Obtaining the visas required him to meet often with East German government officials, whom church leaders encouraged Burkhardt to build relationships with despite his reluctance.

[2]: 100–101  In 1973 and/or 1978, H. Burke Peterson of the Presiding Bishopric, suggested to Burkhardt that the church build an endowment house in East Germany as an alternative to a temple.

The church intended to locate the building in Karl-Marx-Stadt, a longtime center of Communist ideology, as its LDS congregation needed a new chapel.

By April 1981, city officials' welcoming of the project ahead of the forthcoming 800th anniversary of Freiberg's founding in 1986 encouraged the church to plan for a separate chapel and temple.

The church announced the forthcoming Freiberg Germany Temple in October 1982, and Thomas S. Monson, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, presided over the groundbreaking on 23 April 1983.

[3][2]: 119–120  The construction used triple glazing and other advanced methods unusual for East Germany, and despite restrictions on imported materials, architects were able to obtain three high-quality Czech crystal chandeliers for the Celestial and sealing rooms at the Leipzig Trade Fair.

[3] During its existence the German Democratic Republic spied on every LDS congregation's meetings,[5] and Burkhardt had at least three Stasi agents monitoring him at all times.

[2]: 121, 123–125 As East Germany sought in the 1980s to improve its image abroad, however, the Latter-day Saints' alleged ties to the United States government and other Western powers worked in the church's favor.

The Stasi's close monitoring of East German members over the years gave the church credibility, as the government came to see Latter-day Saints as citizens of good character who, in keeping with the 12th Article of Faith, did not conspire against the nation.

Latter-day Saints popularly attribute a hastened fall of the communist regime, and the Freiberg area's prosperity in relatively poor eastern Germany, to the temple's presence and influence on the country.