“Existential horror,” someone whispered. “I felt it four times in my life.” That feeling connects to this place. We are standing before Haus 4.
Haus 4 stands on the former site of the Stasi headquarters. The Stasi was the East German Ministry for State Security. This area once housed eight thousand Stasi officials. The location became an inaccessible fortress. It existed between 1950 and 1989.
Today, Haus 4 bears witness to a divided past. It offers an urban echo. This is a story of predetermined breaking points in Berlin. They tell tales that fit into the downfall of the GDR.
Apartment blocks built in the 1980s created blank spaces. These gaps existed in East German cities, especially Berlin. They are between buildings from different eras. These gaps are called Sollbruchstellen. Plattenbauten buildings rarely fit seamlessly. They are made with prefabricated concrete slabs.
These Sollbruchstellen were architectural bounced checks. They came from the bankrupt GDR. Before 1989, they were accepted. Afterward, they were forgotten. Decades passed but we are still hardly aware of them.
The gaps depend on the layout of the land. No omission is like another. These gaps are individualistic loners. They refuse any standardization.
The lack of freedom in the GDR created architectural blanks. These blanks still disappear in Berlin’s cityscape. They are like chameleons. During the Wall’s existence, Berlin allowed undefined apertures. It seems architects indulged in the cult of the gap.
There are many Sollbruchstellen between Spandauer Vorstadt and Alexanderplatz. Bricks and slabs move together without introductions. They create a deranged marriage. The dowry is the empty space. A new building can create two impressive gaps. Slab and brick remained alienated. Strange abysses opened.
The Sollbruchstelle shapes and distorts space. The desire to search out the gaps represents a greed for authenticity. East Berlin proves bountiful in its supply of Sollbruchstellen.
A trace inscribes the specter of something else. Standing before a Sollbruchstelle, one feels the simultaneous presence and absence. In East Berlin, you feel another’s spirit. A different time. A different state of mind.
The extent of the gaps made some lugubrious. Their uselessness worried some. One dared to add them up. The architect imagined a gap total for East Berlin. What would the number add up to? Two or two hundred football pitches?
Berlin is a palimpsest. It remembers, represses, and denies. It underlines and coats over. The city inhaled and exhaled history. Berlin was the source of hatred. It was rarely the source of benevolence.
Spatial knowledge and spatial emotions do not overlap. The Sollbruchstellen bear witness. They are useful as an urban echo sounder. The notches tell stories.
One felt existential horror entering Sollbruchstelle House No. 4. It is on the site of the Stasi headquarters.
This person was alone with the Eastern German horror. They might be the first to see more than a useless storage room. The door was open and the lock destroyed. They pushed the climbing plants aside. They stepped inside.
House No. 4 has seven stories. It was erected in 1974-75. It stands on the site of two old buildings. This Sollbruchstelle made them feel sick. They had to fill the gap.
The darkness stank. Animals rushed. Rats. The camera switched on.
In 1989, East German state security employed 91000 full-time staff. There were 189000 unofficial employees. The surveillance cost billions. The state was broke but had a mega secret service.
Entering Sollbruchstelle House No. 4 was possible because Berlin grew slowly. The Stasi Records Agency did an excellent job. The properties were still waiting for things to happen.
Only then did they notice the ladder. They wondered if they should climb up. The elite of intelligence analysts resided in Haus 4. The ZAIG was the functional organ of the Minister of State Security. They judged behavior.
The casualness of the gaps tempts us not to notice. The superficial gaze is a not-seeing one. The gaps exist. They symbolize the demise of the GDR.