Selected records of the East German secret police force (the Stasi) have been made available online to offer an insight into the daily workings of the Communist regime’s internal spies.

Files included in the online media centre range from flyers from a 1983 rock concert, confiscated notes written by political prisoners, and a letter in which a young schoolgirl writes about fleeing the German Democratic Republic (GDR) for the west.

There is also the audio of a lecture delivered by the former State Security Minister Erich Mielke, outlining how the Stasi should treat East Germans who expressed a desire to travel abroad.

More than 2,500 documents, 250 images, 15 hours of video and six hours of audio have been compiled by archivists, though curious users will not be able to seek out files on any one specific person.

The Stasi archives, which were saved from destruction after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, are still a source of considerable interest to former citizens of the GDR. In 2014, 41,000 people made official applications for the first time to access the files held in their name by the Stasi Records Office.

In total, almost 68,000 files were accessed last year, an increase of five percent on the previous 12 months. Since the office was founded shortly after German reunification, close to seven million applicants have tried to access their files.

The Stasi’s reach in the lives of everyday East Germans extended into almost all aspects of their lives; many had their phones tapped and post was subject to screening, while friends and family often turned informant, with thousands collaborating with the state security authorities.

Given the large number of applicants, the waiting lists for access to the Stasi records can be as long as three years.

The archivists hope that the online records will help offer insight into life under the regime.