Federal Office for Radiation Protection as a film set

In the series, the main building represents the party headquarters of the PDS

Before the steps of the old lecture theatre, a film team has been filming around 15 extras equipped with flags and banners. At the same time, another team has been furnishing further spaces inside the main building with props and spotlights for upcoming scenes. For the fourth season of the ARD (Working pool of the broadcasting corporations of the Federal Republic of Germany) series "Weissensee", parts of the BfS site in Berlin-Karlshorst have today been transported back to one day in 1990.

The empty lecture theatre (left) and the main building with library

According to the filming schedule, a journalist wants to ask a member of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) about the whereabouts of the assets of the Socialist Unity Party (SED), while demonstrators gather in front of the building. In the scenes, the old lecture theatre is the set for the former party building of the successor party to the SED, the PDS (Party of Democratic Socialism). The library and an office in the main building represent the inside of the privatisation agency, in which further scenes take place.

In "Weissensee", the previous three seasons have dealt with relationships in the former East Germany and the involvement of the secret police in people's lives. The fourth season is set during the reunification period. The production company selected the Berlin BfS building as one of various filming locations because of its typical East German structure and corresponding interior features.

The BfS in Berlin-Karlshorst – a place with a past and a future

Historical furnishings in the library

The history of the BfS site on Köpernicker Allee is closely connected with the reunification of Germany. Since 1973, the area has housed the headquarters of the State Office for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (Staatlichen Amts für Atomsicherheit und Strahlenschutz SaaS) – the governmental permit and oversight authority in the former East Germany, which was responsible for nuclear safety and radiation protection. Officially, its history ended on 3 October 1990 but on reunification, parts of the SaaS were adopted into the newly created Federal Office for Radiation Protection.

Today, intensive investigations and research take place in Berlin-Karlhorst. These focus on monitoring radioactivity in the environment. Several control points and laboratories are located here, including

• for radioactivity monitoring where there is increased natural radioactivity (ENORM),
• for radioactivity monitoring in drinking water, waste water and sediments and
• the calibration laboratory for radon and radon decay products.

The control point for incorporation monitoring falls into the area of responsibility of medicinal and occupational radiation protection. The whole-body counter, which can measure the radionuclides absorbed by the body, was installed by the SaaS and is still in use today. Structural modernisation of the site is planned for the future: several buildings that have come into being over the years are to be torn down and replaced by a modern, three-wing new-build.