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History of the Inventory Designer: The Reichsschrifttumskammer was established with the First Ordinance on the Implementation of the Reichskulturkammergesetz of 01 November 1933 [1]. It was intended to bring together 'all those persons who, from the initial production of the poetry to commercial distribution, worked on German literature' [2]. However, this did not include newspapers and magazines which were regarded as press products and were therefore under the supervision of the Reich Press Chamber. The demarcation between the two chambers was regulated in the "Joint Announcement on the Integration Obligation of Business and Publishing Enterprises at the Reichsschrifttums- or Reichspressekammer of 4 April 1934" [3]. At the beginning, the registration of professionals working in the field of literature was limited to the Reichsverband deutscher Schriftsteller. However, this already changed on 22 December 1933 with the "Bekanntmachung über die Gliederung der Reichsschrifttumskammer" [4]. Thus existing professional associations such as the "Verband der Deutschen Volksbibliothekare E.V.", the "Verein Deutscher Bibliothekare E.V.", the "Reichsfachschaft Buchhandel im Deutschen Handlungsgehilfen-Verband" were integrated into the Reichsschrifttumskammer. Its members became members of the Chamber and were thus subject to the disciplinary power of the Chamber. In addition, new working groups were formed and various professional groups joined together in associations. These included, among others, the "German Book Communities" and the "Society of Bibliophiles". The German public libraries were to be combined by the German Community Day "in order to integrate them into the Reichsschrifttumskammer"[5]. As in all other areas of culture, membership of the Reichsschrifttumskammer was absolutely necessary in order not to be subject to a de facto ban on employment. Thus the "Order of 30 July 1934 on Proof of Membership in the Reichsschrifttumskammer"[6] ensured that the publishing and book trade enterprises were only allowed to enter into business relations with members of the RSK. In order to facilitate the implementation of that order, all members had to indicate 'in their business correspondence the membership number of their competent professional association'[7]. Violations should be punished with disciplinary action. Information on authors and translators was provided by the publishers at the request of the "Kontrollstelle des Reichsverbandes Deutscher Schriftsteller". In any case, the authors had to provide considerable personal information and expert opinions (e.g. expert opinions of the NSDAP, the Gestapo and the responsible state leadership of the RSK[8]) in order to become members. "Unreliable" authors were thus prohibited from exercising their profession by refusing membership. The rejected applicants and exclusions from the RSK were published in the Börsenblatt des Deutschen Buchhandels, in the Großdeutscher Leihbüchereiblatt and in the magazines "Der Schriftsteller" and "Der Autor". In addition to professional representation and support, the RSK had the task of maintaining a "list of harmful and undesirable literature", which appeared in print for the first time in 1936. However, the decision on book prohibitions was taken by the Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda. "The political influence of the German literature [...] is a matter of the Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda (Department VIII), which uses the Reichsschrifttumsstelle established at the Ministry to solve this task"[9] The organisational structure [10] consisted of the President, two Vice-Presidents, the former President and the Presidential Council at the management level. The first President Hans Friedrich Blunck was replaced by Hanns Johst in October 1935. Blunck received the title of "former president" and was entrusted with overseeing the Chamber's foreign relations. The office was divided into five departments: I. Central Division II. Writers' Group III. Book Trade Group IV. Book Advertising V. Librarianship VI. Address and Advertising Book Trade VII. Economic Office of the German Book Trade The regional substructure consisted of the regional managements of the chamber in the respective district. They were to be addressed with applications for admission, general requests for literature and professional matters. Notes [1]Reichsgesetzblatt 1933 I, p. 797 [2]Handbuch der Reichskulturkammer, p. 136 [3]Das Recht der Reichsschrifttumskammer, p. 21-22 [4]ibid., p. 12-17 [5]ibid., p. 14 [6]ibid., p. 37-38 [7]ibid., p. 38 [8]R 56 V/170 [9]Handbuch der Reichskulturkammer, p. 136 [10]Beschreibung nach Handbuch der Reichskulturkammer, p. 135-200 Overview of the Presidents, Vice-Presidents and Managing Directors Presidents Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Hans Friedrich Blunck (from Oct. 1935 "Old President"), 1933 - Oct. 1935 Hans Johst, Oct. 1935 - 1945 Vice Presidents Dr. Heinz Wismann, 1933 - 1937 Wilhelm Baur, 1938 - 1945 Karl Heinz Hederich, 1937 - 1938 Managing Director Prof. Dr. Dr. Hans Hederich, 1937 - 1938 Richard Suchenwirth (1st Managing Director), 1935 Günter Haupt (2nd Managing Director), 1935 Karl Heinl, 1936 - May 1937 Wilhelm Ihde, May 1937 - Dec. 1943 Günther Gentz, Jan. 1944 - 1945 Inventory description: Inventory history In contrast to the other Chambers of Culture, the file tradition in the old Koblenz inventory R 56 V (see Publication Findbuch No. 31) was quite extensive (archive numbers R 56 V/1-196). These were included in the present distortion. The material files in the "Reichsschrifttumskammer" collections of the former Berlin Document Center were sorted out, newly recorded and assigned to the holdings. The content is essentially as follows: 1.) Review and permission to publish books, booklets and publications 2.) Inclusion in the "List of harmful and undesirable literature" 3.) Differences of opinion (disputes) between writers and publishers 4.) Correspondence between the RSK Headquarters and its national management in the individual districts. Archive processing The file titles available in the Koblenz partial stock are recorded in the online find book edited by Mr. Tim Storch. The signatures assigned at that time were retained. Information on the BDC stocks is already contained in the Findbuch R 56 [11]. However, the titles listed there do not reflect the full range of files listed here. On the one hand, this was the "Review and Approval of the Publication of Books, Booklets and Publications" (R 56 V/215-827), in which the publishers only informed the RSK about new editions and publications. Secondly, the RSK included various books (mostly foreign) in the "List of harmful and undesirable literature", mostly at the suggestion of the RMVP, which was tantamount to a ban. These documents were classified in the series "Inclusion in the "List of harmful and undesirable literature" - individual cases. The specimen copies found in the files were left there and included in the note containing them. Wolfram Werner's classification, 'which was not strictly based on the administrative structure'[12], had to be extended to include 'management', since it became apparent during the recording that the disputes in the file did not fit into that scheme. According to the "Handbuch der Reichskulturkammer" (Handbook of the Reich Chamber of Culture), an arbitration board was responsible for "differences of opinion between writers on the one hand, publishers and other exploiters of literary works on the other"[13], which was attached to the Rechtsreferenten. This legal officer in turn was directly subordinated to the management of the RSK [14]. Therefore the management was subdivided into the 3 areas "Legal Officer", "Supervisor" and "Intelligence and Statistics Unit". The classification point "Rechtsreferent" was divided into the areas "Allgemeine Rechtsfragen der Kammer" (R 56V/1050) and the so-called "Schlichtungsstelle" (litigation). In order to maintain uniformity, the old classification point "Surveillance and prohibition of literature" has been moved to the point "Supervisor". For disputes between individual writers, it was again not the conciliation body in the management that was responsible, but Division II (Writers' Group), which was subdivided into "Technical, Legal and Social Support for Writers". The old classification did not correspond so stringently to these individual areas. However, the newly recorded files made this necessary. The old classification point "Individual writers, in particular membership matters" was renamed "Technical support, also membership matters". The second classification point is "Legal support". The remaining classification points of the "Writers' Group" have been retained. Notes [11]Find books on holdings of the Federal Archives, volume 31, Reichskulturkammer und ihre Einzelkammern, p. 119 [12]ibid., p. 93 [13]Handbuch der Reichskulturkammer, p. 140 [14]ibid. Citation method BArch R 56-V/... State of development: Publication index of the Reich Chamber of Culture (1987), online index (2006). Citation style: BArch, R 56-V/...