Waldsiedlung

The GDR was de facto ruled by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), whose leadership lived in mansions on the upscale Majakowskiring in the Pankow district of East Berlin.

After the events of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, the SED party leadership decided to build themselves a secure residential zone in a more remote location than their mansions on the Majakowskiring.

Waldsiedlung was occupied by senior politicians and their families under the protection of the Stasi's bodyguard department, and relocating there became mandatory for all Politburo members.

The site had a club house (de) with a cinema and a restaurant,[4] a shop where a limited selection of subsidized luxury Western goods could be purchased with East German marks,[4] a market garden, a health clinic, a shooting range, a swimming pool, a sports field, and tennis courts.

[4] After German reunification, Waldsiedlung became home to a rehabilitation clinic and private residences, and was brought under the administration of Bernau bei Berlin on 1 July 2001.