Reichskulturkammer: Generalkartei (Reich Chamber of Culture: General index) microfilm

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 1556 WL MF 51
Held at	: Wiener Library   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.wienerlibrary.co.uk/ ›
Full title	: Reichskulturkammer: Generalkartei (Reich Chamber of Culture: General index) microfilm
Date(s)	: 1930s-1940s
Level of description	: Collection level
Extent	: 123 reels
Name of creator(s)	: Reichskulturkammer (Reich Chamber of Culture)

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Established by law in 1933, the Reichskulturkammer (RKK) was created to enable the Reichsministerium fuer Volksaufklaerung und Propaganda (RMfVP)(Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda) to control virtually all aspects of organised cultural life in Germany. The RKK was closely linked to the RMfVP under Joseph Goebbels, who also served as president of the RKK. The card index relates to some 185,000 members and applicants of the RKK and its affiliated organisations, including staff members of the RMfVP. For those whose livelihood derived from the arts, membership was compulsory in the RKK and its subordinate chambers of literature, music, film, theatre, radio, graphic arts and the press. Those denied membership were effectively prevented from practising their profession.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

A microfilm copy of the central registry of membership of the Reichskulturkammer (RKK), 1930s-1940s, arranged alphabetically by individual surname. Originally maintained by the personnel section of the RKK, index cards have been supplemented by entries made by Allied occupation authorities. For each individual, one or more cards provide: name and address, birthdate and place, profession, RKK membership data and notations regarding political reliability and racial background. Also included in some instances are annotations from the Allied occupation authorities on denazification proceedings and artists' acceptibility for post war performances.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
German

System of arrangement:

Alphabetical by surname of individual.

Conditions governing access:

Open

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.

Finding aids:

Wiener Library reading room

Archival Information

Archival history:

The archives of the Reichskulturkammer became part of the Berlin Document Center, which was an artificial collection comprising material captured by the US army at the end of the Second World War, subsequently microfilmed and repatriated to the German Federal Archives.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Allied Materials

Related material:

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Entry compiled by Howard Falksohn.

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
January 2008