Contains: among other things collection of newspaper reports about monument consecration war memorial a. "Black Lord" and on cemetery Wachenheim 15.7.1928; mixed letters and prints; circular letter concerning elections z. Landwirtschaftskammer, 1906 (to mayor's office!); printed instruction for the leadership of the local chronicles (by the clergymen), 1857; print: Facts. The letter sent by the French Protestants to the Protestants of the neutral states, answered by Dr. Adolf Bolliger, Pfarrer v. Zürich-Neumünster, Konstanz [1915]; vertraul. Print: Liebesgaben dt. Geistlicher und seelsorgerliche Hilfe für kriegsgefangene Deutsche (Verf. F. M. Knote, ca. 1915/16); Aufruf/Sammelliste der Ludendorff-Spende für Kriegsbeschädigte, June 1918 (with collection result of 612 Marks; note: put into circulation by the board of the Frauenverein Mölsheim, second ex.); various collections and collection lists Rev. Müller 1915-1919 (e.g. for prisoners of war, ambulance train; sacrificial day for the colonial war donation Aug. 1918; call for the donation of Christmas gifts, with collection list; donation for infant and toddler protection); 25th anniversary of Kaiser. National donation for the mission (1913); Sacrifice Day for the German Fleet, 1.10.1916 (donor lists); Kaiser and Volksdank for army and fleet. Christmas Gift of the German People: Collection List; Call: Heimatdank an heimkehrte deutsche Kriegsgefangene, April 1918 (Worms district; Grand Duke, Red Cross), including: lists of results of the collection; government circular concerning education of the rural population about the situation (including food security), Oct. 1916; Volks-Emden-10-Pfennig-Spende, Nov. 1914; implementation of a war economic course in Frankfurt May 1917; Der ev. Heidenbote. Organ of the Evangelical Mission Society in Basel 88th year no. 6, June 1915 (obituary to fallen Georg Jung, born 11.9.1892 Mölsheim, died Westfront 25.03.1915); Kirchlich-statistische Tabelle ev. Pfarrei Mölsheim-Wachenheim für 1949; Reisebescheinigung Pfr. Reinhard Müller, April 1915 (Worms-Wachenheim); questionnaire (executed) of the Oberkonsistorium to the parish offices concerning war work of the evangelical church, April 1919 (among other things collection results); further letters; leaflet for field postings, Dec. 1914; call of the Hess. Landesverein vom Roten Kreuz 2.8.1914 zum Kriegsbeginn: Aufforderung zu Gelabenaben); Collection list for the Red Cross, 1914 (Wachenheim); List of nurses from Mölsheim and Wachenheim; various other collection lists, e.g. Nationalstiftung für die Hinterbliebenen der im Krieg Gefallenen, 1915; Call for the Ludendorff donation (in favour of war-damaged persons), May 1918 (Chairman of the Vereinigung für Kriegsbeschädigtenfürsorge im Kreis Worms: C. W. Frhr. v. Heyl, MdR, Wirkl. Rat); Call for the delivery of eggs, Confirmations of egg deliveries (here: as poultry farmer Pfarrer Müller, Wachenheim) Darin: hs. Welcoming speech on the occasion of the arrival of the 1st expellee transport in Wachenheim 16.6.1950 (56 persons, ev. priest); egg duty 1919; Red Cross bandage priest Müller; Wormser Zeitung v. 02.02.1915; cover with various food stamps (e.g. bread card, bread stamps, bread coupons; Reichsfleischkarten, Zuckerkarte; also soap card of the municipal association of Worms, charcoal card, twist card); card: Sammel-Hilfsdienst der Schuljugend des Kreises Worms
Description of the holdings: From the independent departments of the Wehrmachtamt (from 1 March 1929 to 13 February 1936 referred to as the "Ministeramt"), the "Inland" and "Wehrmachtversorgung" departments were reorganised in the course of the reorganisation of the "Oberkommando der Wehrmacht" (High Command of the Wehrmacht) from 4 March 1929 to 13 February 1936. Until the beginning of the war, it had been assigned not only the Domestic Department and the Wehrmacht Welfare and Supply Department, but also a Department for Wehrmacht Administration and Wehrmacht Specialist Schooling, as well as a Department for Science. With the expansion of the previous official groups within the OKW into ¿offices¿ from November 1939, the official group was given the name of ¿General Wehrmachtamt¿ (AWA), which was valid until 1945, and, after the allocation of competencies for loss- and prisoner-of-war affairs, comprised seven departments and three smaller organizational units, including two liaison officers at the "Deputy of the Führer" and at the ¿Youth Leader of the German Reich¿. In the spring of 1941, the division was expanded once again to include the office of the "Plenipotentiary of the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht for Settlement Issues" and by the appointment of inspectors for the welfare and supply offices, the prisoner of war system and the Wehrmacht grave officers. In 1944, finally, the merger of larger areas of competence into official groups (for welfare and supply matters, technical schools and settlement issues as well as for the Wehrmacht administration) was carried out. At the beginning of 1944, responsibility for the "national political training" of the Wehrmacht was transferred to the head of the NS management staff in the OKW, whose office was held by the head of the AWA (General der Infanterie Reinecke) in personal union. Preprovenience: Department of Domestic Affairs and Armed Forces Supply, Division of General Armed Forces Affairs Content Characterisation: The main part of the tradition comes from the Department of Domestic Affairs, which is responsible for relations with the civil administration and the NSDAP. These include files on internal affairs and internal security 1919-1940 (ban on associations and films, espionage); treatment of the racial issue (1933-1944); relationship with the NSDAP (including differences over military policy, incidents 1933-1937); proceedings against soldiers before party courts 1942-1943; treatment of Jewish front fighters 1933-1938; foreign issues (including Secret files "Foreign States" 1922 to 1939, assessments of the situation and descriptions 1925 to 1939); disarmament (1933-1936); international law (1940-1941); dealings with the Federal Foreign Office (among others Deployment of military and naval attachés 1933-1938, stay of ships abroad 1935-1939); domestic political situation and annexation of Austria (1934-1939); national defence and spatial planning (1935-1938); personnel affairs of the Wehrmacht and the army (u. a. Salaries, e-officers, reserve and land officers, workers and employees 1929-1941); Political assessment and monitoring of members of the Wehrmacht (1936-1938), Wehrmacht legal system (including individual cases of criminal proceedings against officers 1935 to 1938 and war crime statistics 1940 to 1942), army organization (1926-1942), training, maneuvers, and exercises (1933-1939), establishment of the Luftwaffe, and air defense (1933-1943), Education, military leadership and national political education (1933-1944, also documented by 88 "Tornisterschriften" published between 1939 and 1943 and five volumes of "Soldatenblätter für Feier und Freizeit", 1940-1944), propaganda (including press and radio affairs, 1928-1943). Further files are available from the Wehrmachtfürsorge- und Versorgungsabteilung (Wehrmachtforsorge- und Versorgungsabteilung) (e.g. Occupations and budgetary issues; statutory regulations; development and provisions of service and pension law; welfare and support for war veterans, former relatives, persons disabled for military service and surviving dependants; individual cases; foundations mainly Großes Militärwaisenhaus Potsdam with 40 files and Invalidenhaus Berlin with 10 files, 1920 to 1945; the Wehrmachtverlustwesen department (with organisation and deployment; collections of regulations [including registration, notification of relatives, soldier's etc.]); the Wehrmacht Lossesen department (with organisation and deployment; collections of regulations [including registration, notification of relatives, soldier's etc.]). Graves, burial and funeral also for foreign armed forces, suicides, executed, deserters; statistics, especially losses in general as well as in particular; grave service and care; planning of memorials) and by the chief of the prisoner of war system (army pressure regulation H.Dv 38 and other general instructions and leaflets; organization; treatment and deployment of prisoners of war; postal traffic; Italian military internees; 5 volumes with numerical overviews of prisoner of war facilities in the Reich and the occupied territories, including construction and labor battalions 1941-1945). The files of the Wehrmacht administration department (on compensation for war damage; clothing, armament and equipment; travel and payment transactions; supplies; emoluments), the Wehrmacht budget department, the military replacement department (replacement), the general department(s), and the National Socialist management staff office (on installation; training and deployment of the National Socialist management officers with training and propaganda material; location in West Germany in the Febr.March 1945); documents are missing from the departments of science and for Wehrmacht technical college instruction as well as from the authorized representative for settlement questions. State of development: Findbuch Scope, Explanation: 570 AE Citation method: BArch, RW 6/...
History of the Inventory Designer: 1902-1918 Central Information Office for Emigrants, 1918-1919 Reichsamt für deutsche Rückwanderung und Auswanderung, 1919-1924 Reichsamt für deutsche Einwanderung, Rückwanderung und Auswanderung, 1924-1945 Reichsamt für das Auswanderungswesen. Essential tasks: Informing the public about the prospects for German Auswan‧derer, promoting welfare efforts, regulating migration movements: Teil‧aufgaben was transferred to the Reichsstelle für Nachlasssse und Nachforschungen im Ausland in 1924 Long text: From 1924 to 1943, the "Reichsstelle für das Auswanderungswesen" acted as the central German advisory and observation office for the emigration movement. It largely took over the field of work and tasks as it had developed at the "Zentralauskunftsstelle für Auswanderer" (1902-1919), continued by the "Reichsstelle für deutsche Rück- und Auswanderung" (1918-1919) and expanded by the "Reichsamt für deutsche Einwanderung, Rückwanderung und Auswanderung" (1919-1924). The Foreign Office and the missions abroad of the German Reich were entrusted by the Reich Chancellor with providing information to those interested in emigrating. The processing of fundamental questions of emigration fell within the competence of the Foreign Office as well as that of the Reich Chancellery and the later Reich Office or Reich Ministry of the Interior. Until 1897, federal emigration legislation applied. Until then, the Reich had regulated only a few individual questions which were in a certain connection with emigration (e.g. §§ 1 and 3 of the Passgesetz of 12 October 1867, Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz of 1 June 1870). It was not until the Emigration Act of 9 June 1897 (see Reichsgesetzblatt 1897, p. 463) that a uniform emigration law was created. The Emigration Act confirmed the Reich Chancellor as the highest supervisory authority in the field of emigration. According to § 38 of the Emigration Act, an "Advisory Council for Emigration" (1898-1924) was attached to the Reich Chancellor (Auswärtiges Amt). The work and duties of the Advisory Council were governed by the regulations of 17 February 1898 issued by the Federal Council (cf. Announcement of the Reich Chancellor of 17 February 1878, in: Central-Blatt für das Deutsche Reich 1898, p. 98; BArch, R 1501/101567). The Chairman of the Advisory Council was appointed by the Emperor, the members were selected by the Federal Council for a period of two years. The ongoing business work of the Advisory Board was carried out by the Foreign Office's office staff. The Advisory Council for Emigration had only an advisory function in the licensing of settlement societies and emigration enterprises. The circular instruction of the Reich Chancellor of 10 June 1898 on the implementation of the Emigration Act obliged the German consular authorities to provide the Auswärtiges Amt constantly with information and documents for the provision of information in the field of emigration (cf. BArch, R 1501/101574). Soon after the Emigration Act came into force, efforts to establish a central information centre for emigrants did not lead to the constitution of an independent Reich authority. Rather, one of the already existing private information associations, the "Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft", was commissioned to provide the information. It was placed under state supervision and supported financially by the state. Before 1902 the following private associations were active in the field of emigration counselling in the German Reich: Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft, Berlin, Verein für Auswandererwohlfahrt, Hanover, Zentralverein für Handelsgeografie und Förderung deutscher Interessen im Ausland, Berlin, Leipzig, Jena, Stuttgart, Evangelischer Hauptverein für deutsche Ansiedler und Auswanderer, Witzenhausen, St. Gallen, Berlin, St. Gallen, St. Gallen, St. Gallen, St. Gallen, St. Gallen, St. Gallen, St. Gallen, St. Gallen, St. Gallen, St. Gallen, St. Gallen Raphaelsverein, Limburg (Lahn), Central Office for the Provision of Information to Emigrants and for German Enterprises Abroad, Berlin, Public Information Office for Emigrants, Dresden, German Emigration Association of Seyffert, Berlin, German-Brazilian Association, Berlin, Overseas Association, Munich, All-German Association, Berlin, German School Association, Nightingale Society, Evangelical African Association, Catholic African Association. On 1 April 1902, the Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft opened the "Zentralauskunftsstelle für Auswanderer" (1902-1919) as the administrative department of the Kolonialgesellschaft based in Berlin (cf. BArch, R 1501/101573). The Central Information Office was under the supervision of the President of the "Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft", who appointed the head of the Central Information Office with the permission of the Reich Chancellor. The head of the central enquiry unit was responsible for the management and publications of the unit. The Reich Chancellor exercised the right of supervision over the Central Information Office. The organisation of the Central Enquiry Office was governed by the provisions laid down in the "Guidelines for the provision of information to persons wishing to emigrate" and in the "Rules of Procedure of the Central Enquiry Office for Emigrants". The provision of information extended to all non-German territories as well as to the German colonies. It was carried out free of charge, either directly through the Central Information Office or through branches of the Central Information Office. Branch offices were departments of the D e u t s c h e K o l o n i a l s e l s c h a f t , as well as private emigrant associations and organizations. The Central Information Office for Emigrants had a network of more than 50 voluntary branches. The main task of the Central Information Office was to exert propagandistic influence on the flow of emigrants flowing out of the German Reich. The German emigration movement should be contained and brought under control as effectively as possible. Until 1914, the focus was on providing information on possibilities of emigration to the German colonies, to the United States of America and to South America. This advisory and information activity was accompanied by a corresponding collection, inspection and processing of the news and documents submitted by the diplomatic and consular representations of the German Reich via the Foreign Office to the Central Information Office. Similar information on the situation and prospects of emigrants abroad was also sent to the Central Information Office by public bodies, non-profit associations and registered associations at home and abroad. The Central Information Office cooperated closely with the emigrant associations that operated independently in the German Reich. The Central Information Office published information booklets on immigration regulations, economic conditions and career prospects in various countries, e.g. Paraguay, Mexico, Chile, Argentina or the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. On 9 May 1902, the "Advisory Council of the D e u t s c h e K o l o n i a l s c h e G e l l l s c h a f t for the Central Information Office" - Information Advisory Council - was constituted (cf. Barch, R 1501/101573). The Information Advisory Board assisted the President of the D e u t s c h e K o l o n i a l g e s e l l s c h a f t or his representative in the supervision of the Central Information Office. One third of the members of the Advisory Board were representatives of the D e u t s c h e K o l o n i a l g e s e l l s c h a f t , and two thirds were the chairman of the information associations and organizations that had joined the Central Information Office. The ordinary meetings of the Advisory Board, convened once a year in Berlin by the President of the D e u t s c h e K o l o n i a l g e s e l l s c h a f t , took place in camera. The head of the Central Information Office submitted the annual report of the Central Information Office to the Information Advisory Board for confirmation after obtaining the consent of the Reich Chancellor. The Imperial Chancellor could be represented by commissioners at the meetings of the Advisory Council and veto the decisions taken there. With the outbreak of the First World War, the "Central Information Office for Emigrants" stopped providing information to those interested in emigrating. After the Prussian War Ministry had established a "Central Office of Evidence for War Losses and War Graves" at the beginning of the war, the A u s w ä r t i g e s A m t assigned similar tasks to the Central Information Office, especially for the circle of Reich citizens interned in civilian affairs. On the basis of the announcement made by the Reich Chancellor on the creation of a "Central Office for the Provision of Information on Germans in Hostile Foreign Countries" on 1 September 1914, the Central Information Office assumed responsibility for the provision of information, the transfer of money, the transmission of information, the processing of applications for release, and the investigation of German citizens of the Reich both in the Entente states and in the neutral states (cf. German Reich Gazette No. 205 of 1 September 1914). By decree of the Reich Chancellor of 30 September 1914, the "Zentralauskunftsstelle für Auswanderer" (Central Information Office for Emigrants) was annexed to the Foreign Office as a "Reich Commission for the Affairs of German Civilians in Enemy Land" with official character (cf. BArch, R 1501/118320). Even before the beginning of the First World War, a "Reichsstelle für deutsche Rückwanderung und Auswanderung" (Reich Migration Office) was issued by the Reich Chancellor on 29 May 1918 at the Reich Office of the Interior to regulate the return migration and emigration of Reich Germans and Volks Germans (Announcement by the Reich Chancellor on 29 May 1918, in: Deutscher Reichsanzeiger on 30 May 1918 and Königlich Preußischer Staatsanzeiger No. 125). The Reich Migration Office commenced its activities on 1 June 1918, which until the end of 1918 extended almost exclusively to return emigrant affairs. This was essentially a matter of central influence on the return migration from the occupied Polish, Romanian and Russian parts of the territory. Special attention was also paid to the return migration from the western Entente countries and the German colonies. In this context, the Reich Migration Office dealt with the collection, inspection and processing of incoming documents, the provision of information, the promotion of care for returnees, the organisation of returnees, the securing of admission, care, secondment and temporary accommodation of returnees. The chairman, his deputy and the members of the advisory board of the Reich Migration Office were appointed by the Reich Chancellor. The "Advisory Council of the Reich Migration Office", under the direction of the Chairman of the Reich Migration Office, advised the plenum and the committees on fundamental questions of return and emigration (cf. BArch, R 1501/118318). The Reich Migration Office was initially divided into an administrative and an advisory department. The advisory department consisted of members of the administrative department and of the advisory board members who discussed policy issues of return and emigration in a joint meeting. The Reich Migration Office subsequently consisted of five working groups: an administrative group, an information group, a welfare group, a legal group and a scientific group. In the occupied eastern territories, the Reich Migration Office maintained two branch offices, which had to be dismantled at the beginning of the armistice negotiations. The area to the south of the Polozk-Lida railway line and the Warsaw General Government were the responsibility of the "Deutsche Rückwandererfürsorstelle Ostgebiet Bezirk Süd" with its head office in Kowel. The area north of the railway line Pskow-Wilna-Grodnow belonged to the "Sprengel der Deutschen Rückwandererfürsorgestelle Ostgebiet Bezirk Nord" with its head office in Vilnius. Both main offices were subject to several border transit and return migration collection camps (cf. BArch, R 1501/118318). In central Russia and the Ukraine "representatives of the Reich Migration Office" were appointed (cf. BArch, R 1501/118318). They had the task of contacting the German population living there, informing them about settlement and accommodation possibilities in Germany and advising them on legal, supply and property matters. The commissioners remained active only until the withdrawal of German troops or the severance of diplomatic relations with Soviet Russia. On 1 April 1919, the work and tasks of the "Central Information Office for Emigrants" were transferred to the Reich Migration Office (cf. BArch, R 1501/118318). Since then, the Reich Migration Office has been responsible not only for dealing with the affairs of returnees but also for keeping lists and records of the Reich German civilians interned abroad. At that time, the organisation and powers of the Reichswanderungsstelle no longer met the requirements for dealing with questions of return, immigration and emigration. By decree of the Reich President of 7 May 1919, the Reich Migration Office was renamed "Reichsamt für deutsche Einwanderung, Rückwanderung und Auswanderung" (Reich Migration Office) (Reichsgesetzblatt 1919, p. 451), while the business area was expanded (see Reichsgesetzblatt 1919, p. 451). In addition, the "Reichskommissar zur Erörterung von Gewalttätigkeiten gegen deutsche Zivilpersonen in Feindesland" (Reich Commissioner for the Discussion of Violence against German Civilians in Enemy Land) remained responsible for the settlement of war damages and the "Reichszentrale für Kriegs- und Zivilgefangene" (Reich Central Office for War and Civil Prisoners) remained responsible for the care of German returnees from war captivity and civil internment. The Reich Migration Office, as an independently operating Reich Resources Authority, was simultaneously subordinate to the Reich Ministry of the Interior and the Foreign Office. The Ministry of the Interior was responsible, among other things, for combating unreliable emigration agents, monitoring private information activities and promoting the welfare of migrants in Germany. The Federal Foreign Office was responsible for communicating with the German missions abroad and promoting migration assistance abroad. The Central Office of the Reich Migration Office in Berlin was initially divided into eight, later fourteen working groups, which were grouped into three departments. According to the business distribution plan of 1 April 1923, valid until the dissolution of the Reich Migration Office, the central office was structured as follows (cf. BArch, R 1501/118321): Department A I. Administrative Affairs a) Personnel Affairs b) Administrative and Economic Affairs c) General Affairs of the Emigration Service d) Welfare Affairs II. Country Affairs 1. Europe 2. Asia Section B I. General Affairs II. Country Affairs 1. Africa 2. Asia 3. Australia 4. America C. The Reich Migration Office maintained official branch offices administered by employees of the Reich Migration Office, municipal branch offices whose administration was left to municipal bodies, and private branch offices. On the basis of the "Richtlinien für die Anerkennung gemeinnütziger Auskunftsstellen für deutsche Aus-, Rück- und Einwanderer durch das Reichswanderungsamt" (Guidelines for the Recognition of Non-Profit Information Centres for German Immigrants, Returnees and Immigrants by the Reich Migration Office) of 1 January 2006, the following information is available In June 1920, the Reichswanderungsamt assigned tasks from branches of the Reichswanderungsamt to institutions and associations such as the "Deutsche Auslandsinstitut" in Stuttgart, the "Evangelische Hauptverein für deutsche Ansiedler und Auswanderer" in Witzenhausen and the "Raphaelverein zum Schutze deutscher katholischer Auswanderer" in Freiburg im Breisgau (cf. BArch, R 1501/118320). Outside the German Reich there were no information facilities under the control of the Reich Migration Office. In Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, "experts in emigration matters" worked to support the Reich Migration Office by providing information and promoting emigration assistance. The experts had been assigned to the German missions abroad and were subordinate to them in official and disciplinary respects (cf. BArch, R 1501/118320). According to the constitution of the Reichswanderungsamt of 24 May 1919 (cf. BArch, R 1501/118320), an "Advisory Council of the Reichswanderungsamt" was constituted for the purpose of an expert opinion on fundamental migration matters. The Advisory Council consisted of 54 members appointed by the Reich Ministry of the Interior and the Foreign Office for a period of two years. Advisory councils were also set up in the branches of the Reich Migration Office. These advisory councils brought together all the local organisations active in the area of activity of the branch offices, which, like the branch associations of the "Verein für das Deutschtum im Ausland", the "Red Cross", dealt, among other things, with questions of migration. The Reich Migration Office operated an extensive intelligence, reconnaissance and information service. Those interested in emigrating should be made aware of the employment and settlement opportunities available in Germany and held back from emigrating. The information and documents forwarded to the Reichswanderungsamt were processed by the Reichswanderungsamt into information leaflets on countries considered as German emigration destinations and into leaflets on emigration problems of general interest. The Reichswanderungsamt published twice a month since 1919 the "Nachrichtenblatt des Reichsamtes für deutsche Einwanderung, Rückwanderung und Auswanderung (Reichswanderungsamt)", since 1921 under the title "Nachrichtenblatt des Reichswanderungsamtes (Reichsamt für deutsche Einwanderung, Rückwanderung und Auswanderung)". After the dissolution of the Reichswanderungsamt, the newsletter was published until 1944 under the title "Nachrichtenblatt der Reichsstelle für das Auswanderungswesen". The business area of the Reichswanderungsamt expanded continuously until 1924. At the beginning of 1920, the Reich Migration Office took over from the Passport Office of the Foreign Office the processing of all written and oral applications for travel opportunities for Germans abroad, emigrants and returnees from Germany to other countries and vice versa. With effect from 1 October 1923, the tasks of the probate office and the civil status department were largely transferred from the legal department of the Foreign Office to the Reich Migration Office (cf. the news bulletin of the Reich Migration Office 1923, p. 210). In this way the migration, investigation, inheritance and civil status matters were essentially united at the Reich Migration Office. The scope of duties of the Reich Migration Office was limited only by the responsibilities of the Reich Commissioners for Emigration and the Reich Ministry of the Interior for dealing with emigration ship matters, for dealing with emigrant and refugee welfare associations and associations, and for deciding on applications for entry by returnees. This demarcation, however, did not have such a strong effect as the head of the Reich Migration Office was at the same time expert for return migration matters and personnel officer for the office in the Reich Ministry of the Interior. The efforts of the Administrative Removal Commission to dismantle the Reich Migration Office led to the decision of the Administrative Removal Commission of 24 January 1924, according to which the Reich Migration Office was to be dissolved with effect from 1 October 1924. Under the pressure of the financial situation of the German Reich, a cabinet decision of 12 February 1924 and the ordinance of 28 March 1924 set the dissolution date for 1 April 1924 (see BArch, R 1501/118321). By decree of 29 March 1924, the newly formed "Reichsstelle für das Auswanderungswesen" (Reich Office for Emigration) continued from 1 April 1924 only to deal with the central tasks connected with the emigration movement (cf. Reichsgesetzblatt 1924 I, p. 395). The Reich Office for Emigration processed information and documents for emigration counselling, forwarded relevant materials to the counselling offices, and supervised the emigration counselling offices permitted in the German Reich. The Reich Office carried out its activities with the assistance of an advisory council in the portfolio of the Reich Ministry of the Interior, with a significantly limited circle of employees compared to the Reich Migration Office. With effect from 1 April 1924, the legal ownership of the official branches of the Reich Migration Office was transferred from the German Reich to public corporations, non-profit associations and registered associations. According to the business distribution plan of 1 April 1924 (cf. BArch, R 1501/118322), the Reich Office began its work with the following subject areas grouped into groups: 1. general administrative matters; general matters of the information centres and recognised information centres; dealings with associations, societies and the press; observation of the emigration movement; prevention and combating of grievances in the emigration movement; legal cases; annual reports; matters of the Advisory Council 2. personnel matters 3. treasury and accounting matters 4. Emigration and information statistics 5. collection and transmission of information material to advice centres and cooperation in the news bulletin for North and Central America and Asia (excluding Siberia) 6. the same for South America 7. the same for Western and Northern Europe 8. the same for Western and Northern Europe the same for Southern Europe 9. the same for Eastern Europe and Siberia 10. the same for Africa, Australia and the South Seas 11. Editing and publication of the newsletters, leaflets and information leaflets 12. Internal ministry 13. Library and archive 14. Registry 15. Chancellery. The investigation, estate and civil status matters processed to date by the Reich Migration Office were transferred to the newly founded "Reichsstelle für Nachlässe" by ordinance of 1 April 1924 (cf. Reichsgesetzblatt 1924 I, p. 402). This Reich Office was an authority subordinate to the Federal Foreign Office with a central area of responsibility. The Reichsnachlassstelle was dissolved by decree of 30 December 1927 (see Reichsgesetzblatt 1927 I, p. 4). It handed over the subjects it dealt with to the Federal Foreign Office, the German missions abroad and the responsible state authorities. The Reichsstelle für das Auswanderungswesen lost considerable importance during the Nazi era. The fundamental questions of emigration were concentrated to a greater extent at the Reich Ministry of the Interior, the Foreign Office and, in the following years, especially at NSDAP offices and, since 1938/39, at the "Reichsführer SS und Chefs der Deutschen Polizei", such as the "Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle" and the "Deutsche Umsiedlungs- und Treuhandgesellschaft mbH". From 1924 to 1936, the Reich Office for Emigration was subject to Department II (Public Health, Welfare, German Studies) and from 1936 to 1943 to Department VI (German Studies, Surveying) of the Reich Ministry of the Interior. After the dissolution of Division VI of the Reich Ministry of the Interior, the "Reichsstelle für das Auswanderungswesen" (Reich Office for Emigration) with the subjects "Flüchtlings- und Rückwandererfürsorge" (Refugee and Return Migration Welfare), "Wanderungswesen" (Migration), "Auswanderungsschifffahrt" (Emigration Shipping), previously dealt with by Division VI of the Reich Ministry of the Interior, merged in December 1943 into the "Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle, Amt VI. Reichswanderungsstelle" (cf. BArch, R 4901/185). Inventory description: Inventory history On November 30, 1951, the Deutsche Zentralarchiv Potsdam took over files of the "Reichsstelle für das Auswanderungswesen" (Reich Office for Emigration) from the cellar of the registry office I, Berlin C 2, Stralauer Straße 42/43, amounting to about 1,400 files. According to information provided by the former main archives department at the Ministry of the Interior of the GDR, these files had been found in the building of the former Reichsarchiv in Troppau and had been handed over to Berlin by the CSSR at an unknown time. According to investigations carried out after 1945, the files of the Reich Office for Emigration (most recently "Amt VI Reichswanderungsstelle" of the Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle) were moved in 1944/45 to the Posterholungsheim Templin and to the Reichsarchiv in Troppau. The files that were transferred to Templin included state and administrative files from 1918 to 1945, German origin files from 1920 to 1945, files from Department VI of the Reich Ministry of the Interior, which was dissolved in 1943, and personnel files from the personnel registry. These files had not been found in 1946. Of the files moved to Troppau - more than 12,000 files are said to have been sent to more than 170,000 German civilian internees all over the world from the time of the First World War - the aforementioned 1,400 files were transferred to the German Central Archive in Potsdam. The files were in an extraordinarily poor state of preservation, disordered and unrecorded. These were very fragmentary documents on individual cases from the activities of the "Central Information Office for Emigrants", the "Reichswanderstelle", the "Reichswanderungsamt" and the "Reichsstelle für das Auswanderungswesen". Archival evaluation and processing At the beginning of the 1960s, around 1,360 file units were collected due to a lack of archival value. 44 file units remained as inventory 15.05 "Reichsstelle für das Auswanderungswesen" for permanent storage. They provide an insight into the subject and method of work of the emigration authorities. The first indexing of the files took place in 1960. In view of the fragmentary tradition at hand, the organizing work was limited to a classification according to factual aspects. The following classification groups were formed: Group I Provision of information to those interested in emigrating Group II Investigation of German citizens interned in civilian life Group III Organization and business operations Wolfgang Merker provided the initial development in 1960/63. The finding aid he has compiled forms the basis for the present finding aid. During the revision in 2009, a previously unlisted fragment was integrated into the collection (R 1505/45). The classification of the stock has been retained. Subsequently, series and band sequences were created. The listing information as well as the introduction to the history of the authorities and the inventory have been editorially revised. Characterisation of content: Characteristics of content: The files handed over to the German Central Archive in Potsdam in 1951 essentially contained inquiries from individuals, associations under private law and authorities about the whereabouts of emigrants, prisoners of war and civilian internees of the First World War, processes concerning the settlement of property and inheritance matters, correspondence about search forms and communications with foreign missions, German and foreign authorities as well as applications for the release and extradition of prisoners of war and civilian internees. There are no procedures on fundamental issues of emigration, the organisation and the remit of the emigration authorities. The 45 AE (1.3 running meter) of the stock remaining after the archival processing are assigned to three classification groups: Provision of information to prospective emigrants 1902-1928 (18), searches for civilian internees of the German Reich 1914-1923 (17), business operations and personnel files 1920-1945 (10). ‧‧ State of development: Online-Findbuch (2009) Citation method: BArch, R 1505/...