Local German officials have proposed to the American giant of the internet to install his future Berlin premises in old buildings of the Stasi, the former political police of the GDR.

Local German officials have proposed to the American giant of the internet to install his future Berlin premises in old buildings of the Stasi, the former political police of the GDR.

In 2016, Google, the US Internet giant, announced its intention to establish in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin. One of the neighborhoods in vogue in the German capital, which developed on a former industrial wasteland. But this project was officially abandoned on October 24th.

According to the Berliner Zeitung of October 31, local officials have since suggested to Google to install the 3,000 m2 of offices, cafes and coworking space of its future "campus" in the former buildings of the HQ Stasi. The Staatssicherheit was the intelligence, espionage and counterintelligence service of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Thousands of people were victims of its political persecution before its dissolution, after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The buildings of the HQ set their austere concrete silhouette in the Lichtenberg district, in the eastern part of Berlin.

The old buildings of the Stasi, former political police of the GDR are located in the Lichtenberg district, east of Berlin. | CAPTURE SCREEN GOOGLE MAPS

Renovation

"Google is cordially invited to Lichtenberg (in the center of Berlin) to discuss the idea of ​​setting up a campus in this central location , " says Gregor Hoffmann, opposition CDU city councilor, quoted by the Berliner Zeitung . For now, Google has not reacted to this suggestion, says BFM / TV.

Lichtenberg district mayor Michael Grunst, a member of the left-wing party (Die Linke), reportedly admitted in the Tagesspiegel newspaper that he had been in talks with Google, but on smaller projects, the Berliner Zeitung added. The town, however, would seek to modernize its neighborhood known for its old buildings, promoting especially artistic projects.