstrations take place during the official festivities marking the fortieth anniversary of the founding of the GDR.
November 1989 The wall separating the two Germanies is opened. The MfS is dissolved and the Office of National Security (AfNS) is formed in its place, with Wolfgang Schwanitz as its head. The middle and lower level staff are not reappointed.
December 1989 The MfS/AfNS is dissolved and the oversight of citizens committees and a governmental committee.