East German secret police archives recently closed to the public by a court decision are set to be reopened to historians and journalists after the Parliament passed a new law on Thursday night.
The ruling Centre-Left coalition of Social Democrats and Greens passed the legislation reopening the files after garnering the support of the liberal Free Democrats (FPD).
The decision came after former Chancellor Helmut Kohl won a court case in March to prevent the agency which oversees the archives from releasing parts of his 6,000-page dossier compiled by the East German secret police or Stasi.
The meticulous note-taking of the Stasi had provided historians and journalists with invaluable insight into the workings of a dictatorship that spent $1.6 billion a year securing its stranglehold.