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Category: Media History

Exhibition about Ullstein’s ‘Gleichschaltung’

113_WEB_Logo_300dpi_schwarz_weiss_3872140e3fIn 2013, the interest in the history of the Ullstein publishing house seems to pick up. Besides a major conference in April, an up-coming exhibition in June – as part of the Berlin-wide theme year Diversity Destroyed – will look at Ullstein’s Gleichschaltung after 1933. A dedicated website already gives a good introduction to the topic.

The exhibition is organised by Deutsches Presemuseum im Ullsteinhaus, an association of scholars, artists and journalists aiming  to establish a German ‘museum of the press’ in Ullstein’s impressive former printing facility in Tempelhof, erected in 1927. A cause worth supporting!

European Collaboration in Broadcasting

9789089644350_coverEurope – On Air. Interwar Projects for Radio Broadcasting describes the transnational organisation of broadcasting in the technology’s early days and its contribution to European integration, focusing on international institutions such as the International Broadcasting Union (IBU):

‘Radio broadcasting may seem old-fashioned nowadays, but early radio infrastructures and programs in Europe were the real social media of their time. They laid the foundation for how we experience European unification and global interconnectedness today. Continue reading “European Collaboration in Broadcasting”

Conference on Ullstein Company

logo1The Institut für Buchwissenschaft at the University of Mainz is hosting a conference on the publishing company Ullstein, one of the major political, cultural and economic players in Weimar Germany:

“Der ganze Verlag ist eine Bonbonniere”. Der Ullstein-Verlag in der ersten Hälfte des Zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts, 25-27 April 2013, Johannes-Gutenberg Universität Mainz

New Study on Photojournalism

Penn State University Press have just published Daniel Magilow’s new book on The Photography of Crisis. The Photo Essays of Weimar Germany. Magilow examines the phenomenon of photojournalism and “photo books” by art photographers as a turning point in Weimar’s visual culture and important commentary to Germany’s history:

‘The fifteen years in Germany between the end of World War I and the National Socialists’ rise to power in 1933 stand out as one of the twentieth century’s most tumultuous periods. These years of political and economic upheaval famously spawned significant and lasting Continue reading “New Study on Photojournalism”

Online databank on Weimar press

A very useful tool for research on the Weimar press is the Austrian Academy of Sciences’s online database Hypress. Besides detailed information on the Austrian press from 1848-1945, there is a comprehensive part on the press of Weimar Berlin, listing even obscure or short-lived papers, complete with circulation, political affiliation and other details.

Politics and Media in the Weimar Republic

In the new conference volume Von der Politisierung der Medien zur Medialisierung des Politischen? Zum Verhältnis von Medien, Öffentlichkeit und Politik im 20. Jahrhundert, Adelheid von Saldern writes about the relationship of politics and the media in Weimar Germany, with a special focus on the fight of conservatives against mass culture and Bernhard Fulda looks at Hitler as a media phenomenon:

Adelheid von Saldern: ‘Abwehr, Steuerung, Gestaltung.  Medien und Politik in der Weimarer Republik’

Bernhard Fulda: ‘Adolf Hitler als Medienphänomen’

Art and satire magazines online

The University of Heidelberg has opened a real treasure trove of historical journals to researchers worldwide. The University Library has digitized over 50 German and French art and satire magazines from its collections. The material dates from the 19th to the early part of the 20th century, including PAN, Jugend, Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration, Der Kunstwart, Die Form, Kladderadatsch, Ulk and Le Fifre.

Digitization and Indexing of Illustrated Art- and Satirical Journals of the 19th and Early 20th Century

Many thanks to Mary-Ann Middelkoop for pointing it out.

Weimar as Symbol for Crisis

In this article in Der Spiegel, Wolfgang Münchau, associate editor of the Financial Times, compares the situation after the general election in Greece with Weimar Germany in 1930. Paul Krugman echoed Münchau’s comments in the New York Times a while later. Since 2008, Weimar has been a staple in the analysis of the financial crisis, as a symbol for political and economic crises and a touchstone for commentators of all camps.

 

German History in Documents and Images

German History in Documents and Images (GHDI) is a comprehensive collection of primary source material documenting Germany’s political, social, and cultural history from 1500 to the present, created by the German Historical Institute in Washington, D.C. in cooperation with the Bildarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz, and IEG-MAPS (Institute for European History, Mainz). It comprises original German texts, all of which are accompanied by new English translations, and a wide range of visual imagery, including maps.

The section on Weimar Germany has been curated by Eric Weitz and Eric Roubinek and is divided into 14 categories, including Politics, Economics and Society, Architecture and Urban Life and Bodies and Sex. Featured documents include the Stinnes-Legien Agreement of 1918, Walter Gropius’ Program of the State Bauhaus in Weimar (1919), data on regional secondary school enrollment (1911, 1926/27, and 1938) and George Grosz’s painting ‘Pillars of Society’ (1926).

CfP: The Ullstein company, 1900-1950

25 – 27 April 2013, at Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz

In the first half of the 20th century, but especially during the 1920s, the publisher Ullstein occupied a central role in German print media. With its innovative business methods, modern printing technology and American-style advertising methods, Ullstein became a dominant force in German culture.

The conference “Der ganze Verlag ist einfach eine Bonbonniere.” Der Ullstein Verlag in der ersten Hälfte des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts aims to bring together research on inividual Ullstein publications, significant journalists, editors, authors and publicists working for the company, and its wide social, cultural, political and economic role in history.

Proposals for papers of thirty minutes are invited on any of the above-mentioned topics. Proposals should be no longer than 3,500 characters long.

Offers of papers should be sent by 30 May 2012 to David Oels (oels[at]uni‐mainz.de) or Ute Schneider (uschneid[at]uni‐mainz.de)

Weimar at the Berlinale

The Berinale Film Festival rolls out the red carpet today and Weimar cinema takes centre stage: this year’s Retrospektive part of the festival is dedicated to Mezhrabpom, the Russian-German film studio dubbed ‘The Red Dream Factory’.

On 12 February, the Filmstudio Babelsberg, where most of the great works of Weimar cinema like Metropolis or Der blaue Engel were produced, will celebrate its centenary with a special programme at the Berlinale. German media are already gearing up to the 100-year anniversary with various features on Babelsberg’s history:

Babelsberg-Diva Asta Nielsen: Deutschlans erster Superstar (Der Spiegel)

Hollywood in Brandenburg: 100 Jahre Babelsberg (Financial Times Deutschland)

Film ab! Ein Streifzug durch Babelsberg – und 100 Jahre Film (Deutschlandradio)

Studio Babelsberg: Die Illusionsmaschine (Berliner Zeitung)