House of Leaves - National Museum of Secret Surveillance
Former Sigurimi headquarters, now a museum of surveillance and state security in communist Albania.
The villa was built in 1931 as Tirana's first obstetric clinic and takes its popular name from the creeper that screens its walls. It was requisitioned by the Gestapo during the Second World War and, from 1944 until 1991, served the Sigurimi, the Albanian communist state security service, as the headquarters of its interception and technical surveillance branch. Microphones, cameras and telephone taps used across the country were prepared and monitored in these rooms.
Opened to the public on 23 May 2017, the museum keeps the layout of offices, listening rooms and darkroom largely intact. Displays combine original bugging devices, cameras hidden in everyday objects, transcripts, personal files and recorded testimony from people who were watched, interrogated or imprisoned. Panels set out how informer networks were built and how the archives have been opened since 1991. Captions are in Albanian and English throughout.
Highlights
- Original Sigurimi listening rooms and photographic darkroom preserved in place
- Collection of concealed microphones, cameras and telephone-tapping equipment
- Files and testimony from people placed under surveillance
- 1931 villa that was also used by the Gestapo during the Second World War
![[King Thibaw Min's Throne Room - Mandalay]title QS:P1476,en:"[King Thibaw Min's Throne Room - Mandalay]"label QS:Len,"[King Thibaw Min's Throne Room - Mandalay]"](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/Felice_Beato_%28British%2C_born_Italy_-_%28King_Thibaw_Min%27s_Throne_Room_-_Mandalay%29_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg/500px-Felice_Beato_%28British%2C_born_Italy_-_%28King_Thibaw_Min%27s_Throne_Room_-_Mandalay%29_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
