Zirndorf

The pilot virtual reconstruction project should have already reported its findings by now, but it has hit some snags, said Andreas Petter, an archivist in Zirndorf.

Germans piece together millions of lives spied on by Stasi 2011

In Zirndorf the so-called "puzzlers" have managed to piece together the contents of just 500 sacks – around a million pieces of paper – since 1995.

Germans piece together millions of lives spied on by Stasi 2011

The plan was that the machine would process the smallest scraps, while the Zirndorf puzzlers, who in the 1990s would sometimes spend months piecing together 90 tiny snippets to form just one page, would concentrate on the "easier" work: files only ripped into quarters or perhaps eighths.

Germans piece together millions of lives spied on by Stasi 2011

In Zirndorf, near Nuremberg, Reichert and Kräker are part of a 10-strong team who are working full-time on an extraordinary project to piece together 15,500 sacks full of ripped-up bits of paper, each scrap a part of a file kept by the Stasi on its people and enemies.

Germans piece together millions of lives spied on by Stasi 2011

Harald Lettner, one of the Zirndorf puzzlers, said his work was important to give people peace – and in some cases, money.

Germans piece together millions of lives spied on by Stasi 2011

The Zirndorf refugee center stood atop a small hill, stark and severe, protected by high walls and a metal gate.

'Curveball: Spies, Lies and the Con Man Who Caused a War' 2007

After the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Zirndorf became a focal point for the? ood of hope released by the collapse of communism.

'Curveball: Spies, Lies and the Con Man Who Caused a War' 2007

For Iraqis on the run, the route to Zirndorf was more a maze than a pipeline.

'Curveball: Spies, Lies and the Con Man Who Caused a War' 2007

Those refugees were escorted to the front of the asylum line at Zirndorf and given red-carpet treatment.

'Curveball: Spies, Lies and the Con Man Who Caused a War' 2007

After the war, Zirndorf lay deep in the American occupation zone.

'Curveball: Spies, Lies and the Con Man Who Caused a War' 2007