I. The history of the von Linden family: The von Linden family originally comes from the diocese of Liège. The progenitor is a certain Adam van Linter, who is mentioned in documents 1604-1615 and who was the owner of the estate in Hoeppertingen (Belgian Limburg). His son Peter, who probably emigrated to Franconia because of the political and religious unrest in the home country of the Linter family, acquired a farm in Habitzheim (Odenwald) around 1650. In Kurmainz some members of the Catholic von Linden family were promoted to high offices: Franz von Linden (1712-1789) was a member of the Court Chamber Council and head cellar of the Camera Administration in the Vice-Chamber Office of Aschaffenburg, Johann Heinrich Freiherr von Linden (1719-1795) was a Privy Councillor and Director of the Court Chamber of the Electorate of Mainz. Franz Damian Freiherr von Linden (1745-1817), a grandson of Johann Heinrich Freiherr von Linden, was privy councillor and later director of the state government of the prince primate in Aschaffenburg. His second eldest son Franz Joseph Ignaz was Württemberg's Privy Legation Councillor and lord of Nordstetten, Isenburg and Taberwasen. Another grandson of Johann Heinrich Freiherr von Linden, the jurist Franz Freiherr von Linden (1760-1836), held the position of Reich Chamber Court Assessor from 1796 to 1806. After the dissolution of the Imperial Chamber Court, Franz Freiherr von Linden entered the service of the Kingdom of Württemberg. King Friedrich I of Württemberg appointed him president of the newly founded Catholic Church Council in 1807. In 1815 Franz Freiherr von Linden was appointed Württemberg Plenipotentiary at the Congress of Vienna, then Württemberg Ambassador to the Bundestag in Frankfurt. 1817-1831 he was president of the Schwarzwaldkreis (Black Forest District) and Franz Freiherr von Linden was the progenitor of the VII lines (the lines are counted according to the number of lines): Genealogical handbook of the nobility vol. 68 of the complete series. Freiherrliche Häuser Vol. VII, Limburg/Lahn 1978, p. 196-215; Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels Vol. 109 der Gesamtreihe, Freiherrliche Häuser Vol. XVIII, Limburg/Lahn 1995, p. 356-376; Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels: Der in Bayern immatrikulierte Adel Vol. XXIII, Neustadt/Aisch 2000, p. 351-365.) of the House of Linden: From his seven sons mentioned in the following these VII lines of the house come: From Edmund (1798-1865) the I. (count's) line (Burgberg), from Franz a Paula (1800-1888) the II. (count's) line (Burgberg). (Count's) line, from Carl (1801-1870) the III. line (Hausen) with the 1st branch (in the USA) and the 2nd branch (Hausen), from Joseph (1804-1895) the IV. line (Hausen) with the 1st branch (in the USA) and the 2nd branch (Hausen), from Joseph (1804-1895) the IV. line (Hausen) with the 1st branch (in the USA) and the 2nd branch (Hausen). line (Neunthausen), by Ernst (1806-1885) the V. line (Bühl), by Ludwig (1808-1889) the VI. line (Bühl). In 1844 Edmund Freiherr von Linden (1798-1865) and his cousin Heinrich Freiherr von Linden (1784-1866), the eldest son of the aforementioned Damian Franz Freiherr von Linden, were raised to the rank of papal counts. In 1846, the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt recognized Heinrich's raising of rank, and in the same year Edmund Graf von Linden received Württemberg's recognition of the raising of rank. In the year 1850 the papal earldom was also founded on Franz a Paula and II. Line extended. The elevation to the Württemberg rank of counts took place in 1852, with the exception of the III. line (Hausen), all of the VII lines in the Württemberg male tribe were extinguished. The III. line divides into a 1. branch, whose members live in the USA, and into the 2. branch (Hausen). TWO. Biographical outlines of Hugo and Joseph Freiherr von Linden: Hugo Freiherr von Linden (1854-1936):The 2nd branch (Hausen) of the III. line is also the origin of the ministerial director Hugo Freiherr von Linden. He was born on 1 February 1854 in Ludwigsburg as the son of Carl Freiherr von Linden (1801-1870) and his second wife Mathilde Freifrau von Linden née Countess Leutrum von Ertingen (1815-1892). Hugo Freiherr von Linden studied law at the universities of Tübingen, Strasbourg and Berlin after graduating from high school in 1872. In 1877 he passed the state examination. After working at various courts in Württemberg, he became Secret Legation Secretary in the Württemberg Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1883. In the same year he was appointed the King's chambermaid, which involved honorary services at social events of the court. In 1906 Hugo Freiherr von Linden was promoted to Ministerial Director and Head of the Political Department of the Ministry in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in 1900 Hugo Freiherr von Linden worked out the marriage contract between Duke Robert von Württemberg and Archduchess Maria Immaculata Raineria from Austria (cf. Hugo Freiherr von Linden married Elisabeth Schenk Freiin von Stauffenberg (1864-1939) in 1893, the daughter of the Vice President of the German Reichstag, Franz August Schenk von Stauffenberg. He is the progenitor of the 2nd branch (Hausen) of the III. line (Hausen).Joseph Freiherr von Linden (1804-1895):Joseph Freiherr von Linden comes from the IV. line (Hausen). Line (Nine houses). He was born on 7 June 1804 in Wetzlar as the son of the already mentioned Reichskammergerichtsassessor Franz Freiherr von Linden (1760-1836) and his second wife Maria Anna von Linden née Freiin von Bentzel zu Sternau (1769-1805). Joseph Freiherr von Linden spent his childhood and youth in Württemberg, u. a. in Kirchheim, where he became lifelong friends with the son of Ludwig Herzog von Württemberg (1756-1817) and Henriette Herzogin von Württemberg née Prinzessin von Nassau-Weilburg (1780-1857), Alexander Herzog von Württemberg (1804-1885). After studying law in Tübingen, Joseph Freiherr von Linden and his older brother Carl stayed in France from 1825 to 1827 in order to improve his knowledge of the French language and literature (cf. order numbers 3 and 4), after which he worked as a judge in various Württemberg cities. 1839-1848 Joseph Freiherr von Linden represented the knighthood of the Danube district in the Second Chamber. From 1842-1850 he was - like his father before him - President of the Catholic Church Council. 1848 was the revolutionary year in which Linden was appointed Minister of the Interior of Württemberg, but had to be dismissed on the same day due to the protests of the population. 1 July 1850 King Wilhelm I appointed Linden Minister of the Interior again and handed him over the office of Minister of the Interior of Württemberg in the years 1850 to 1851 and 1854 to 1855. During this time von Linden stood up for the restoration of the old constitution, which earned him the accusation in liberal circles that he was reactionary. Linden's achievements in the economic field should not be underestimated: He promoted the founding of the Stuttgart stock exchange, created a new trade code and encouraged the founding of the Weinsberg wine growing school. In the field of church politics, von Linden contributed significantly to the balance between the Kingdom of Württemberg and the Catholic Church. After the death of King Wilhelm I, his son and successor King Karl dismissed von Linden as minister on 20 September 1864. In the following years, Joseph Freiherr von Linden worked as a diplomat for Württemberg. In 1865 he became Württemberg envoy in Frankfurt and at the Hessian courts, 1868 envoy at the customs parliament in Berlin, and in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War he was appointed prefect of the Marne département occupied by the Germans (cf. order numbers 32 and 34, order numbers 15 and 16). 1830 Joseph Freiherr von Linden married Emma Freiin von Koenig-Warthausen (1810-1893). The marriage produced four children: Richard (1831-1887), who was cavalry captain of the Württemberg military (see order numbers 34 and 41, order numbers 15 and 49), Franziska (1833-1919), who married Dr. Fridolin Schinzinger (1827-1865) in 1859 (order numbers 25, 35 and 36, order numbers 11, 13 and 14), Elise (1836-1914) and Josephine (1838-1881), both of whom remained single.Of the other outstanding members of the von Linden family, for whom there is only little material in this collection (order number 42, order number 8), Karl Graf von Linden (1838-1910), the founder of the Völkerkundemuseum (Lindenmuseum) in Stuttgart, named after him, and Marie Gräfin von Linden (1869-1936), who was the first woman to study at the University of Tübingen and who was later appointed Professor of Parasitology at the University of Bonn, should be mentioned briefly. III. history, content and structure of the collection: The present holdings combine documents from the estate of Joseph Freiherr von Linden, which were handed over to the Hauptstaatsarchiv in 1962 by Mr. Regierungsoberinspektor Reginald Mutter (cf. the title in the old repertory for holdings Q 1/7), a great-great grandson of Joseph Freiherr von Linden. One year later, the Main State Archives purchased these archival records, which were initially incorporated into the former holdings J 50 (Smaller Estates). Robert Uhland produced a typewritten finding aid in 1963. When the Q holdings were created in 1972, the holdings designated as the estate of Linden were removed from the J 50 holdings and assigned to the newly created Q 1 series (political estates), where they received the signature Q 1/7. The small estate consisted only of a tuft, which contained several documents, which were listed in the above-mentioned find book. In the 90's the stock Q 1/7 got increases by taxes from private side: In 1990, Mrs. E. Niethammer, Kirchheim/Teck, handed over documents from the estate of the Protestant pastor family Dierlamm to the Main State Archives as a gift, which were initially incorporated into the holdings Q 1/7 as Büschel 2. These are the documents now listed under heading 2 of this inventory (order numbers 37 to 41). These include business cards and letters from Joseph Freiherr and Emma Freifrau von Linden to Pfarrer Dierlamm (serial number 37, order number 45), tickets from Sara Schinzinger to Pfarrer Dierlamm (serial number 40, order number 47) and several sermons on corpses for members of the House of Linden (serial number 41, order number 49). Among them are documents from the estate of his grandfather Hugo Freiherr von Linden (serial numbers 7-23) and pictures, especially of members of the House of Württemberg (section 3.2, serial numbers 43-48). In addition, Franz-Karl Freiherr von Linden has handed over to the Main State Archives an extensive collection of material compiled by him on the family history of Linden, including photocopies of literature and copies or photocopies of archival records of the von Linden family. Finally, Franz-Karl Freiherr von Linden transferred newspaper articles written by him about the formation of the island Surtsey off the coast of Iceland to the Main State Archives in 1993, which were initially classified as tufts 5 in the Q 1/7 inventory. The diaries 1870-1935 of his grandfather Hugo Freiherr von Linden, which were handed over by Franz-Karl Freiherr von Linden in 1992 as a deposit under retention of title to the Main State Archives, were returned to the owner in 1995. (Cf. Tgb.-Nr. 4143/1993 and Tgb.-Nr. 2918/1995) In the course of the indexing the stock received further growth from the stock J 53 (family papers of Württemberg civil servants). The excerpts from family registers concerning Julius Graf von Linden and Loring Graf von Linden (serial numbers 5 and 6, order numbers 50 and 19) and documents on the sale of the manor Nordstetten to the forester of Fischer-Weikersthal (serial number 1, order number 17) kept under the signature J 53/10 were also classified in the present inventory. As already mentioned several times above, today's holdings Q 1/7 include not only the estate of the Württemberg Minister of State Joseph Freiherr von Linden but also several other estates of members of the House of Linden and collections or documents on the family history of Linden. For this reason, the previous inventory name "Nachlass Joseph Freiherr von Linden" was extended to "Familienunterlagen von Linden". In view of the small size of the holdings and the incompleteness of the holdings, it is not possible to speak of a family archive, however, since materials on various members and lines of the von Linden family are completely or almost completely lacking: no original archival records on the members of the von Linden family who were in the service of the Electorate of Mainz, the Prince Primate and the Grand Duke of Hesse are to be expected (v. a. Johann Heinrich von Linden, Damian Franz Freiherr von Linden, Heinrich Graf von Linden). there are also only a few archival records of the lines dating back to the sons of Franz Freiherr von Linden: From the I. (Counts) and II. (count's) lines, there are no original documents, with the exception of extracts from the family registers of Julius and Loring Graf von Linden (order numbers 5 and 6, order numbers 19 and 50). Also missing are documents of the V. line (Bühl), the VI. (Swiss) line and the VII. line. Smaller estates are only available from the III. line (Hausen) and the IV. line (Hausen). line (Neunthausen), but the documents from the estates of Ministerial Director Hugo Freiherr von Linden and Minister of State Joseph Linden are only fractions of the original estates. It can be assumed that the family still owns some of the material mentioned above and of other members of the von Linden family, but unfortunately parts of the archival records of the von Linden family were also destroyed in the fire at the Burgberg and Hausen palaces during the Second World War.In addition to the personal documents on individual members of the family, the present collection also lacks documents on economic and property management, documents and invoices, which are to be expected in a nobility archive. The structure of the collection is based on the division of the widely ramified von Linden noble family into the various lines, as it is listed in the Genealogical Handbook of the Nobility. Within the individual lines, the bequests and holdings of the family members were arranged according to date of birth, so that the older family members were listed before the younger ones. The bequests of Franz Joseph Ignaz Freiherr von Linden (section 1.1) and Franz Freiherr von Linden (section 1.2) are at the beginning of the holdings. The latter estate includes a legal opinion on the effect of the Reich's decision of 27 April 1803 on the judicial proceedings of the chamber of justice, two letters from Franz von Linden to Minister of Justice Maucler on the progress made in the training of the sons Carl and Joseph von Linden, and the correspondence between Carl and Joseph von Linden during their stay in France with their parents, some of which was written in French.The estate of the Ministerial Director Hugo Freiherr von Linden comprises several printed programmes and invitations to cultural and official events, mainly in Stuttgart (section 1.5.1), and letters from members of the Princely House Wied to Hugo Freiherr von Linden as well as a memorandum from Wilhelm I. Prince of Albania Prince to Wied (section 1.5.2). Section 1.6 forms the estate of the Württemberg Minister of State Joseph Freiherr von Linden. It is the second largest estate in the stock Q 1/7. The estate is divided into the categories: Family and personal affairs (1.6.1) with documents on weddings, wedding jubilees and a travel description, correspondence (1.6.2) with letters from members of the House of Württemberg (above all Alexander Duke of Württemberg) to Joseph Freiherr von Linden and isolated letters from family members, activity as prefect of the Marne Department (1.6.).3) and printed matter about Joseph Freiherr von Linden (1.6.4): the wife of Joseph Freiherr von Linden, Emma Freifrau von Linden, and the daughter of the Minister of State, Franziska Freiin von Linden, only have very small estates (headings 1.7 and 1.8); the materials from the estate of the Protestant parish family Dierlamm were left as an independent complex (heading 2). The content of the section has already been discussed above, and under section 3 you will find collections, mainly on the family history of Linden: The first section is section 3.1 with the already mentioned extensive collection of material on the family history of Linden, which Franz-Karl Freiherr von Linden compiled and handed over to the house as photocopies. Section 3.2 contains photos of members of the House of Württemberg, of Joseph Freiherr von Linden and of other personalities in Württemberg history; sections 3.3 and 3.4 contain newspaper articles by Franz-Karl Freiherr von Linden and a lock of hair by Joseph Freiherr von Linden.Further archives on Joseph Freiherr von Linden are kept by the Hauptstaatsarchiv in fonds J 1 (collection of historical manuscripts) no. 256 b: Joseph Freiherr von Linden: "Aus meiner politische Karrierebahn" 1830-1862, part 2 of the memoirs dictated by Linden to his granddaughter Sara Schinzinger around 1890. The copy kept in J 1 is a copy for which Professor Schinzinger from Hohenheim, a grandson of the Minister of State von Linden, lent the original to the archive in 1925. Günther-Otto Maus in Baesweiler, a direct descendant of Joseph Freiherr von Linden, was filmed in 1977 and is now kept in the Main State Archives under the signature F 554 in fonds J 383 (microfilms and manuscripts in foreign archives, libraries). In January 2015, Günther-Otto Maus purchased the original diary from Günther-Otto Maus and it is now part of the collection under the signature Q 1/7 Bü 51. An index of the archive of the Barons of Linden in Neunthausen, which was compiled in 1892/1893, is part of the collection J 424 (Inventories of Non-State Archives: Caretakers' Photographs).In addition, reference is briefly made to the E stocks (ministerial stocks), in which extensive material on the work of State Minister Joseph Freiherr von Linden and Ministerial Director Hugo Freiherr von Linden is kept, and Q 1/7 can be used for various research purposes: First of all, of course, the history of the von Linden family, the history of nobility, mentality, social and cultural history, and finally the history of the German occupation of France during the war of 1870/1871. The Q 1/7 holdings were catalogued in 2001 by the archive inspectors Alexander Morlok, Matthias Schönthaler and Jens Ulrich under the supervision of the undersigned. The final editing, input and classification of the title recordings, the introduction as well as the compilation of the overall index were the responsibility of the undersigned. 0.5 linear metres of the stock was held. Literature about the von Linden family and individual family members:: Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels: Adelslexikon Vol. VII. 1989. p. 394f.Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels: Vol. 68. Freiherrliche Häuser Vol. VII (1978) p. 196-215 and Vol. XVIII (1995) p. 356-376.Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels: Der in Bayern immatrikulierten Vol. XXIII. 2000. 351-365.Junginger, Gabriele: Countess Maria von Linden. Memories of the first Tübingen student. 1991.Koenig-Warthausen, Wilhelm Freiherr von: Josef Freiherr von Linden. Württemberg Minister of the Interior 1804-1895 In: Lebensbilder aus Schwaben und Franken IX S. 218-276.Linden, Franz-Karl Freiherr von: Grandfather's diaries. [Article about Hugo Freiherr von Linden (1854-1936)]. In: Schönes Schwaben 1993 Issue 1 S. 78-83 Menges, Franz: Joseph Freiherr von Linden. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB) Vol. 14 S. 589-590Moegle-Hofacker, Franz:; On the Development of Parliamentarism in Württemberg. The "Parliamentarism of the Crown" under King Wilhelm I. 1981.Schneider, Eugen: Joseph Freiherr von Linden. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB) Vol. 51 S. 719-721 Stöckhardt, E.: Joseph Freiherr von Linden. Royal Württemberg Minister of State (retired) Member of the Württemberg Chamber of Lords of State for Life. In: Deutsche Adels-Chronik Heft 15 S. 187-190 und Heft 16 S. 215, 216 und 226, 227th Württembergischer Verein für Handelsgeographie, Museum für Länder- und Völkerkunde, Lindenmuseum Stuttgart (publisher): Celebration of the 50th anniversary of the association. Celebration of the 100th birthday of Count Karl von Linden. 1939.
History of the inventor: Joseph Goebbels, who had already been head of the NSDAP's Reich Propaganda Department since 1929, had certainly developed plans for a Ministry of Propaganda even before the seizure of power.(1) The Reichskabinett (Reich Cabinet) dealt with the issue of the Propaganda Department on 11 September. The arguments for the foundation, which the Reich Chancellor (Hitler) himself presented, sounded extremely harmless ex post and far from future realities: "One of the predominant tasks of this ministry would be the preparation of important acts of government. On the oil and fat issue, for example, which now occupies the cabinet, the people should be enlightened in the direction that the farmer would perish if something were not done to improve the sale of his products. The importance of this matter also for the war measures would have to be pointed out ..." Government action would only begin if the awareness-raising work had taken place and worked for some time. ..."(2) On 16 March 1933, however, Goebbels described the future tasks of his ministry programmatically three days after his appointment in a remarkably open manner in front of press representatives: "If this government is now determined never to give way again, never and under no circumstances, then it need not make use of the dead power of the bayonet, then in the long run it will not be able to be satisfied with knowing 52 percent behind it ..., but it will have to see its next task in winning the remaining 48 percent for itself. This is not only possible through objective work". And about the nature of his propaganda he proclaimed: "Not any aesthete can judge the methods of propaganda. A binding judgment can only be given on the basis of success. For propaganda is not an end in itself, but a means to an end.(3) A timid attempt by Hugenberg to at least delay the decision to establish the Ministry of Propaganda in the cabinet meeting of March 11, 1933 failed miserably. Already on 13 March 1933 the law on the establishment of the RMVP was signed by the Reich President and the "writer" Dr. Goebbels was appointed minister.(4) Almost three weeks later, on 5 April 1933, Goebbels noted in his diary: "The organisation of the ministry is finished".(5) In difficult negotiations(6) with the ministries, which had to cede parts of their competences to the new ministry, the responsibilities were determined in detail. The RMVP was responsible for all tasks relating to intellectual influence on the nation, advertising for the state, culture and economy, informing the domestic and foreign public about them, and the administration of all institutions serving these purposes. As a result, the business area of the RMVP will be: 1. from the business area of the Federal Foreign Office: News and education abroad, art, art exhibitions, film and sports abroad. 2. From the RMI division: General Domestic Enlightenment, Hochschule für Politik, introduction and celebration of national holidays and celebration of national holidays with the participation of the RMI, press (with Institute for Newspaper Science), radio, national anthem, German Library in Leipzig, art (but without art-historical institute in Florence, copyright protection for works of literature and art, directory of nationally valuable works of art, German-Austrian Convention on the Export of Art, Protection of Works of Art and Monuments, Protection and Maintenance of Landscape and Natural Monuments, Nature Parks, Preservation of Buildings of Special Historical Importance, Preservation of National Monuments, Verband Deutscher Vereine für Volkskunde, Reich Memorial), Music Conservation, including the Philharmonic Orchestra, Theatre Matters, Cinema, Combating Trash and Dirt 3. From the business areas of the Reich Ministry of Economics and the Reich Ministry of Food and Agriculture: Economic Advertising, Exhibitions, Trade Fairs and Advertising 4. From the business areas of the Reich Ministry of Posts and the Reich Ministry of Transportation: Traffic Advertising Furthermore, all radio matters dealt with by the Reich Ministry of Posts and the Reich Ministry of Transportation are transferred from the business area of the Reich Ministry of Posts, unless they concern the technical administration outside the premises of the Reich Broadcasting Company and the radio companies. In matters of technical administration, the RMVP shall be involved to the extent necessary to carry out its own tasks, in particular in determining the conditions for the awarding of broadcasting rights and the regulation of fees. In particular, the representation of the Reich in the Reichsrundfunkgesellschaft and the broadcasting companies is fully transferred to the RMVP. The RMVP is in charge of all tasks, including legislation, in the designated areas. The general principles shall apply to the participation of the other Reich Ministers." (RGBl. 1933 I, p. 449) These competences were exercised by seven departments, so that the business distribution plan of 1 Oct. 1933 (7) shows the following picture: Ministerial office (with five employees), directly subordinated to the Minister. State Secretary, at the same time Head of Press of the Reich Government I. Administration and Law with one main office Administration, three departments as well as the registry II. Propaganda with 10 departments 1. Positive world view propaganda, shaping in state life, press photography 2. Jewish question, foundation for victims of work, Versailles treaty, national literature, publishing etc. 3. Demonstrations and regional organisation 4. Opposing world views 5. German University of Politics 6. Youth and sports issues 7. Economic and social policy 8. Agricultural and eastern issues 9. Transport 10. Public health III. Broadcasting with three sections 1. Broadcasting 2. Political and cultural affairs of broadcasting 3. Organisation and administrative issues of German broadcasting IV. Press, simultaneously press department of the Reich government with eleven papers V. Film with three papers VI. Theatre, music and art with three papers VII. Defence (defence against lies at home and abroad) with eight papers Goebbels was obviously not satisfied with the official title of his ministry. The extensive tasks in the fields of culture and the arts did not come into their own and the word propaganda, of which he was aware, had a "bitter aftertaste" (8). His proposal to rename his department "Reichsministerium für Kultur und Volksaufklärung", however, met with Hitler's rejection. (9) In July 1933, a circular issued by the Reich Chancellor drew the attention of the Reich governors to the exclusive competence of the Reich or of the new Ministry for the above-mentioned competences and called on them to cede to the RMVP any existing budget funds and offices of the Länder. (10) At the same time, 13 regional offices were established as the substructure of the Ministry, the sprinkles of which corresponded approximately to those of the regional employment offices, and 18 imperial propaganda offices, which subdivided the territory of the regional offices once again. After the Reichspropagandastellen were already converted after short time (approx. 1934) to Landesstellen, in each Gau of the NSDAP a Landesstelle of the RMVP was located. Their leaders were in personal union at the same time leaders of the Gaupropagandaleitungen of the NSDAP, which in its leadership, the Reichspropagandalleitung, was also perceived by Goebbels in personal union. (11) As a result, conflicts of loyalty between the Gaupropaganda leaders/leaders of the RMVP regional offices were unavoidable in disputes between Goebbels and individual Gauleiters. According to theory, the regional offices were supposed to monitor and implement the political decisions made in the ministry in the individual districts, but in practice their heads were often more dependent on their respective Gauleiter than on the ministry due to the above-mentioned personal union. By the Führer decree of 9 September 1937 (RGBl. 1937 I, p. 1009), the Landesstellen were renamed Reichspropagandaämter and elevated to Reich authorities. After the integration of Austria there were no less than 42 Reichspropagandaämter with 1400 full-time employees. (12) In addition to the state offices and Reich Propaganda Offices, a whole range of offices, organizations, associations, societies and societies soon developed, which are to be counted to the subordinate area of the Ministry. (13) Despite the apparently clear regulation on the responsibilities of the RMVP, the 13 years of its existence were marked by disputes over responsibilities with other ministries, in particular with the ministers Rust, Rosenberg and Ribbentrop, of whom Goebbels, as is known, held very little personally. Successes and failures in the competence disputes cannot be followed in detail here; they depended to a large extent on Hitler's relationship with Goebbels. For example, Goebbels did not succeed in extending his competence in theatre to the Prussian State Theatres in Berlin. By contrast, in 1943 the RMVP assumed responsibility for carrying out the Eastern propaganda, while Rosenberg, as Reich Minister for the occupied Eastern territories, was left with only the authority to issue guidelines. (14) In the conflict with the Federal Foreign Office over the delimitation of responsibilities for foreign propaganda, an arrangement was reached in a working agreement in October 1941. (15) Wehrmacht propaganda also remained long and controversial. Despite many efforts (16), Goebbels did not succeed in making a decisive break in the competencies of the OKW/Wpr department until the end of the war in March 1945. Propaganda into the Wehrmacht and about the Wehrmacht at home and abroad was then to be taken in charge by the RMVP. It is not possible to determine whether the planned organizational consequences have yet been implemented. (17) Another major success for Goebbels was the establishment of the Reichsinspektion für zivile Luftschutzmaßnahmen (Reich Inspection for Civilian Air Defence Measures), which was headed by the RMVP (18), and his appointment as Reich Plenipotentiary for Total War Operations by Führer Decree of 25 July 1944 (19). For the last months of the Third Reich, Goebbels had reached the zenith of power with this function, apart from his appointment as Reich Chancellor in Hitler's last will and testament of April 29, 1945, which had become effective only theoretically. As Reich Plenipotentiary for the total deployment in war, he had extremely far-reaching powers over the entire state apparatus with the exception of the Wehrmacht. (20) Until that date, the competences of the RMVP had changed only slightly in the main features of all disputes over jurisdiction. That it nevertheless grew enormously and steadily until 1943 (21) was mainly due to diversification and intensification in the performance of its tasks. After 1938, the expansive foreign policy of the Third Reich necessitated further propaganda agencies to direct and influence public opinion in the incorporated and occupied territories. In the occupied territories with civil administrations, "departments" (main departments) for "popular enlightenment and propaganda" were usually set up in the territories with military administration, "propaganda departments", which exercised roughly the functions of the Reich Propaganda Offices. Their position between their superior military services and the RMVP, which sought to influence the content of the propaganda and from where part of the personnel came, was a constant source of conflict. As an indication for the weighting of the individual areas of responsibility of the Ministry in relation to each other, the expenditures for the individual areas in the 10 years from March 1933 to March 1943 are mentioned. With a total volume of 881,541,376.78 RM (22), the expenses for the Active propaganda: 21.8 Communications: 17.8 Music, visual arts, literature: 6.2 Film: 11.5 Theatres: 26.4 Civil servants and equipment: 4.3 Salaries, business needs, including film testing agencies and RPÄ: 12.0 By 1942, the RMVP and its division had been continuously expanded, before facilities in the subordinate area were shut down and departments in the ministry were merged as part of the total war from 1943 onwards. The business distribution plan of Nov. 1942 was as follows: (23) Ministerial Office, reporting directly to the Minister with adjutants, personal advisers and press officers of the Minister, a total of 10 employees State Secretaries Leopold Gutterer, Reich Press Head Dr. Otto Dietrich, Hermann Esser Budget Department (H) with 11 departments; reporting to the Head of the Department, the Main Office and the House Administration Personnel Department (Pers) with seven departments Legal and Organisation Department (R) with three departments Propaganda Department (Pro) with the following ten departments: 1. Political Propaganda 2. Cultural Propaganda 3. Propaganda Exploration 4. Public Health, Social Policy 5. Economy 6. Imperial Propaganda Offices 7. Major Events 8. Youth and Sports 9. Representation 10. Budget of the Department, Preparation of the Peace Treaties, Stagma and other Press Department of the Imperial Government I. Department German Press (DP) with 13 Speeches II. Foreign Press Department (AP) with 19 papers III. Journal Press Department /ZP) with five papers Foreign Press Department (A) with the following five groups: 1. Organization 2. Europe and Middle East 3. Non-European 4. Propaganda Media 5. Deployment abroad and in the Reich Tourism Department (FV) with four units Broadcasting Department (Rfk) with the following eight units 1. Coordination, Interradio and others 2. Broadcasting Command Office 3. Mob Department 4. Broadcasting Programme Support 5. Foreign Broadcasting 6. Broadcasting Industry 7. Broadcasting Organisation 8. Rundfunk-Erkundungsdienst Filmabteilung (F) with five departments Schrifttumsabteilung (S ) with eight departments Theaterabteilung (T) with seven departments Bildende Kunst (BK) with four departments Musik-Abteilung (M) with ten departments Reichsverteidigung (RV) with six departments Abteilung für die besetztischen Ostgebiete (Ost) with twelve departments Generalreferate with State Secretary Gutterer directly subordinated: 1. Exhibitions and Fairs 2nd General Cultural Department (General Cultural Department for the Reich Capital) 3rd General Department for Reich Chamber of Culture Matters 4th Technology (propaganda, radio, film, sound, stage, press, service installations of the RMVP) Press Recording Office for the PK reports of the Press Department of the Reich Government (directly subordinated to the Reich Press Head) A major change in this distribution of responsibilities took place in September 1944 (24). The art departments of theatre, music and visual arts were dissolved and merged into a single department of culture (cult). The East Department was integrated into the Propaganda Department as a main department, the Tourism Department was shut down and the General Departments of the Reich Cultural Chamber, Armaments and Construction and Propaganda Troops were dissolved. Notes (1) J. Goebbels: Vom Kaiserhof zur Reichskanzlei, p. 28. (2) R 43 II/1149, p. 5, excerpt from the minutes of the ministerial meeting of 11 March 1933. (3) R 43 II/1149, pp. 25 - 29, wording of Goebbels' speech of 16 March 1933 according to W. T. B. (4) R 43 II/1149, RGBl. 1933 I, p. 104 (5) J. Goebbels: Vom Kaiserhof zur Reichskanzlei, p. 293 (6) In an elaboration presumably by Goebbels on a "Reichskommissariat für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda" to be created (R 43 II/1149, pp. 49 - 53) further competences had been demanded. In particular, additional responsibilities were demanded of the German section of the RMI and section VI of the AA, as well as in foreign propaganda. (7) R 43 II/1449, pp. 126 - 133. Heiber gives a diagram of the organisational development of the RMVP at department level with the names of the department heads on the inside of the cover of his Goebbels biography. (8) See speech to representatives of the press on the tasks of the RMVP of 16 March 1933 in R 43 II/1149. It was not without reason that there was a language regulation for the press according to which the term propaganda was to be used only in a positive sense (R 55/1410, Decree of the RMVP to the RPA Nuremberg, 8 Nov. 1940). (9) R 43 II/1149, p. 169, Note by Lammers of 9 May 1934 on a lecture to the Reich Chancellor. (10) R 43 II/1149. (11) After the establishment of the Reichskulturkammer organization, they were also state cultural administrators in the substructure of the RKK. (12) Boelcke, Kriegspropaganda, p. 185. (13) Ebendort, p. 136 ff. there are hints for some institutions. (14) The Führer's order concerning the delimitation of responsibilities dated 15 Aug. 1943, cf. R 55/1435, 1390. (15) Boelcke, Kriegspropaganda, p. 126/127. (16) Lochner, Joseph Goebbels, p. 334, p. 442. (17) R 55/618, p. 123; cf. also the depiction of Hasso v. Wedel, the propaganda troops of the German Wehrmacht. Neckargemünd 1962, Die Wehrmacht im Kampf, vol. 34 (18) Führer decree of Dec. 21, 1943, R 55/441 (19) RGBl. 1944, p. 161, R 43 II/664 a. (20) This competence is virtually not reflected in the RMVP files available in the BA. However, it is well documented in R 43 II. See R 43 II/664 a. (21) See the annual budget negotiations on increasing the number of posts in R 2/4752 - 4762. (22) R 55/862, Statistical overview of monetary transactions. Accordingly, 88,5 % of the expenditure was covered by the licence fee. It remains unclear whether the old budgetary expenditure has been taken into account. (23) R 55/1314 According to this schedule of responsibilities, the files held in the Federal Archives were essentially classified. (24) Newsletter of 13 Sept. 1944 in R 55/441. Inventory description: Inventory history The RMVP records have suffered substantial losses, although the main building of the Ministry, the Ordenspalais am Wilhelmplatz, was destroyed relatively late and almost accidentally in March 1945. Large parts of the old registries, including the previous files from the Federal Foreign Office and the Reich Ministry of the Interior (1), had already been destroyed by air raids in 1944. Moreover, in the last days of the war before and during the conquest of Berlin by the Soviet Russian army, files were also systematically destroyed. (2) In view of the total collapse and devastation of Berlin by the air war, it is not surprising that hardly any manual or private files of RMVP employees have been handed down. Notable exceptions are, in particular, documents from Ministerialrat Bade (press department) (3) and hand files of the head of the broadcasting department, Ministerialdirigent Fritzsche. In this context, the diaries of Goebbels should also be mentioned, which, with the exception of those edited by Lochner in 1948, had been lost for almost 30 years. (4) The bulk of the volumes available in the Bundesarchiv Koblenz until 1996 was transferred from Alexandria (cf. Guide No. 22) and from the Berlin Document Center to the Bundesarchiv in the years 1959 - 1963. The personnel files still held back were added to the portfolio in 2007. The RMVP files kept by the Ministry of State Security of the GDR (mainly personnel files, personnel processes of the theatre, music and defence departments), which were stored in the so-called NS archive until 2006, are also assigned to the holdings. Not in Allied hands was only a small collection from the Music Department and some documents from the German Press Department, which were transferred to the Federal Archives in 1969 as part of the land consolidation with the Secret State Archives of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. Some original RMVP files can still be found at the Hoover Institution Standford, the Yivo Institute New York and the Wiener Library London. Fortunately, all three institutions were willing to produce microfilms for the Federal Archives (5). In 1974, the Rijksinstitut voor Oologsdocumentatie Amsterdam (Rijksinstitut for Oologsdocumentatie Amsterdam) kindly handed over some original fragments of files to the Federal Archives. In 1946, officers of the French and Soviet secret services found films of about 35,000 documents that had been filmed in the RMVP and buried near Potsdam at the end of the war with the help of an American mine detector (6). The films were taken to Paris to make re-enlargements of them, and it is possible that they will still be kept in the French secret service. The Americans apparently did not receive copies because they had withheld from the French documents of other provenance found in the CSSR. Only incomplete information is available about the content of the films; it can be assumed, however, that not exactly unimportant files have been filmed. Notes (1) Only a few handfiles and a few volumes on the promotion of music have survived. (2) Files of the Reichsfilmarchiv that had been moved to Grasleben/Helmstedt were even to be destroyed by agents of the RSHA when they threatened to fall into the hands of the English (cf. R 55/618). (3) Cf. Kl. Erw. 615, which is a selection of the bath papers from the time around 1933 in the Hoover library. (4) Frankfurter Allgemeine, 21 Nov. 1974, reader's letter. Insignificant fragments from Goebbels' estate from his student days can be found in the Federal Archives under the signature Kl. Erw. 254. (5) A collection of newspaper clippings concerning Goebbels in the amount of 82 Bde for the years 1931 - 1943 was not filmed at the Yivo-Institut. (6) See the documents in: National Archives Washington, RG 260 OMGUS 35/35 folder 19. Archival processing The order and indexing work on the holdings was relatively time-consuming and difficult, as the order of the files was extremely poor. On the one hand there were no detailed file plans or other registry aids for the mass of files from the budget and personnel departments, on the other hand the file management in the ministry, which at least in its development phase was always deliberately unbureaucratic, left a lot to be desired. Especially during the war, when inexperienced auxiliaries had to be used more and more during the war, the Ministry's staff often complained about the inadequacy of the registries. The organisation of the RMVP's records management showed typical features of office reform (1): Registries were kept on a departmental basis, with each registry having a "self-contained partial list of files". The documents were stored in standing folders (System Herdegen). Instead of a diary, an alphabetical mailing card was kept, separated according to authorities and private persons. The reference numbers consisted of the department letter, file number, date as well as an indication, on which card of an order file the procedure was seized. All in all, the files of the Budget and Human Resources Department were in a certain, albeit unsatisfactory, state of order when they entered the Federal Archives. Numerous volumes from the other departments, on the other hand, were formed in a chaotic manner, possibly as a result of a provisional recording of loose written material when it was confiscated. These were often amorphous and fragmentary materials that lacked the characteristics of organically grown writing. So it was practically impossible to form meaningful band units in all subjects. In the case of some "mixed volumes" with written material on numerous file numbers, only the most frequent ones were noted in the finding aid book. Due to the high loss of files, no strict evaluation standard was applied to the files. The main items collected were volumes from the budget department on preliminary checks in the subordinate area and individual procedures for the procurement and management of managed goods for the purposes of the Ministry. Formal records of non-compliant positions in the business division and a number of unarchivalable documents from the Human Resources Department will still be kept for the foreseeable future for the purpose of issuing service time statements. It is not listed in this guide. Preparatory work for the indexing of the Koblenz part of the stock was carried out by Mr. Oberarchivrat Regel (1967) with regard to the files of the budget department on the Reich's own film assets, Mr. Ltd. Archivdirektor Dr. Boberach (1966) with regard to correspondence and the reference files of the head of the broadcasting department, Hans Fritzsche and Ms. Archivoberinspektorin Schneider, née Fisch (1966) for files of the propaganda department. In 2005, the inventories of the finding aids of both sections of the Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda were imported into the database of the Federal Archives via a retroconversion procedure. The data records were then combined in a classification. Despite the inhomogeneity of the traditions of most specialist departments, it was advisable to maintain the division by departments. (2) Within the departments, the structure was essentially based on file numbers and factual contexts. The file numbers used in the RMVP were - as far as possible - used as aids for further subdivision. The final step was the integration of the personnel files and personal documents from the NS archive (approx. 5000 individual transactions) and the former Berlin Document Center (approx. 700 transactions). The documents taken over are mainly documents from the personnel department (in addition to personnel files also questionnaires and index cards), theatre (applications, appointments, confirmation procedures) and imperial defence (applications in propaganda companies). The personal records also contain isolated documents on denazification from the period 1946-1950. Since a relatively large number of individual transactions from the NS archives were often only a few sheets, transactions that objectively related to one transaction (e.g. applications for interpreting) were merged into one file. The names of the individual persons as well as the old signatures from the NS archive can still be traced via the BASYS-P database. Both the files from the NS archive and those from the former BDC are not always filed according to the provenance principle. However, the files were not separated again. Most of the files taken over from the former BDC are personal files and questionnaires as well as personnel index cards of individual employees of broadcasting stations. A search is still possible via the BASYS-P database. The procedures for the donation "Artist's thanks" still present in the personal records of the former BDC concerning the Theatre Department were not adopted in this context (approx. 15,000 procedures). The names are entered in the BASYS-P database and can be searched there. Notes (1) Rules of Procedure and Registration of 8 May 1942 in R 55/ 618. (2) The structure of the business distribution plan of Nov. 1942 was used as a basis. Abbreviations AA = Federal Foreign Office Department A = Department Abroad AP = Foreign Press BDC = Berlin Document Center BdS = Commander of the Security Police ChdZ = Chief of the Civil Administration DAF = German Labour Front DASD = German Amateur Broadcasting Service e.V. DNB = Deutsches Nachrichtenbüro DRK = Deutsches Rotes Kreuz Dt. = Deutsch DVO = Durchführungsverordnung french = French Gestapo = Geheimes Staatspolizeiamt KdF = Kraft durch Freude KdG = Kommandeur der Gendarmerie KdS = Kommandeur der Sicherheitspolizei Kl. Erw. Small acquisition KLV = Kinderlandverschickung LG = District Court MA = Military Archives, Department of the Federal Archives MdR = Member of the Reichstag MinRat = Ministerialrat MdL = Member of the Landtag NDR = Norddeutscher Rundfunk NSV = National Socialist Volkswohlfahrt o. Az. = without file number or date = without date OKW = Oberkommando der Wehrmacht OLG = Oberstes Landesgericht OLT = Oberleutnant ORR = Oberregierungsrat OT = Organisation Todt PG = Parteigenosse PK = Propagandakompanie RAVAG = Österreichische Radio-Verkehrs-AG Reg. Pres. RMI = Reich Ministry of the Interior RMJ = Reich Ministry of the Interior RMK = Reich Ministry of Justice RMK = Reich Chamber of Music RMVP = Reich Ministry of Education and Propaganda ROI = Reichsoberinspektor RPA = Reichspropagandaamt RPÄ = Reichspropagandaämter RPL = Reichspropagandalleitung RR = Regierungsrat RRG = Reichsrundfunkgesellschaft RS = Reichssender RSHA = Reichssicherheitshauptamt RSK = Reichsschrifttumskammer SBZ = Soviet Occupation Zone SD = Security Service SD-LA = SD-Leitabschnitt SDR = Süddeutscher Rundfunk Sipo = Security Police STS = Secretary of State and a. = among others v. a. = above all VGH = Volksgerichtshof VO = Regulation WDR = Westdeutscher Rundfunk ZSTA = Zentrales Staatsarchiv (Potsdam) citation method: BArch R 55/ 23456 Content characterization: Rounded delivery complexes are available only from the budget department and from the personnel department. From the point of view of financing and personnel management, they illuminate almost all areas of the Ministry's activities. From the specialist departments, the volumes from the Propaganda Department should be emphasized, which document above all the design of propaganda and the propagandistic support of foreign workers and resettled persons in the last years of the war. Also worth mentioning are mood and activity reports of individual RPÄ and suggestions from the population for propaganda and for leading the total war. In the Radio Department there is some material about the design of the radio program and the propaganda reconnaissance with reports about the opposing propaganda, which were compiled from the bugging reports of the special service Seehaus. A separate complex of this department are 14 volumes of pre-files from the RMI with handfiles of the Oberregierungsrat Scholz as representative of the Reich in supervisory committees of broadcasting companies in Berlin from 1926 - 1932. Of the film department there are only a few, but interesting volumes about the film production of the last war years with numerous ministerial documents. The majority of the theatre department's traditions are based on documents on professional issues and the Reich's dramaturgy. From the music department the promotion of musical organizations from the years 1933 - 1935 with pre-files from the RMI, the support and job placement of artists as well as material about the musical foreign relations is handed down. The files of the Department for the Occupied Eastern Territories offer rich sources for questions of Eastern propaganda. The losses are greatest in the departments Law and Organization, Magazine Press, Foreign Press, Foreign Countries, Tourism, Literature and Fine Arts. State of development: Publication Findbuch (1976, reprint 1996), Online Findbuch (2007). Citation style: BArch, R 55/...