The interior ministries in Bonn and East Berlin played a significant role in the establishment and consolidation of the Federal Republic and the GDR. A research group led by Frank Bösch and Andreas Wirsching illustrates how this occurred after National Socialism, using previously unknown archival documents. The authors clarify the political consequences of the respective influences of the employees and how the administrative culture changed in East and West. In the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the majority of officials came from the bureaucracy of National Socialism. Many concealed their past, which was rarely scrutinized. They adapted to democracy, but often authoritarian thought patterns persisted, which were reflected in political decisions. In the Ministry of the Interior of the GDR, older officials took over.