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<p>The hospital at the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen remand prison of the Ministry for State Security (Stasi) occupied a&#xa0;special position among the prison hospitals in East Germany. Established in 1960, the hospital served not only medical but also operational–political functions within the investigative system. Drawing on a&#xa0;qualitative analysis of 800 prisoner medical files (20&#xa0;per year), this paper contributes to ongoing debates on the politicization and potential abuse of psychiatry in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The findings demonstrate that medical practice in the prison hospital was closely aligned with the interests of state security. Diagnoses such as “prison psychosis” were applied without clear clinical criteria and often had no therapeutic consequences for patients. Instead, treatment remained largely symptomatic and aimed at restoring prisoners’ fitness for interrogation and trial. Psychotropic medications, particularly antipsychotics, were frequently used, in some cases in ways that suggest behavioral control rather than appropriate therapy. Evidence from selected cases indicates that pharmacological interventions may have contributed to the impairment of prisoners’ cognitive and physical capacities, raising concerns about their use as a&#xa0;form of pharmacological torture.</p>

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Politicization of psychiatry at the remand prison hospital of the Ministry of State Security in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen in the 1970s–1980s

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月18日

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  • Oxana Kosenko,
  • Florian Steger

摘要

The hospital at the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen remand prison of the Ministry for State Security (Stasi) occupied a special position among the prison hospitals in East Germany. Established in 1960, the hospital served not only medical but also operational–political functions within the investigative system. Drawing on a qualitative analysis of 800 prisoner medical files (20 per year), this paper contributes to ongoing debates on the politicization and potential abuse of psychiatry in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The findings demonstrate that medical practice in the prison hospital was closely aligned with the interests of state security. Diagnoses such as “prison psychosis” were applied without clear clinical criteria and often had no therapeutic consequences for patients. Instead, treatment remained largely symptomatic and aimed at restoring prisoners’ fitness for interrogation and trial. Psychotropic medications, particularly antipsychotics, were frequently used, in some cases in ways that suggest behavioral control rather than appropriate therapy. Evidence from selected cases indicates that pharmacological interventions may have contributed to the impairment of prisoners’ cognitive and physical capacities, raising concerns about their use as a form of pharmacological torture.