Brief description: In October 1979, the local council decided to establish a collection of urban history with a special focus on the 20th century within the framework of a contract for work. The task of this institution should not only be a collection of material, but primarily the preparation and presentation of contemporary historical themes in exhibitions. In April 1980 the journalist and historian Dr. Karlheinz Fuchs was entrusted with this task. A public appeal by the then Lord Mayor Manfred Rommel in the spring of 1982 for the handing over of documents and objects from the Nazi era was met with great approval by the public, so that numerous objects could be handed over to the employees for their exhibitions. In addition, contemporary witnesses were available for interviews. Between August 1982 and December 1984, five exhibitions on the subject of "Stuttgart in the Third Reich" were shown. When the project was discontinued in 1984, an exhibition was still pending ("Stuttgart in War - the Years from 1939 to 1945"). Under the auspices of historian Dr. Marlene Hiller of the Library for Contemporary History, this was made up on the occasion of the 50th return of the outbreak of war in 1989. Scope: 1100 units / 6.1 linear metres Content: Documents: Documents on the establishment of the project Contemporary History and its staff; Planning and realisation of the exhibitions; Collection of exhibition objects; Loans, donations and purchases for the exhibitions; Interviews with contemporary witnesses Photographs: Photos from the exhibitions; photos, contact prints, negatives, slides and photo albums from the Nazi era, audio cassettes and tapes: interviews with contemporary witnesses, original recordings from the Nazi era, radio broadcasts, accompanying music in the exhibitions, videos and films: Interviews with contemporary witnesses, documentaries, feature films and television films, recordings of the project Zeitgeschichte Bücher: Bücher aus der NS-Zeit as well as books about the NS period Posters and plans from the NS period Duration: (1891-) 1979-1990 Instructions for use: Some units are still subject to a 30-year blocking period; three personal units are subject to special blocking periods; many photo units are subject to copyright; some units are blocked for conservation reasons. Foreword: History of the project In October 1979, the local council decided to build up a collection of urban history with a special focus on the 20th century. The task of this institution should not only be a collection of material, but first and foremost the preparation and presentation of contemporary historical themes in the form of exhibitions. In April 1980, a contract for work was signed with the historian and journalist Dr. Karlheinz Fuchs, according to which he was commissioned to develop a concept for the collection of urban history with a special focus on the 20th century ("collection of contemporary history") as well as to prepare and organise exhibitions on contemporary historical themes in agreement with and in cooperation with the cultural office of the city of Stuttgart. In addition, the two historians Bernd Burkhardt and Walter Nachtmann have also been working on the project since spring and autumn 1980, respectively. The graphic artist Michael Molnar was engaged in freelance collaboration for the exhibition design and realization. A secretariat was set up in April 1982. In August of the same year, two additional freelancers were hired on an hourly basis. Since the end of 1982, a pedagogical-didactic employee had been working on the project, whose position was financed by the Robert Bosch Foundation in the first year and then by the Cultural Office. In the spring of 1982, the press published an appeal by the then Lord Mayor Manfred Rommel to support the contemporary history project by surrendering documents and objects from the Nazi era. This appeal received a great response from the population, so that the employees were given numerous objects for their exhibitions. In addition, contemporary witnesses were available for interviews. The venue for all exhibitions was the Tagblatt Tower in Eberhardstraße (cultural centre "Kultur unterm Turm"). On 13 August 1982 the first exhibition "Prolog. Political Posters of the Late Weimar Republic" opened. The accompanying exhibition "Völkische Radikale in Stuttgart. On the Prehistory and Early Phase of the NSDAP 1890-1925" was shown from November 12, 1982. Both exhibitions ran until 12 January 1983. The second major exhibition "The Seizure of Power. From Republic to Brown City" was opened on 28 January 1983. The accompanying exhibition "Friedrich Wolf. The years in Stuttgart 1927-1933. An example" was shown from 9 July to 13 November 1983. From 23 March to 22 December 1984 the exhibition "Adaptation - Resistance - Persecution. The years from 1933 to 1939". This exhibition encompassed the themes "Everyday Life", "Resistance" and "Persecution of the Jews of Stuttgart", originally planned as individual complexes, each between 1933 and 1939, whereby views of the wartime period also showed the consequences of the National Socialist dictatorship for Stuttgart. Extensive catalogues were published for all exhibitions (see references). Dissolution of the project, exhibition "Stuttgart in the Second World War" Because of the amount of material, for financial reasons and also because the project broke new ground, the deadlines set for the individual exhibitions could not be met. When the fixed-term employment contracts of the project staff expired as planned at the end of March 1984 and the project was terminated, an exhibition was still pending ("Stuttgart in the War - the Years from 1939 to 1945"). This was made up for the 50th return of the outbreak of war in 1989 (1.9. - 22.7.). The specialist staff for this was provided by the Library for Contemporary History, money and premises were provided by the City of Stuttgart. The historian Dr. Marlene Hiller from the Library of Contemporary History was commissioned with the exhibition project. Further employees were Chris Glass, Dr. Benigna Schönhagen and Stefan Kley. A book accompanying the exhibition was also published here. Content of the inventory: On the one hand, the collection contains documents and files produced by the members of the contemporary history project as part of their work. This includes correspondence with lenders and interview partners, but also correspondence with the administration about the provision of office space, the collection of information material and the like. By far the largest part of the collection, however, consists of the collected objects, photos, sound and film cassettes as well as books, which were acquired for the individual exhibitions by donation, loan or purchase. A further focus are the numerous interviews with contemporary witnesses, some of which are available in the form of video cassettes, but most of which are in the form of audio cassettes, most of which have been digitized subsequently and can now be used in the form of mp3 or wav files. However, this only applies to audio cassettes with interviews with contemporary witnesses. Sound cassettes with other content (e.g. music, industrial noises, excerpts from speeches) or sound cassettes on which (today's) SWR programmes are recorded have not been digitised because they are also available elsewhere (e.g. in the radio archive). Some of the interviews were transcribed by the project staff (some, however, incomplete). The original plan to issue an extra volume with the interviews conducted could no longer be realized. . Further information on the inventory and its use: The inventory comprises a total of 1100 units. The written documents have a circumference of 6.1 linear metres. There are also seven photo albums, 297 photo folders, one framed photo, 665 slides, 107 units with negatives, four films, 58 postcards, 20 audio and magnetic tapes, 56 video cassettes, 331 audio cassettes and 59 books. The actual period of the collection runs from 1979 to 1990, with the collection containing pre-files or documents, books, photos, etc., which were taken before 1945 and date back to 1891. The documents were handed over to the City Archive by the Cultural Office in May 1987. Since there was no order or classification, this had to be done on the basis of the existing material itself. Some of the documents are still blocked due to the general 30-year blocking period for fact files. Copyrights must be respected for the numerous photos stored in the photo archive. Please order the desired units according to the following sample: Project Contemporary History - 1037 - Unit number Photos can be ordered using the signatures FM 132/1-297 or FM 132/1-297. FR 132/1 (framed photo), slides about the signatures FD 132/1-9, photo albums about the signatures FA 132/1-7, films about the signatures FF 132/1-4, negatives about the signatures FN 132/1-107, postcards about the signatures FP 132/1-14, digital copies about the signatures 1037_E_41-372, books about the signatures KE 12/1-59. The audio and video cassettes as well as the audio tapes cannot be ordered for conservation reasons. If you refer to documents from the inventory, please attach a reference according to the following model: Source: Stadtarchiv Stuttgart - 1037 - Number of the unit Further files and posters for the project Contemporary History are in stock 17/2, main file (no. 594-596), in stock 132/1, Kulturamt (no. 274, 302-305), in stock 2134, estate of Wilhelm Kohlhaas (no. 11), in stock 2154 estate of Karl-Heinz Gerhard (no. 5) as well as in stock 9401, poster collection (M 96 and M 828). Stuttgart, May 2007 Elke Machon References to literature: "Ausstellungsreihe Stuttgart im Dritten Reich - Prolog - Politische Plakate der späten Weimarer Republik", edited by the project Zeitgeschichte im Kulturamt der Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart, 1982 "Ausstellungsreihe Stuttgart im Dritten Reich - Völkische Radikale in Stuttgart, zur Vorgeschichte und Frühphase der NSDAP 1890-1925", accompanying exhibition to the Prolog - Politische Plakate der späten Weimarer Republik, edited by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Stuttgart. from the project Zeitgeschichte im Kulturamt der Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart, 1982 "Exhibition Series Stuttgart in the Third Reich - The Seizure of Power, from the Republican to the Brown City", ed. from the project Zeitgeschichte im Kulturamt der Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart, 1983 "Ausstellungsreihe Stuttgart im Dritten Reich - Friedrich Wolf, Die Jahre in Stuttgart 1927-1933, ein Beispiel", edited by the project Zeitgeschichte im Kulturamt der Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart, 1983 "Ausstellungsreihe Stuttgart im Dritten Reich - Anpassung, Widerstand, Verfolgung, Die Jahre von 1933 bis 1939", edited by the German Federal Cultural Office Stuttgart, 1983. from the project Zeitgeschichte im Kulturamt der Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart, 1984 "Stuttgart im Dritten Reich", to the reception and resonance of the exhibition cycle, a report by Claudia Pachnicke, edited by the Kulturamt der Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart, 1986 "Stuttgart im Zweiten Weltkrieg", catalogue, edited by Marlene P. Hiller, Gerlingen 1989