The file delivery of the Central Office for Trade and Commerce in Stuttgart. Von Walter Grube: The Königlich Württembergische Zentralstelle für Gewerbe und Handel (Royal Württemberg Central Office for Trade and Commerce) has assumed a particularly prestigious position among the authorities that the German states created for their economic administration in the 19th century. It originated as a state college under the Ministry of the Interior in the same revolutionary year of 1848, in which Prussia, Austria and Bavaria established special trade ministries; the notoriously thrifty Württemberg did not know its own ministry for economic affairs until the end of the monarchy, as Baden had in its trade ministry in 1860-1881. Nevertheless, the "Central Office", above all under the leadership of the great Ferdinand von Steinbeis (1856-1880), was successful in economic policy, which, in addition to the achievements of the ministries of trade and commerce of other countries, was quite impressive. It was thanks to the work of the Central Office that Württemberg, which was poor in raw materials, technically still lagging behind, and had unfavorable transport connections, soon became the actual state of state trade promotion, from which people for a long time tried eagerly to learn, not only in Germany. The Central Office played a decisive role in the restructuring of the Württemberg economic structure in the age of the Industrial Revolution. The historian of her first heyday in 1875 has divided her versatile field of activity into the following groups: 1. "Consultative services" in legislative and administrative matters: trade, customs, trade, banking and building legislation, coinage, measure and weight, commercial security police, iron and salt extraction, transport, taxation and more.a.; 2. teaching activities: trade schools, travelling teachers, trade training workshops, model and teaching material collection, trade model store, library, journalistic work, associations; 3. "Direct influence on commercial activity": markets, trade fairs, stock exchanges, exports, foreign commercial agencies; 4. direct influence on commercial activity": support with capital and technical suggestions for all branches of industry; 5. regimental activity" mainly as a state patent office, state exhibition commission, central authority for chambers of commerce and industry, state calibration authority and in the administration of commercial foundations. Among these activities, in the country conscious of its school tradition, "instructive work" has always rightly been regarded as a special glorious page of the Central Office; the Protestant Prelate Merz once called it a "jewel of Württemberg". Not least due to the educational work of the central office and the commission for the commercial further training schools founded in 1853, a down-to-earth tribe of recognised skilled workers grew from day labourers, small farmers' and vineyard gardeners' sons, from guilt-bound master craftsmen and a poorly developed trading class of that highly qualified entrepreneurship which, in addition to the broad stratum of vital small and medium-sized enterprises characteristic of Württemberg, has created many a company of world renown. The far-sighted way in which the Central Office, overcoming some resistance, drove trade promotion and economic policy in general at that time was still noticeable in its effects up to the crisis resistance of the Württemberg economy, which was widespread and much envied in the thirties of our century.After the state revolution of 1918 had also given Württemberg its own ministries for the economy (Labour Ministry and Food Ministry, 1926 united to form the Economics Ministry), the Central Office for Trade and Commerce was reorganised by decree of the State Ministry of 30 November 1920 under new distribution of responsibilities to the State Trade Office. For the organization of the state economic administration, this was not as revolutionary as the founding of the Central Office, with which a completely new epoch of Württemberg industrial history had begun. But the reorganization was more far-reaching than the repeated renewal of the "Basic Provisions" of 1848, through which the Central Office had repeatedly adapted itself to the changes in economic life and in the relationship between the state and the economy in the course of its seventy-year history. The Central Office, the creation of the revolution of 1848, thus underwent its strongest transformation to date through the revolution of 1918. As one can easily understand, the precipitation of files from the Central Office represents a unique source in the state sector for the economic history of Württemberg in the years 1848-1920. In addition, the Central Office had taken over not inconsiderable files of older semi-private institutions founded or sponsored by the state, such as the "Gesellschaft für Beförderung der Gewerbe" (Society for the Promotion of Trade) founded in 1830 and the "Handels- und Gewerbsverein" (Trade and Trade Association) founded in 1819, and later partly also the "Zentralstelle des landwirtschaftlichen Vereins" (Central Office of the Agricultural Association) established in 1817. The registry of the Stuttgart Central Office for Trade and Commerce in 1920, when it was transformed into the State Trade Office, contained the relevant records of a full century. The Central Office, like the majority of the 19th century ministries and state resource authorities, has not exercised little care in its registry. The first registry plan of the newly founded authority, which was first provisionally housed in the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was drafted in 1850 by Reinhardt's secretary, a booklet of only 37 pages; it remained in force throughout the Steinbeis era until the early eighties. The files taken over immediately in 1848 by the Gewerbeförderungsgesellschaft and the Handels- und Gewerbeverein were incorporated into the individual departments of the registry in 1850. The same procedure was followed when, in 1882, on the occasion of the reorganization of the registry of the Central Office for Agriculture, the previous files of the Central Office of the Agricultural Association had been handed over to the association, as well as again in 1888, when papers from the estate of the well-known national economist Moriz Mohl were handed over to the association. In 1869 a separate room had to be set up for the registry, which until then had been housed in the only chancellery room, and the three "full-grafted" file shelves had to be increased by two new ones. In 1883, not long after the Director (and later President) Robert von Gupp took office, a fundamental reorganization of the further swollen registry overflowing into the corridors and attic had become indispensable. The work was transferred by the Ministry of the Interior to the civil servant Heberle of the Oberamt Schwäbisch Hall, since it could not be handled by the few civil servants of the central office, and was only completed after three years. The new registry plan drawn up by Heberle, now already a volume of 200 pages, has been preserved, while his repertory, four times as extensive, unfortunately did not come to us. For the first time, Heberle systematically separated the current registry (then 1109 fascicles) from the old registry (then 1242 fascicles). On the occasion of these works also the first file cassations of considerable size took place (about 180 fascicles and volumes). The surviving elimination lists show that this was done conscientiously and that there was probably very little collected, which would be of interest to the economic historian today. The order created in 1883-85 has survived the relocation of the central office to the new magnificent building of the Stuttgart State Trade Museum in 1896; even today, a large part of the files can be found in the fascicles formed and inscribed by Heberle. In the new building, in 1901-1902, the old registry, which had already grown into a proper official archive, could be separated and appropriately furnished in the attic. In 1905-1908, Obersekretär Hauser produced a new file plan of 800 pages for old and current registries, using but also improving the Heberleschen order, which was in use until the reorganization of the Central Office in 1920 and has fortunately been preserved. The fact that substantial parts of it then fell victim to the bombs of the Second World War is one of the most sensitive source losses for research. All files of the Central Office, which had been sent to the Ministry of Economy by the State Trade Office in the wake of the organisational changes of 1920, were burnt with the Ministry of Economy, including valuable files on chambers of commerce, trade contracts and customs 1819-1870 as well as on railways 1857-1913. Apart from the ruinous remains, all files of the Central Office that were still in the possession of the Stuttgart State Trade Office during the Second World War have also been destroyed, including not only extensive material from the first two decades of the 20th century, which was still curious at the time, but also some departments dating back a long way, some of which still had files from the "Gesellschaft für Beförderung der Gewerbe" (1830-1848) and its predecessors. These were once two larger deliveries by the Stuttgart State Trade Office from 1930 and 1939, a total of about 40 m (today inventory E 170), and the files of the Patent Commission of the Central Office, which were handed over by the Reich Patent Office in 1939 and which, according to the German Patent Law of 25 January 1877, were not available for inspection. The first volume was sent to Berlin in May 1877 (Reichsgesetzblatt pp. 501ff.) (11 m, today stock E 170a), and finally 60 volumes of invoices from the Zentralstelle (1848/49-1908/09, 2 m), which the Staatsarchiv Ludwigsburg had taken over in 1921 with the invoice section of the former Finanzarchiv (today stock E 224a). The existing registry aids, administrative repertories, handover and elimination directories no longer allow even a rough percentage to be given today of how the volume of this rescued document (a total of 53 linear metres) relates to that of the lost document. But on the basis of Hauser's file plan of the Central Office from 1905-1908 at least the larger and for research most perceptible gaps in the inventory handed down to us can be determined. For example, most of the minutes of the meetings are missing, the files on the well-known Stuttgart State Trade Museum (the second oldest in Europe) and those on the Information Centre for the Construction Industry; in addition to the diaries, the once demonstrably existing files on the large library of the Central Office - the most important of Germany's trade libraries -, on social insurance, industrial legal protection, building legislation, traffic with foodstuffs, luxury foods and utensils have been completely lost. Despite these and other gaps, the preserved files of the Central Office and its predecessors still represent an invaluable source for the economic history of the Württemberg royal period. It is well known that the records of the commercial enterprises, most of which grew out of small businesses, are often extremely incomplete and not easily accessible for general use; the valuable archives of the Stuttgart and Ulm Chambers of Commerce were almost completely destroyed by the Second World War. The central tradition of state industrial promotion thus offers not only the only opportunity to explore the great transformation process of the 19th century as a whole; it is also widely the only source both of the history of hundreds of individual enterprises and of the emergence of economic self-government. This source was already not completely unused. But for a long time, the partially quite inadequate degree of their development prohibited the real exploitation of them. Only the annual accounts of the Central Office (in inventory E 224a) did not require any special expenditure for archival finding aids. In chronological order, you will find detailed evidence of all measures for industrial education and support for trade, of each "sending experts abroad and appointing tradesmen from the same field" (as one of the invoice headings reads), of the purchase of models, drawings, samples, sample tools, machines and inventions, of exhibitions and prize distributions, of the introduction of new branches of industry and the upgrading of existing ones, of the promotion of the sale of goods, of trade associations and craftsmen, and finally of expenditure on fundamental studies of industrial development. Anyone looking for individual companies or persons in the accounts must of course, in order to reach their goal quickly, already be aware of the vintages in question, and must also be content with the fact that 19th century accounts, less informative than some from earlier times, essentially give facts and only rarely motives.In 1949, the State Archives Ludwigsburg was able to complete a hand-written archive repertory for the patent files of the Central Office (fonds E 170a), which had been taken over in 1939 without any index, during the executive board of the then Oberarchivrat Dr. Max Miller. In two volumes (with together more than 1000 pages) it lists the protocols of the patent commission and some general files as well as the chronologically arranged special files on all Württemberg patents examined by the central office in the years 1848-1877 (with name index). In addition, for the years 1841 to 1848, it makes accessible the relevant preparatory files of the Central Office of the Agricultural Association, which was responsible for the patent system at that time, characteristic of the Biedermeier view of commercial economy. The collection, easily accessible since 1949 (a total of 2373 tufts), contains patent files of Swabian inventors (e.g. Daimler, Max Eyth, Magirus, Gebrüder Mauser and Friedrich Voith) as well as numerous patent applications of non-Württembergians (from the rest of Germany, from other European countries and from America), all in all quite considerable documents for the history of technology. It proved to be more difficult for the archive administration to catalog the even more important and far more extensive file deliveries of the Landesgewerbeamt of 1930 and 1939, the first of which is already listed in K.O. Müller's printed "Gesamübersicht" of 1937 (fonds E 170). In the research service of the State Archives, especially since the Second World War, there have been repeated attempts to use these files for surveys of company histories and anniversaries. But the scarcity of the summary handover lists made this an always time-consuming and often unsuccessful effort. Even the question of individual facts and data could embarrass the archivist; there was absolutely no question of a systematic evaluation of the holdings for the economic and social history, which is becoming more and more important from year to year. Paul Gehring's important essays on Württemberg economic history in the 19th century had to be written without the use of these files, especially under the difficult working conditions of the war and post-war years. Under these circumstances, the production of a scientifically useful repertory became an urgent desideratum of both administration and research. Fortunately, in 1958, the efforts of State Archives Director Dr. Max Miller to obtain funds from the State Trade Office of Baden-Württemberg for the temporary employment of a legally and economically trained processor of these trade and commercial files were successful. The typewritten repertory E 170 comprises three state folio volumes of almost 1000 pages and, restored according to the Hauser file plan from 1905-1908, makes the holdings usable right down to their finest ramifications. Some of it certainly is of predominantly regional or even only local historical interest. But much of it shows in surprisingly rich detail how systematically the Central Office used the experiences and models of the then technically and socially advanced German and non-German states (above all Belgium and England) to raise the Württemberg economy. There are numerous files on the secondment of entrepreneurs, technicians and craftsmen abroad for technical and artistic training, on experiments with foreign machines and production processes, on the appointment of foreign specialists, on participation in major international exhibitions from Paris and London to Philadelphia and Melbourne. Thus, the collection of files shows the way in which a 19th-century German middle-class state developed its craft with comparatively modest but skilfully invested financial expenditures and helped its industry to become internationally competitive. At the goal of this way stood, that was the specifically Württemberg of a gemeindeutschen procedure per se, a quality industry of large variety and healthy decentralization. The typewritten finding aid was provided by Rudolf Denk, Walter Grube and Wolfgang Schmierer (completion 1969). Note: This finding aid book is a repertory which has been available only in typewritten form up to now and which has been converted into a database-supported and thus online-capable format according to a procedure developed by the "Working Group on Retroconversion in the State Archives Ludwigsburg". This can lead to a certain discrepancy between the modern external appearance and the today partly outdated design and wording of the title records, in particular:- corrections, deletions and supplements were checked and incorporated.- The title records of archive units found to be missing were taken over and provided with a corresponding note ("Missing since ...." or similar).- If the allocation of new order numbers was unavoidable, the old signature was verified in the respective title record and in a separate overall concordance.
The part in the district archives from the estate of the German colonial pioneer Carl Peters, who acquired the core area of the later "D e u t s c h - O s t a f r i k a", was mainly compiled by his wife Thea née Herbers and enriched by copies and transcripts from the Federal Archives Koblenz and the then Central State Archives Potsdam as well as by materials from the Berninghaus family - Asta Berninghaus was a sister of Thea Peters. At the beginning of the 1950s the collection came into the possession of the archives of Altena Castle. In eight boxes, the estate contains documents, correspondence and newspaper clippings, most of which relate to the disciplinary proceedings and insults brought by the colonial politician. In addition to these documents there are photos and personal belongings. In addition, the collection was supplemented by books and essays on colonial topics, in particular by and about Carl Peters. The indexing was done in 1990 by the trainee Elke Röscher. Biography: - 27.11.1856 born as son of a pastor in Neuhaus a. d. Elbe - studies in Göttingen, Tübingen and Berlin - 1879 doctorate in history - 1880 Oberlehrerexamen in history and geography - since 1881 stay in London, occupation with the English colonial politics and administration - 1883 return to Berlin - 28.03.1884 Carl Peters founds the "Society for German Colonization" - September 1884 departure for East Africa, in the same year conclusion of colonial contracts with the chiefs of Useguna, Uguru, Usagara and Ukami - 12.02.1885 foundation of the DOAG ("Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft") - 27.02.1885 signing of the first colonial letter of protection by Wilhelm I. for the area acquired by Peters - March 1889 to August 1890 expedition to liberate Emin Pasha, conclusion of further contracts in Africa - 01.07.1890 Helgoland-Sansibar-contract - 1891 dispatch as Imperial Imperial Commissioner at the disposal of East Africa - 1992 cooperation in the German-English border regulation in East Africa - 03.05.1894 Appointment to the statutory "commissioner" - 13. to 16.03.1896 colonial debate of the Reichstag, attack Bebels against Peters, soon afterwards move to London, journalistic activity, foundation of a business enterprise - 24.04./15.11.1897 disciplinary judgements against Carl Peters for misconduct towards natives: Dismissal from the Reichsdienst (legal consequences of the verdict were reversed in 1937 by Hitler in favor of Peters' widow) - 1899-1911 Trips to South Africa: Managing Director of the Carl Peters Estates Company - 1905 pardon from Kaiser Wilhelm II.Peters gets back the title "Reichskommissar" - 1907-1909 various insult suits especially against editors of social democratic newspapers - 1909 marriage with Thea Herbers - 1914 Carl Peters is granted his pension by grace - 10.09.1918 died in Waltorf near Peine
Peters, CarlHistory 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/...