Inventory historyThe 2668 units of description recorded in this repertory are only a fragment of the original records of the Konsistorium - albeit a quite respectable one - as they were before the authority moved to Düsseldorf in 1934. With the help of the received handwritten or typewritten file directories, the losses or inventory shifts that have occurred can be reconstructed exactly. The chronology spans over forty years:I) As early as 1931, extensive files were collected within the Consistory. The basis for this decision, which was made in the Koblenz office building due to acute lack of space, was a list drawn up in 1929 by Konsistorialoberinspektor Mähler ("sale of files for stamping"). Summary information on the groups of files concerned can be found in Faszikel A II 1 a 9 (serial no. 28):- Travel expenses (A II 1 b 2 and 5) up to 1920- Office requirements (A II 1 b 3) up to 1920- Forms (A II 2 31) up to 1920- Publication of the Official Gazette (A II 2 35) up to 1920- Accounting of the Official Gazette (A II 2 37) up to 1915- Invoices incl. Documents about the church sub-funds up to 1910- Collections up to 1910- Collections yield records up to 1920- Collections concerning the church sub-funds up to 1910- Collections up to 1910- Collections up to 1920- Collections concerning the church sub-funds up to 1910- Collections up to 1910- Collections up to 1920- Collections concerning the church sub-funds up to 1910- Collections up to 1910- Collections up to 1920- Collections up to 1920- Collections up to 1920 Applications for pastors up to 1925- Business diaries up to 1900- Budget files up to 1905- Property files up to 1905- Beiakte up to 1905- Order awards for clergy (B V a 14) up to 1910- Support for clergy and parish widows (B V b 29 u. 86) until 1910- Leave granted to clergy (B V b 64) until 1910- Contributions to the parish widows' and pension fund (B V b 89f.) until 1910- Pension fund accounts (B V b 93f.) until 1910- Remarks on pensions and widows' and orphans' pensions for clergy (B V b 91 u.) 95) until 1910- Aid from the Grant Fund (B V b 104) until 1910- Instructions of the Age Allowances for Ministers (B V b 105) until 1910- Insurance Contributions to the Age Allowance Fund (B V b 106) until 1910- Employment of Vicars from the Vicarage Fund (B VII b 19) until 1905- The teaching vicariate of the candidates (B VII b 17) to 1910 - cash affairs of the vicariate fund (B VII b 20) to 1910II) In September 1934 -directly before the move to Düsseldorf- the following files were destroyed for reasons of space after a note by Mähler:- old diaries until 1914- old budget files until 1915- old files on pensions, widows' pensions etc. until 1920- old files about support for clergy and parish widows- old files about lending of marriage memorial coins- old files about the house collection delivery fund until 1910- old files about "miscellaneous"- old files about the publication of the church official gazette until 1920- old files about instruction of the teaching vicars until 1925- old collections on collection yields up to 1920- old files on church taxes up to 1905- old annual reports of the Superintendents up to 1932The files of the Konsistorium Köln, dissolved in 1825, were also handed over to the Staatsarchiv Düsseldorf in 1934 and survived the war. In today's Main State Archives, this collection with a total of 512 volumes (running time 1786-1838, predominantly 1815-1826) is assigned to Department 2 (Rheinisches Behördenarchiv). (4) A parallel transfer of 525 files of the period 1816-1827 took place to the State Archives Koblenz, where they formed the collection 551. Unfortunately it was completely burned during the air raids on Koblenz in 1944. The same fate suffered stock 443 (princely Wiedische government in Neuwied), in which some Konsistorialakte under the Nr. 143-161 were integrated. Only the finding aids of these two holdings are still available in the Landeshauptarchiv Koblenz. Further consistorial acts were assigned to the following holdings:Best. 309, 1 (French Consistorium General Mainz) No. 1-17Best. 381 (Landeskommission St. Wendel) No. 17-33Best. 382 (Government St. Wendel) No. 420-502Best. 387 (Landgräflich Hessische Regierung Homburg) No. 187-295The holdings 309, 1 and 387 are still in the LHA Koblenz, the remaining two are today on permanent loan in the Landesarchiv Saarbrücken.III) 1936-1937, after lengthy negotiations with the Staatsarchiv Koblenz, the consistorial files in the narrower sense that began in 1826ff. were returned to the Provinzialkirchenarchiv (Provincial Church Archive). It had been in Bonn since 1928, and since 1936 it had its own premises in Hofgarten 13. A 46-page compilation of these extensive holdings by Lic. Rodewald from 1938 is available. (5) These are predominantly the older files of the 19th century, but also, for example, the documents from the war period 1914-1918; in any case, these were files which were "only" of purely historical value and which were considered dispensable for the business.IV) On 14 November 1939, the Konsistorium issued a circular letter to the Superintendents on the possibility of handing over the examination papers of deceased priests to family members. The background was a request by the now Provincial Church archivist Lic. Rosenkranz, who thus sought to alleviate the acute lack of space in the Hofgarten. Initially, 31 pastors whose documents had already been selected by Rosenkranz are listed here. (6) The unsolicited examination papers were then to be destroyed in February 1940. The campaign was continued eight more times until February 1943, when it fell victim to the wartime restrictions on the Consistory's operations. (7) The only condition for the file request was the submission of 50 Pfennig return postage. A total of 908 pastors were listed. It is not possible to determine which documents were actually still requested back by the families and thus saved from later destruction.V) On 12.11.1943, the director of the Koblenz State Archives, Dr. Hirschfeld, in his capacity as air-raid commissary, called on the Konsistorium to outsource the files kept in Düsseldorf (8). This was rejected on the grounds that the (current) personnel files were already in an air-raid shelter recognised as bomb-proof; for the remaining files, structural security measures would now be taken immediately. These can be found documented in a cost estimate of 10.12.1943 by architect Otto Schönhagen, the head of the provincial church building authority: The registry office facing Freiligrathstraße is to be provided with protective walls for -some modest- 720 Reichsmark. It can be assumed that these conversions were carried out at the beginning of 1944. In any case, the files remaining at the Konsistorium itself came through the war without any noticeable losses.VI) On the other hand, the Hofgarten 13 building was completely destroyed during the air raid on Bonn on 18 October 1944. The fire had reached the cellar so quickly that both the older personnel files of the pastors and the Konsistorial inventory returned from Koblenz in 1937 were totally lost. In contrast to the old pertinence holdings, these holdings were not outsourced to the Provinzialkirchenarchiv and the Kirchenbücher. This is by far the greatest loss suffered by the original Consistorial tradition, especially in the 19th century. It is to be quantified on approx. 400-600 volumes of fact files (Generalia and Spezialia) as well as on an even higher number of personnel files. In this repertory, the burnt predecessor volumes are listed under the heading "Remarks"; the frequently occurring spring numbers in the holdings signatures indicate the complete loss of a file. For a very detailed reconstruction of the holdings destroyed in Bonn, which would be possible, the Rodewald List would have to be compared with the existing handwritten file directories. Fortunately, to a certain extent there exists a replacement tradition in the form of files of the Upper Presidium of the Rhine Province in the LHA Koblenz. (9) Important material that has not otherwise been handed down in Düsseldorf is also contained in the Rhine Province Department of the holdings 7 (Evangelical High Council of Churches) in EZA Berlin. (10)VI) On 24 February 1972, the Regional Church Office decided to hand over the long overdue files of the former Consistory to the Regional Church Archive. (11) Previously, despite their duration, some of which dates back to 1826, they were considered to be registry properties and were also administered by the registry. Since also in 1971 in connection with the move into the new office building of the LKA in the Hans-Böckler-Straße a general registration cut took place, the specialties of the church districts and the church communities were pulled out of the Konsistorialakten and summarized to separate stocks (31 church districts as well as 41 local records). Unfortunately, the separation was not complete, so that still considerable file parts remained in the Konsistorial inventory. In the present repertory, it is always noted if the following volumes are in stocks 31 or 41. Conversely, in the typewritten finding aids for these two holdings, it is noted which pre-volumes can be found in the Konsistorial files. note on useThe following file plan of the Konsistorialkanzlei dates from the 19th century and was updated into the 1940s. The term "n.a." (no files available) for individual subgroups can indicate complete loss due to the effects of war. As a rule, however, the relevant files have been removed as outlined above and added to newly created series of holdings. This also applies to all personnel files. The 90 business diaries preserved for the period 1928-1948 are added to the list of units of description listed here. There have been no archival indexing aids for the stock so far. A typewritten alphabetical index of the existing files, created in 1931 by the registry of the time, was available, though without any information on the running time. Two further large-volume handwritten file indexes were first written in one hand around 1850 and then updated over a period of almost 100 years. (12) Many of the files listed there have now been lost. Nevertheless, the two files still retain an important significance, since they indicate the file transfers and re-signings within the Konsistorial registry and the reconstruction of the lost holdings is at all only possible with them.The first partial file recording by auxiliary staff began around 1990. The undersigned has compared the contents of these photographs. It was not possible to completely standardize their extremely different distortion intensities. The present repertory is therefore not "of one mould". The index in this printed version covers only the names of places and persons as well as a few selected terms. A complete keyword search is possible via the database of the Archive of the EKiR. The files of the Konsistorium cover almost all facets of church life in the Rhine Province. The tradition for the time of the Weimar Republic and the Nazi regime up to 1945 is almost completely preserved. On the other hand, the files from the First World War are largely lost, not to mention the often only rudimentary tradition for the 19th century. With the previous scientific use one cannot avoid the impression that the latent mistrust of wide church circles in the Rhineland towards this authority has been reflected since its foundation up to the research. In addition, there may be an understandable aversion towards individual members of the Consistory who are burdened in the church struggle. It is to be hoped that a relaxed - of course never uncritical - way of dealing with this so expressive material will enrich our knowledge of the Protestant church history of the Rhineland.Düsseldorf, 31 October 2001(Dr. Stefan Flesch)1. Cf. the following Max Bär: Die Behördenverfassung der Rheinprovinz seit 1815 (Publikationen der Gesellschaft für Rheinische Geschichtskunde 35), Bonn 1919 (ND Meisenheim 1965), S. 153-164; Werner Heun: Art. Konsistorium, in: TRE Vol. XIX, S. 483-488; on the general embedding of church law and church politics see Die Geschichte der Evangelischen Kirche der Union, edited by J.F.Gerhard Goeters and Joachim Rogge, Leipzig 1992-1999, passim2. For this bear, a.a.O., p. 162: "The governments were left only with the supervision of the church books, the care for the establishment and maintenance of the church courts, the ordering and execution of the police regulations necessary for the maintenance of the external ecclesiastical order, the supervision of the administration of property and the appointment or confirmation of the secular church servants to be appointed for the ecclesiastical administration of property and the supervision of them and, together with the consistory, the alteration of existing and the introduction of new succession fees and the alteration of existing and the formation of new parish districts."3. today's address: Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer 12. cf. History of the City of Koblenz vol. 2, Stuttgart 1993, p. 426f.4The holdings of the North Rhine-Westphalian State Archives. Brief overview, Düsseldorf 1994, p. 98. A 30-page compilation of the files submitted can be found in A II 1 a 9 Bd. I.5. B I a 29 Bd. IV6. Circular No. 11073 in B I a 29 Bd. IV, in alphabetical order: Heinrich Wilhelm Achelis; Hugo Achenbach ( 1908); Julius Achenbach ( 1893); August Bergfried ( 1922); Friedrich Wilhelm Rudolf Böhm ( 1867); Emil Döring ( 1925); Georg Doermer ( 1888); Heinrich Doermer ( 1839); August Ludwig Euler ( 1911); Karl Furck ( 1911); Gustav Adolf Haasen ( 1841); Julius Haastert; Philipp Jakob Heep ( 1899); Gustav Höfer; Paul Kind; Karl Margraf ( 1919); Daniel Gottlieb Müller ( 1892); Andreas Natrop ( 1923); Christian Friedrich Nelson ( 1891); August Penserot ( 1866); Reinhard Potz ( 1920); Eduard Schneegans (born 1810); Philipp Jakob Stierle ( 1887); Eduard Vieten ( 1869); Josef August Voigt ( 1869); Johann Gustav Volkmann ( 1842); Reinhard Vowinkel ( 1898); Friedrich Weinmann ( 1860); Friedrich Wenzel ( 1909); Gustav Wienands ( 1929)7th ibid.March 1940 (48 names), November 1940 (33 names), September 1941 (47 names), February 1942 (123 names), July 1942 (118 names), October 1942 (128 names), November 1942 (176 names), February 1943 (204 names)8. A II 1 a 9 Vol. I (current No. 28). Cf. Petra Weiß's contribution to the overall problem: Die Bergung von Kulturgütern auf der Festung Ehrenbreitstein, in: Jahrbuch für Westdeutsche Landesgeschichte 26 (2000), pp. 421-4529. Cf. Inventory of the Upper Presidium of the Rhine Province, Part 1 (Publications of the Rhineland-Palatinate State Archives Administration, vol. 71), Koblenz 1996, pp. 42-45 and 396-40910. Christa Stache: Das Evangelische Zentralarchiv in Berlin und seine Bestände, Berlin 1992, pp. 61-64 as well as handwritten repertory especially of the department Rheinland (copy available in the AEKR Düsseldorf). The inventory comprises approx. 25 linear metres.11. LKA files 23-2-3 vol. 3 (resolution); cf. also the letter of Archivrat Schmidt of 9.9.1971 in 22-28 vol. 212. All mentioned finding aids are kept in the repertory collection of the Landeskirchlichen Archivs.

Direktionskorrespondenz und weitere Unterlagen 1937-1941: 1 portfolio, loose-leaf collection; copies or handwritten, authors: Diels, Dr. Friedrich Bolle, R. Pilger; Prof. Dr. Hoppe (all Botanischer Garten Berlin), Milos Deyl (botanist, Prague); Wilhelm Engelmann (publishing bookshop Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig), Wimmer (priest, editor of the Lobeliaceae for the plant kingdom). contents: air-raid protection measures in the Botanical Museum (removal of alcohol collection etc.)); financial means of the Englerstiftung; whereabouts of lost herbarium loans (Spanish Civil War); reminder to return herbarium loans; printing of various volumes of the Pflanzenreich (Richtlinien zur Korrektur, Korrespondenz mit der Verlagsbuchhandlung Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig), editing of the Lobeliaceae für Pflanzenreich scientific manuscripts on the flora of SW Africa, individual letters [see FA1/1] diaries 1943-1945 (copy, p.p. in copy); incl. transcript; diaries 1943-1945 (copy, p.p. in copy); incl. transcript

botanical manuscripts on the vegetation and flora of Africa (c. 0,5 m) [FA5] Photographs Vegetation pictures Kilimanjaro [H206] AETFAT (Association pour l'Étude Taxonomique de la Flore d'Afrique Tropical) - Correspondence (1 file, 1951-1954) [P 39] Correspondence to the manuscript of Ledermann (see entry under: Ledermann estate) Manuscript "Mangrove und Strandpflanzen", handwritten and typewritten, manuscript "Mangrove und Strandpflanzen", handwritten and typewritten, German only. numerous drawings, black ink [P39], [H57?] Manuscript "Life of desert plants", handwritten and typewritten Notes "On coffee " Personal documents [FA3/1] Files Dr. Mildbraed 1907-1917 [1 issue]: equipment lists, customs correspondence and trade correspondence for the procurement of equipment for expeditions to Africa; correspondence 1917 for the imprisonment of Mildbraed in France, the rescue of the records of the research expedition Mildbraed (5 diaries) intended for burning, thank-you note by A. Engler Curriculum vitae of Mildbraed, six pages, one-sided manual description, o.D. [after 1928]; one letter incl. Curriculum vitae and statement on the NSDAP etc. to the Amt für Wissenschaft, 20.10.1945 Annual report Botanischer Garten, 1951-1953, 1 cover folder, various notes and copies for the annual report "Innerafrika-Expedition des Herzzogs Adolf-Friedrich zu Mecklenburg": 6 reports (copies; authors: J. Mildbraed and A. Schultze), 1 Photoplattenliste Exchange of letters between Mildbraed and Hertha Schultze-Rhonhof (wife of Arnold Schultze), 1949-1952; contents a.o. biography of A. Schultze

Inventory description: Dept. 170/2 estate Georg and Barbara Freed Scope: 819 units of description (= 23 linear metres of archive cartons and 9 linear metres of rolled plans) = add. 32 m Running time: 1792 - 1941 Family and foundation In the course of establishing a foundation to the City of Worms, which was decreed in the will, the Worms architect Georg Ludwig Freed (1858-1936) and his sister Barbara (Babette 1855-1941) bequeathed documents to the then museum and the municipal cultural institutes, which were taken over by Dr. Illert in 1942 (cf. Der Wormsgau 2, p. 99). Members of the Freed family had been resident in Worms since the beginning of the 19th century as master painters and whitewashers. They already held important positions in bourgeois associations in the pre-March period, including the Schützengesellschaft, the gymnastics community of 1846 Worms and the fire brigade. Both siblings remained unmarried throughout their lives, their sister Anna Maria (1854) was the wife of the museum director and since 1898 city archivist August Weckerling. The material of the 'Stiftung Freed' includes personal letters, postcards and papers, diaries, documents as well as artisan, artistic and family history documents in a large variety (especially about 1850 to 1935), without any documents obviously being collected after the death of the siblings. A large part of the estate is occupied by the actual architect Freed (numerous sketches, drawings, maps, plans, newspapers, etc.), whose temporal focus lies in his Mannheim years between 1889/93 and 1914. In addition, there are association documents from the entire Protestant-national-liberal milieu, including militaria and national teams or academic associations of the TH Darmstadt. In addition to the documents of his father Georg Fr. Freed from the time since approx. 1840, the closed file tradition of the house Wollstr. 28, which has been inhabited since 1800 and bequeathed to the city of Worms in 1941/42 and later sold privately by the latter (house preserved, part of a monument zone) is also relevant. Family grandfather of G. Freed: Johann Ph. Freed 1794-1845 married with Johanna Friederika Uswald 1798-1823 (daughter of:) Carl Ernst Ußwald from Oelsnitz/Vogtland 1754, from 1796 in Worms, 1818 (= great-grandfather of G. Freed), married Anna Katharina Köhler née. Völcker (1776-1846), was a painter and master draughtsman (family book: no. 87, description Reuter 1968, p. 204 no. 3), three other family books described on p. 212. Elisabeth Margareta Freed, Stiefenkelin of C.E. U.., born 1826 sister: Katharina Anna, 1825-1912 disproportionate stepbrother: Georg Friedrich F., born 1823 Worms (= grandson of C. E. Uswald) learned the painting and whitewashing trade, journeyman years Wiesbaden 1843/44, Dresden 1844, Vienna 1845; in Worms marriage 1851 with Elisabeth Müller (1825-1899), ev, City councillor 1874-1892; 1837-1851 pedigree book (description Reuter 1968 p. 212); died 1896 = father of Georg, Babette and Anna Maria Freed (Anna M. Freed (*1854) married with August Weckerling, who was thus the brother-in-law of the two Freeds, this certainly justified the willingness to donate the collection to the museum run by Weckerling, whose successor Illert acted as executor of the will after Barbara's death in 1941), Son of the pensioner, master whitewasher and town councillor Georg Friedrich Freed (1823-1896, married to Elisabeth Freed née. Müller), 1865-1869 attends preschool, 1869-1875 secondary school in Worms; takes private lessons in higher mathematics and languages in 1875, passed entrance examination, eight semesters as a regular student of the building school enrolled at the TH Darmstadt; also occupies the subjects prescribed for civil service, final examination in autumn 1879 together with the civil service aspirants, participation in study trips and excursions, etc.a. 1878 World Exhibition Paris, 1.4.1880 One-year volunteer reg. 118 Worms, from summer 1881 to summer 1885 for further mainly artistic education in Munich in the studio of Prof. Hauberrisser, there collaboration on large building projects, 1885-1887 active in Berlin in studios of architect Kayser u. v. Großheim, Erdmann

1st About the Aldinger-Ostermayer family: Karl Aldinger and Hertha Ostermayer married on 24 January 1944. The marriage lasted over six decades. Only the death of Karl Aldinger in 2005 brought her to an end. The ancestors of the married couple were widely ramified and can be traced far back through the stored documents of the inventory. Due to the numerous traditional sources and many patient family history researches, they were deeply anchored in the consciousness of Karl and Hertha Aldingers. During the Second World War Karl Aldinger (1917-2005) was a soldier (last lieutenant). He then managed various agricultural estates (Staufeneck estate, Schafhof estate, Alteburg estate). In 1957 he took over the management of the youth hostel in Esslingen, which he continued to run until 1963. He then ran a guesthouse in Saig (Black Forest) until 1990, which came from the inheritance of an aunt of his wife. Hertha Aldinger (1920-2012) had undergone agricultural training and had been a teacher of agricultural household science since January 1944. After 1 July 1944, she no longer worked for the company, but devoted herself to her five children (one had died very early) and supported her husband in his various tasks. The family archive Aldinger-Ostermayer documents the ancestors of Karl and Hertha Aldinger in almost all lines back to the end of the 18th century. There are rich documents on the families Aldinger, Trißler, Unrath (ancestors of Karl Aldinger) and Ostermayer, Görger, Baur/Giani, Heldbek/Gaiser, Riedlin and Schinzinger (ancestors of Hertha Aldinger). The documents refer to members of the upper middle class in Württemberg and Baden. Some family members were soldiers in the First and Second World Wars (among others Eduard Ostermayer (1867-1954), Helmut Ostermayer (1919-1941) and Karl Aldinger) and have left photos, diaries and memories as well as letters from the wartime. The Aldinger family provided agricultural estate managers for several generations. There are numerous physicians from the family circle: Dr. Oskar Görger (1847-1905), who founded his wealth through his practice in Australia, Dr. Eduard Ostermayer (1867-1954), who was still practicing in his 80s and was thus known in the 50s as Stuttgart's oldest practicing physician, Dr. Karl Schinzinger (1861-1948), also a physician in Australia, and Dr. Albert Schinzinger (1827-1911), who began his career as a surgeon and after his habilitation worked as a professor of medicine at the University of Freiburg (about him Pagel: Biographisches Lexikon outstanding doctors of the nineteenth century. Berlin, Vienna 1901, Sp. 1499-1500). Also worth mentioning are the pastors: Karl Ludwig Heldbek (1756-1829), pastor in Scharenstetten, Christoph Erhardt Heldbek (1803-1877), city pastor in Weilheim, Emil Heldbek (1849-1884), pastor in Auendorf, and Dr. Paul Aldinger (1869-1944), pastor in Kleinbottwar, colonist and pastor in Brazil. The Ostermayers were merchants for several generations, initially locally in Weilheim/Teck and from around 1870 in the Württemberg state capital Stuttgart. Max (1860-1942) and Gottlieb Ostermayer (1871-1910) finally worked as merchants in India. The Heldbek/Gaiser family also knew merchants whose activities later extended as far as Africa (Lagos). The most famous is Gottlieb Leonhard Gaiser (1817-1892). He tried to found a German colony in Mahinland (east of Lagos), but failed because of Bismarck's colonial-political restraint (Ernst Hieke: Gaiser, Gottlieb Leonhard, in: Neue Deutsche Biographie, 6 (1964), p. 39f.). Robert Karl Edmund Schinzinger (1898-1988), university professor and lecturer in Japan, and Ernst Ostermayer (1868-1918), professor and painter are to be emphasized as representatives of science and art. Albert Joseph Fridolin Schinzinger (1856-1926), the Japanese Consul General in Berlin, worked in the field of politics and diplomacy. 2. processing of the stock: The family archive Aldinger-Ostermayer was created step by step. In ancient times, outstanding documents were preserved and entrusted to the next generation. Initially, only a few documents were handed down, mostly letters or documents with a special memoir value. This happened with both the Aldinger and Ostermayer ancestors. Only later generations left behind complete estates, i.e. closed traditions. This was the case with Eduard Ostermayer and his son Helmut as well as Karl and Hertha Aldinger. For Oskar Görger and his wife Marie, original documents have been preserved to a considerable extent, but in smaller quantities. Family research on a larger scale had already been carried out in the 1930s in connection with the Aryan evidence by the Aldingers and the Ostermayers. Lore Braitsch, née Aldinger, collected older documents for the Aldinger family, which she also evaluated (e.g. speech in honour of Dr. Paul Aldinger, cf. Bü 360). After their death in 1998 these documents came to Hertha and Karl Aldinger, so that a family archive for the Aldinger and Ostermayer families grew together. Hertha Aldinger edited this. She supplemented the originals with copies and transcriptions. With admirable patience she transcribed the documents in old, no longer generally legible script, first by hand and later by typewriter. Already in 1996 she worked with computers. Even more important are their evaluations of the family records. She put together different material to certain persons as well as whole family branches, so for her husband Karl (Bü 179) and for herself (Bü 118). She also wrote the couple's memoirs under the title "Our 20 Initial Years" (Bü 246). She also wrote down her personal memories of her parents (Bü 181). For the Ostermayer (Bü 284, 304 and 334), Heldbek (Bü 453, 473) and Schinzinger (Bü 226, 237, 296) families she compiled material and wrote elaborations on the history of these families. Probably also the order of the family archive goes back to them. This only considered a separation of the individual family branches and was otherwise little structured. When the materials were handed over to the Main State Archives in January 2013, they were stored in guide files and the subunits were formed in transparent envelopes. There were also other types of packaging. A handwritten fixation of this order was made on the occasion of the transfer of the family archive to the main state archive in a transfer register (Bü 550). Hertha Aldinger's intensive family research and work have left traces in the state of order. The units were inflated by copies, often multiple copies. Original tradition and copy or transcription were not separated. The original letter series were torn, there was the group of already transcribed pieces and the group of still unprocessed letters. The archival order of the documents restored the series of the original letters. The copies have been reduced. There is little point in keeping an original and a copy of it in the same tuft. Multiple copies of the transcriptions could also be collected. However, different processing stages (e.g. concepts, final version) were left unchanged. There was a larger collection of postcards, which had been arranged after picture motives. This collection also contained described and run postcards, i.e. family correspondence. This had to be reassigned to the letters and cards. The collection of postcards was thus reduced to the undescribed pieces (Bü 506, 509), and the archival indexing attached great importance to a detailed characterization of the Büschel contents in the Contained Notes. This was especially necessary when the title recording for the tuft had to remain very general. The collection was structured in such a way that the central importance of Karl and Hertha Aldinger for the documents is emphasized. Karl and Hertha Aldinger are expressly referred to as related family branches. The spelling of the first names was standardized according to today's spelling: Helmut instead of Hellmut, Karl instead of Carl, Jakob instead of Jacob etc.. The index lists the women among the aforementioned families from the related circle of Aldinger-Ostermayer, but also mentions the marriage name. Women who have married into the circle of relatives are classified under their names of marriage, their names of birth are given in an explanatory manner. The stock P 45 "Familienarchiv Aldinger-Ostermayer" was sorted and listed by the undersigned in Spring/Summer 2013. The duration of the documents ranges from approx. 1770 to 2013, the volume of the stock amounts to 553 units in 6.1 m.Stuttgart, in October 2013Dr. Peter Schiffer

BestandsgeschichteThe 2668 indexing units recorded in this repertory form only a fragment of the original registry of the Consistory, albeit a very considerable one, as it was before the authority moved to Düsseldorf in 1934. With the help of the surviving handwritten and typewritten file indexes, the losses and relocations that occurred can be reconstructed exactly. The chronology spans more than forty years:I) As early as 1931, extensive file holdings were catalysed within the consistory. The basis for this decision, which was made due to an acute shortage of space in the Koblenz office building, was a list drawn up in 1929 by Consistorial Chief Inspector Mähler ('Sale of files for destruction'). Fascicle A II 1 a 9 (no. 28) provides summarised information on the file groups concerned:- Travel expenses (A II 1 b 2 and 5) until 1920- Office requirements (A II 1 b 3) until 1920- Forms (A II 2 31) until 1920- Publication of the official gazette (A II 2 35) until 1920- Accounting for the official gazette (A II 2 37) until 1915- Invoices incl. receipts for the church gazette (A II 1 b 2 and 5) until 1920- Invoices for the church gazette (A II 2 37) until 1915. Invoices incl. receipts for the church's ancillary funds until 1910- Collections until 1910- Collection receipts until 1920- Collections relating to applications for parish positions until 1925 Applications for parish positions up to 1925- Business diaries up to 1900- Budget files up to 1905- Property files up to 1905- Supplementary files up to 1905- Religious orders for clergy (B V a 14) up to 1910- Support for clergy and parish widows (B V b 29 u. 86) until 1910- Grants of leave for clergymen (B V b 64) until 1910- Contributions to the parish widows' and pension fund (B V b 89f.) until 1910- Pension fund accounts (B V b 93f.) until 1910- Remarks on pensions and widows' and orphans' allowances for clergymen (B V b 91 and 95) until 1910- Allowances from the subsidy fund (B V b 104) until 1910- Instructions on retirement allowances for clergymen (B V b 105) until 1910- Insurance contributions to the retirement allowance fund (B V b 106) until 1910- Employment of vicars from the vicariate fund (B VII b 19) until 1905- Teaching vicariate of the candidates (B VII b 17) until 1910- Cash matters of the vicariate fund (B VII b 20) until 1910II) In September 1934 - immediately before the move to Düsseldorf - the following files were destroyed for reasons of space according to a note by Mähler: - old diaries up to 1914- old budget files up to 1915- old files on pensions, widow's benefits etc. up to 1920- old files on support payments up to 1920 until 1920- old files on support for clergy and parish widows- old files on the awarding of commemorative marriage coins- old files on the house collection delivery fund until 1910- old files on 'Miscellaneous'- old files on the publication of the church gazette until 1920- old files on the assignment of teaching vicars up to 1925- old collections on collection proceeds up to 1920- old files on church taxes up to 1905- old annual reports of the superintendents up to 1932The files of the Cologne Consistory, which was dissolved in 1825, were also transferred to the Düsseldorf State Archives in 1934 and survived the war. In today's Main State Archives, this collection with a total of 512 volumes (duration 1786-1838, mainly 1815-1826) is assigned to Department 2 (Rheinisches Behördenarchiv). (4) A parallel transfer of 525 files from the period 1816-1827 was made to the Koblenz State Archives, where they formed fonds 551. Unfortunately, this was completely burnt during the air raids on Koblenz in 1944. The same fate befell fonds 443 (Fürstlich Wiedische Regierung in Neuwied), into which some consistorial files were integrated under nos. 143-161. Only the finding aids of these two fonds are still available in the Landeshauptarchiv Koblenz. Further consistorial files were assigned to the following fonds:Fonds 309, 1 (French General Consistory Mainz) No. 1-17Fonds 381 (St. Wendel State Commission) No. 17-33Fonds 382 (St. Wendel Government) No. 420-502Fonds 387 (Landgravial Hessian Government Homburg) No. 187-295The fonds 309, 1 and 387 are still in the LHA Koblenz, the other two are now on permanent loan to the Landesarchiv Saarbrücken.III) In 1936-1937, after lengthy negotiations with the Staatsarchiv Koblenz, the consistorial files in the narrower sense, which began in 1826ff. and had initially also been handed over, were returned to the Provinzialkirchenarchiv. The latter had been located in Bonn since 1928 and had had its own premises at Hofgarten 13 since 1936. There is a 46-page compilation of these extensive holdings by Lic. Rodewald from 1938. (5) These are predominantly the older files from the 19th century, but also, for example, the documents from the 1914-1918 war period; in any case, these were files that were still considered to be of purely historical value and were deemed to be dispensable for business operations.IV) On 14 November 1939, the consistory issued a circular to the superintendents about the possibility of handing over the examination papers of deceased pastors to family members. The background to this was a request from the now provincial church archivist Lic. Rosenkranz, who sought to alleviate the acute shortage of space in the Hofgarten. It initially lists 31 pastors whose documents had already been sought out by Rosenkranz. (6) The examination papers that had not been requested were then to be destroyed in February 1940. The action was continued eight more times until February 1943, when it fell victim to the war-related restrictions in the consistory's operations. (7) The only condition for requesting files was to send in 50 pfennigs return postage. A total of 908 pastors were listed. It is not possible to ascertain which documents were actually requested back by the families and thus saved from later destruction.V) On 12 November 1943, the Koblenz State Archive Director Dr Hirschfeld, in his capacity as air raid warden, asked the Consistory to remove the files stored in Düsseldorf (8). This was rejected on the grounds that the (current) personnel files were already located in an air-raid shelter recognised as bomb-proof; structural safety measures would now be carried out immediately for the remaining files. These are documented in a cost estimate from architect Otto Schönhagen, the head of the provincial church building office, dated 10 December 1943: The registry facing Freiligrathstraße is to be fitted with protective walls for a modest 720 Reichsmarks. It can be assumed that these alterations were realised at the beginning of 1944. In any case, the files remaining at the consistory itself survived the war without any recognisable losses.VI) On the other hand, the building at Hofgarten 13 was completely destroyed in the air raid on Bonn on 18 October 1944. The fire had reached the cellar so quickly that both the older personnel files of the pastors and the consistorial files brought back from Koblenz in 1937 were completely lost. In contrast to the old pertinent holdings of the provincial church archives and the church records, these holdings were not removed from storage. This is by far the greatest loss that the original consistorial records have suffered, especially in the 19th century. It can be quantified as around 400-600 volumes of subject files (generalia and specialia) and an even higher number of personal files. In this repertory, the previous volumes that were burnt are listed under the heading 'Remarks'; the frequently occurring skip numbers in the inventory signatures indicate the complete loss of a file. A detailed reconstruction of the holdings destroyed in Bonn - which is entirely possible - would require a comparison of Rodewald's list with the available handwritten indexes of files. Fortunately, to a certain extent there is a replacement in the form of the files of the Oberpräsidium der Rheinprovinz in the LHA Koblenz. (9) Important material that is otherwise not available in Düsseldorf is also contained in the Rhine Province section of fonds 7 (Evangelischer Oberkirchenrat) in the EZA Berlin. (10)VI) On 24 February 1972, the regional church office decided to transfer the files of the former consistory to the regional church archives, which was long overdue. (11) Until then, they had been regarded as registry property - despite the fact that some of them dated back to 1826 - and were also administered by the registry. As a general pruning of the registry also took place in 1971 in connection with the move to the new LKA office building in Hans-Böckler-Straße, the special files of the church districts and parishes were subsequently removed from the consistorial files and combined into separate holdings (31 church districts and 41 local files). Unfortunately, the separation was not complete, so that a considerable number of files still remained in the consistorial holdings. In this repertory it is always noted when the subsequent volumes are in fonds 31 or 41. Conversely, in the typewritten finding aids for these two fonds, it is noted which previous volumes can be found in the consistorial files.Usage informationThe following printed file plan of the Consistorial Chancellery dates back to the 19th century and was updated until the 1940s. The indication 'n.a.' (no files available) for individual subgroups may indicate complete loss due to the effects of war. As a rule, however, the files in question have been removed as outlined above and added to newly formed fonds. This also applies to all personnel files. In addition to the indexing units listed here, there are also the 90 surviving business diaries for the period 1928-1948, for which no archival cataloguing aids have existed to date. A typewritten alphabetical subject index of the existing files, compiled in 1931 by the registrar's office at the time, was available, albeit without any duration information. Two further large handwritten indexes of files were initially written in one hand around 1850 and then updated over a period of almost 100 years. (12) Many of the files listed there have since been lost. Nevertheless, the two indexes continue to be of great significance, as they indicate the file transfers and resignations within the consistorial registry and only with them is it possible to reconstruct the lost holdings. The undersigned has compared the contents of these records. It was not possible to completely standardise their extremely different levels of indexing intensity. The present repertory is therefore not 'from a single mould'. The index of this printed version only includes the names of places and persons as well as a few selected subject headings. A complete keyword search is possible via the database of the EKiR archive. the files of the consistory cover almost all facets of church life in the Rhine Province. The records for the period of the Weimar Republic and the Nazi regime up to 1945 are almost completely preserved. In contrast, the files from the First World War, for example, are largely lost, not to mention the often rudimentary records from the 19th century. From the scholarly use to date, one cannot help but get the impression that the latent mistrust of wide ecclesiastical circles in the Rhineland towards this authority has been reflected in research since its foundation. In addition, there may have been an understandable aversion towards individual consistory employees who were involved in the church struggle. In many recent works, at any rate, reference is still made to contemporary historical collections and quite relevant bequests without taking the original official records into consideration, and it is to be hoped that a relaxed - and of course never uncritical - approach to this highly informative material will enrich our knowledge of the Protestant church history of the Rhineland. Düsseldorf, 31 October 2001(Dr. Stefan Flesch)1 Cf. on the following Max Bär: Die Behördenverfassung der Rheinprovinz seit 1815 (Publikationen der Gesellschaft für Rheinische Geschichtskunde 35), Bonn 1919 (ND Meisenheim 1965), pp. 153-164; Werner Heun: Art. Konsistorium, in: TRE vol. XIX, pp. 483-488; on the general ecclesiastical law and ecclesiastical politics, see Die Geschichte der Evangelischen Kirche der Union, ed. by J.F.Gerhard Goeters and Joachim Rogge, Leipzig 1992-1999, passim2. On this Bär, op. cit. p. 162: 'The governments were left only with the supervision of the church registers, the care for the establishment and maintenance of the churchyards, the ordering and enforcement of the police regulations necessary for the maintenance of external church order, the supervision of the administration of assets and the appointment or confirmation of the secular church servants to be employed for the administration of church assets and the supervision of them and, together with the consistory, the modification of existing and introduction of new stolgebührentaxes and the modification of existing and formation of new parish districts. '3 Today's address: Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer 12 Cf. history of the city of Koblenz vol. 2, Stuttgart 1993, p. 426f.4 The holdings of the North Rhine-Westphalian Main State Archives. Brief overview, Düsseldorf 1994, p. 98. A 30-page compilation of the files handed over can be found in A II 1 a 9 vol. I.5. B I a 29 vol. IV6. Circular no. 11073 in B I a 29 vol. IV, in alphabetical order: Heinrich Wilhelm Achelis; Hugo Achenbach (+1908); Julius Achenbach (+1893); August Bergfried (+1922); Friedrich Wilhelm Rudolf Böhm (+1867); Emil Döring (+1925); Georg Doermer (+1888); Heinrich Doermer (+1839); August Ludwig Euler (+1911); Karl Furck (+1911); Gustav Adolf Haasen (+1841); Julius Haastert; Philipp Jakob Heep (+1899); Gustav Höfer; Paul Kind; Karl Margraf (+1919); Daniel Gottlieb Müller (+1892); Andreas Natrop (+1923); Christian Friedrich Nelson (+1891); August Penserot (+1866); Reinhard Potz (+1920); Eduard Schneegans (b. 1810); Philipp Jakob Stierle (+1887); Eduard Vieten (+1869); Josef August Voigt (+1869); Johann Gustav Volkmann (+1842); Reinhard Vowinkel (+1898); Friedrich Weinmann (+1860); Friedrich Wenzel (+1909); Gustav Wienands (+1929)7 Ibid. March 1940 (48 names), November 1940 (33 names), September 1941 (47 names), February 1942 (123 names), July 1942 (118 names), October 1942 (128 names), November 1942 (176 names), February 1943 (204 names)8 A II 1 a 9 vol. I (vol. no. 28). Cf. on the overall problem the article by Petra Weiß: Die Bergung von Kulturgütern auf der Festung Ehrenbreitstein, in: Jahrbuch für Westdeutsche Landesgeschichte 26 (2000), pp. 421-4529. Cf. Inventar des Bestandes Oberpräsidium der Rheinprovinz, Teil 1 (Veröffentlichungen der Landesarchivverwaltung Rheinland-Pfalz Bd. 71), Koblenz 1996, pp. 42-45 and 396-40910. Christa Stache: Das Evangelische Zentralarchiv in Berlin und seine Bestände, Berlin 1992, pp. 61-64 as well as a handwritten repertory especially of the Rhineland department (copy available in the AEKR Düsseldorf). The fonds comprise approx. 25 linear metres.11 LKA-Sachakten 23-2-3 Bd. 3 (Beschluss); cf. also the letter from Archivrat Schmidt dated 9 September 1971 in 22-28 Bd. 212. All the finding aids mentioned are kept in the repertory collection of the Landeskirchliches Archiv.

History of the inventor: Joseph Goebbels, who had already been head of the NSDAP's Reich Propaganda Department since 1929, had certainly developed plans for a Ministry of Propaganda even before the seizure of power.(1) The Reichskabinett (Reich Cabinet) dealt with the issue of the Propaganda Department on 11 September. The arguments for the foundation, which the Reich Chancellor (Hitler) himself presented, sounded extremely harmless ex post and far from future realities: "One of the predominant tasks of this ministry would be the preparation of important acts of government. On the oil and fat issue, for example, which now occupies the cabinet, the people should be enlightened in the direction that the farmer would perish if something were not done to improve the sale of his products. The importance of this matter also for the war measures would have to be pointed out ..." Government action would only begin if the awareness-raising work had taken place and worked for some time. ..."(2) On 16 March 1933, however, Goebbels described the future tasks of his ministry programmatically three days after his appointment in a remarkably open manner in front of press representatives: "If this government is now determined never to give way again, never and under no circumstances, then it need not make use of the dead power of the bayonet, then in the long run it will not be able to be satisfied with knowing 52 percent behind it ..., but it will have to see its next task in winning the remaining 48 percent for itself. This is not only possible through objective work". And about the nature of his propaganda he proclaimed: "Not any aesthete can judge the methods of propaganda. A binding judgment can only be given on the basis of success. For propaganda is not an end in itself, but a means to an end.(3) A timid attempt by Hugenberg to at least delay the decision to establish the Ministry of Propaganda in the cabinet meeting of March 11, 1933 failed miserably. Already on 13 March 1933 the law on the establishment of the RMVP was signed by the Reich President and the "writer" Dr. Goebbels was appointed minister.(4) Almost three weeks later, on 5 April 1933, Goebbels noted in his diary: "The organisation of the ministry is finished".(5) In difficult negotiations(6) with the ministries, which had to cede parts of their competences to the new ministry, the responsibilities were determined in detail. The RMVP was responsible for all tasks relating to intellectual influence on the nation, advertising for the state, culture and economy, informing the domestic and foreign public about them, and the administration of all institutions serving these purposes. As a result, the business area of the RMVP will be: 1. from the business area of the Federal Foreign Office: News and education abroad, art, art exhibitions, film and sports abroad. 2. From the RMI division: General Domestic Enlightenment, Hochschule für Politik, introduction and celebration of national holidays and celebration of national holidays with the participation of the RMI, press (with Institute for Newspaper Science), radio, national anthem, German Library in Leipzig, art (but without art-historical institute in Florence, copyright protection for works of literature and art, directory of nationally valuable works of art, German-Austrian Convention on the Export of Art, Protection of Works of Art and Monuments, Protection and Maintenance of Landscape and Natural Monuments, Nature Parks, Preservation of Buildings of Special Historical Importance, Preservation of National Monuments, Verband Deutscher Vereine für Volkskunde, Reich Memorial), Music Conservation, including the Philharmonic Orchestra, Theatre Matters, Cinema, Combating Trash and Dirt 3. From the business areas of the Reich Ministry of Economics and the Reich Ministry of Food and Agriculture: Economic Advertising, Exhibitions, Trade Fairs and Advertising 4. From the business areas of the Reich Ministry of Posts and the Reich Ministry of Transportation: Traffic Advertising Furthermore, all radio matters dealt with by the Reich Ministry of Posts and the Reich Ministry of Transportation are transferred from the business area of the Reich Ministry of Posts, unless they concern the technical administration outside the premises of the Reich Broadcasting Company and the radio companies. In matters of technical administration, the RMVP shall be involved to the extent necessary to carry out its own tasks, in particular in determining the conditions for the awarding of broadcasting rights and the regulation of fees. In particular, the representation of the Reich in the Reichsrundfunkgesellschaft and the broadcasting companies is fully transferred to the RMVP. The RMVP is in charge of all tasks, including legislation, in the designated areas. The general principles shall apply to the participation of the other Reich Ministers." (RGBl. 1933 I, p. 449) These competences were exercised by seven departments, so that the business distribution plan of 1 Oct. 1933 (7) shows the following picture: Ministerial office (with five employees), directly subordinated to the Minister. State Secretary, at the same time Head of Press of the Reich Government I. Administration and Law with one main office Administration, three departments as well as the registry II. Propaganda with 10 departments 1. Positive world view propaganda, shaping in state life, press photography 2. Jewish question, foundation for victims of work, Versailles treaty, national literature, publishing etc. 3. Demonstrations and regional organisation 4. Opposing world views 5. German University of Politics 6. Youth and sports issues 7. Economic and social policy 8. Agricultural and eastern issues 9. Transport 10. Public health III. Broadcasting with three sections 1. Broadcasting 2. Political and cultural affairs of broadcasting 3. Organisation and administrative issues of German broadcasting IV. Press, simultaneously press department of the Reich government with eleven papers V. Film with three papers VI. Theatre, music and art with three papers VII. Defence (defence against lies at home and abroad) with eight papers Goebbels was obviously not satisfied with the official title of his ministry. The extensive tasks in the fields of culture and the arts did not come into their own and the word propaganda, of which he was aware, had a "bitter aftertaste" (8). His proposal to rename his department "Reichsministerium für Kultur und Volksaufklärung", however, met with Hitler's rejection. (9) In July 1933, a circular issued by the Reich Chancellor drew the attention of the Reich governors to the exclusive competence of the Reich or of the new Ministry for the above-mentioned competences and called on them to cede to the RMVP any existing budget funds and offices of the Länder. (10) At the same time, 13 regional offices were established as the substructure of the Ministry, the sprinkles of which corresponded approximately to those of the regional employment offices, and 18 imperial propaganda offices, which subdivided the territory of the regional offices once again. After the Reichspropagandastellen were already converted after short time (approx. 1934) to Landesstellen, in each Gau of the NSDAP a Landesstelle of the RMVP was located. Their leaders were in personal union at the same time leaders of the Gaupropagandaleitungen of the NSDAP, which in its leadership, the Reichspropagandalleitung, was also perceived by Goebbels in personal union. (11) As a result, conflicts of loyalty between the Gaupropaganda leaders/leaders of the RMVP regional offices were unavoidable in disputes between Goebbels and individual Gauleiters. According to theory, the regional offices were supposed to monitor and implement the political decisions made in the ministry in the individual districts, but in practice their heads were often more dependent on their respective Gauleiter than on the ministry due to the above-mentioned personal union. By the Führer decree of 9 September 1937 (RGBl. 1937 I, p. 1009), the Landesstellen were renamed Reichspropagandaämter and elevated to Reich authorities. After the integration of Austria there were no less than 42 Reichspropagandaämter with 1400 full-time employees. (12) In addition to the state offices and Reich Propaganda Offices, a whole range of offices, organizations, associations, societies and societies soon developed, which are to be counted to the subordinate area of the Ministry. (13) Despite the apparently clear regulation on the responsibilities of the RMVP, the 13 years of its existence were marked by disputes over responsibilities with other ministries, in particular with the ministers Rust, Rosenberg and Ribbentrop, of whom Goebbels, as is known, held very little personally. Successes and failures in the competence disputes cannot be followed in detail here; they depended to a large extent on Hitler's relationship with Goebbels. For example, Goebbels did not succeed in extending his competence in theatre to the Prussian State Theatres in Berlin. By contrast, in 1943 the RMVP assumed responsibility for carrying out the Eastern propaganda, while Rosenberg, as Reich Minister for the occupied Eastern territories, was left with only the authority to issue guidelines. (14) In the conflict with the Federal Foreign Office over the delimitation of responsibilities for foreign propaganda, an arrangement was reached in a working agreement in October 1941. (15) Wehrmacht propaganda also remained long and controversial. Despite many efforts (16), Goebbels did not succeed in making a decisive break in the competencies of the OKW/Wpr department until the end of the war in March 1945. Propaganda into the Wehrmacht and about the Wehrmacht at home and abroad was then to be taken in charge by the RMVP. It is not possible to determine whether the planned organizational consequences have yet been implemented. (17) Another major success for Goebbels was the establishment of the Reichsinspektion für zivile Luftschutzmaßnahmen (Reich Inspection for Civilian Air Defence Measures), which was headed by the RMVP (18), and his appointment as Reich Plenipotentiary for Total War Operations by Führer Decree of 25 July 1944 (19). For the last months of the Third Reich, Goebbels had reached the zenith of power with this function, apart from his appointment as Reich Chancellor in Hitler's last will and testament of April 29, 1945, which had become effective only theoretically. As Reich Plenipotentiary for the total deployment in war, he had extremely far-reaching powers over the entire state apparatus with the exception of the Wehrmacht. (20) Until that date, the competences of the RMVP had changed only slightly in the main features of all disputes over jurisdiction. That it nevertheless grew enormously and steadily until 1943 (21) was mainly due to diversification and intensification in the performance of its tasks. After 1938, the expansive foreign policy of the Third Reich necessitated further propaganda agencies to direct and influence public opinion in the incorporated and occupied territories. In the occupied territories with civil administrations, "departments" (main departments) for "popular enlightenment and propaganda" were usually set up in the territories with military administration, "propaganda departments", which exercised roughly the functions of the Reich Propaganda Offices. Their position between their superior military services and the RMVP, which sought to influence the content of the propaganda and from where part of the personnel came, was a constant source of conflict. As an indication for the weighting of the individual areas of responsibility of the Ministry in relation to each other, the expenditures for the individual areas in the 10 years from March 1933 to March 1943 are mentioned. With a total volume of 881,541,376.78 RM (22), the expenses for the Active propaganda: 21.8 Communications: 17.8 Music, visual arts, literature: 6.2 Film: 11.5 Theatres: 26.4 Civil servants and equipment: 4.3 Salaries, business needs, including film testing agencies and RPÄ: 12.0 By 1942, the RMVP and its division had been continuously expanded, before facilities in the subordinate area were shut down and departments in the ministry were merged as part of the total war from 1943 onwards. The business distribution plan of Nov. 1942 was as follows: (23) Ministerial Office, reporting directly to the Minister with adjutants, personal advisers and press officers of the Minister, a total of 10 employees State Secretaries Leopold Gutterer, Reich Press Head Dr. Otto Dietrich, Hermann Esser Budget Department (H) with 11 departments; reporting to the Head of the Department, the Main Office and the House Administration Personnel Department (Pers) with seven departments Legal and Organisation Department (R) with three departments Propaganda Department (Pro) with the following ten departments: 1. Political Propaganda 2. Cultural Propaganda 3. Propaganda Exploration 4. Public Health, Social Policy 5. Economy 6. Imperial Propaganda Offices 7. Major Events 8. Youth and Sports 9. Representation 10. Budget of the Department, Preparation of the Peace Treaties, Stagma and other Press Department of the Imperial Government I. Department German Press (DP) with 13 Speeches II. Foreign Press Department (AP) with 19 papers III. Journal Press Department /ZP) with five papers Foreign Press Department (A) with the following five groups: 1. Organization 2. Europe and Middle East 3. Non-European 4. Propaganda Media 5. Deployment abroad and in the Reich Tourism Department (FV) with four units Broadcasting Department (Rfk) with the following eight units 1. Coordination, Interradio and others 2. Broadcasting Command Office 3. Mob Department 4. Broadcasting Programme Support 5. Foreign Broadcasting 6. Broadcasting Industry 7. Broadcasting Organisation 8. Rundfunk-Erkundungsdienst Filmabteilung (F) with five departments Schrifttumsabteilung (S ) with eight departments Theaterabteilung (T) with seven departments Bildende Kunst (BK) with four departments Musik-Abteilung (M) with ten departments Reichsverteidigung (RV) with six departments Abteilung für die besetztischen Ostgebiete (Ost) with twelve departments Generalreferate with State Secretary Gutterer directly subordinated: 1. Exhibitions and Fairs 2nd General Cultural Department (General Cultural Department for the Reich Capital) 3rd General Department for Reich Chamber of Culture Matters 4th Technology (propaganda, radio, film, sound, stage, press, service installations of the RMVP) Press Recording Office for the PK reports of the Press Department of the Reich Government (directly subordinated to the Reich Press Head) A major change in this distribution of responsibilities took place in September 1944 (24). The art departments of theatre, music and visual arts were dissolved and merged into a single department of culture (cult). The East Department was integrated into the Propaganda Department as a main department, the Tourism Department was shut down and the General Departments of the Reich Cultural Chamber, Armaments and Construction and Propaganda Troops were dissolved. Notes (1) J. Goebbels: Vom Kaiserhof zur Reichskanzlei, p. 28. (2) R 43 II/1149, p. 5, excerpt from the minutes of the ministerial meeting of 11 March 1933. (3) R 43 II/1149, pp. 25 - 29, wording of Goebbels' speech of 16 March 1933 according to W. T. B. (4) R 43 II/1149, RGBl. 1933 I, p. 104 (5) J. Goebbels: Vom Kaiserhof zur Reichskanzlei, p. 293 (6) In an elaboration presumably by Goebbels on a "Reichskommissariat für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda" to be created (R 43 II/1149, pp. 49 - 53) further competences had been demanded. In particular, additional responsibilities were demanded of the German section of the RMI and section VI of the AA, as well as in foreign propaganda. (7) R 43 II/1449, pp. 126 - 133. Heiber gives a diagram of the organisational development of the RMVP at department level with the names of the department heads on the inside of the cover of his Goebbels biography. (8) See speech to representatives of the press on the tasks of the RMVP of 16 March 1933 in R 43 II/1149. It was not without reason that there was a language regulation for the press according to which the term propaganda was to be used only in a positive sense (R 55/1410, Decree of the RMVP to the RPA Nuremberg, 8 Nov. 1940). (9) R 43 II/1149, p. 169, Note by Lammers of 9 May 1934 on a lecture to the Reich Chancellor. (10) R 43 II/1149. (11) After the establishment of the Reichskulturkammer organization, they were also state cultural administrators in the substructure of the RKK. (12) Boelcke, Kriegspropaganda, p. 185. (13) Ebendort, p. 136 ff. there are hints for some institutions. (14) The Führer's order concerning the delimitation of responsibilities dated 15 Aug. 1943, cf. R 55/1435, 1390. (15) Boelcke, Kriegspropaganda, p. 126/127. (16) Lochner, Joseph Goebbels, p. 334, p. 442. (17) R 55/618, p. 123; cf. also the depiction of Hasso v. Wedel, the propaganda troops of the German Wehrmacht. Neckargemünd 1962, Die Wehrmacht im Kampf, vol. 34 (18) Führer decree of Dec. 21, 1943, R 55/441 (19) RGBl. 1944, p. 161, R 43 II/664 a. (20) This competence is virtually not reflected in the RMVP files available in the BA. However, it is well documented in R 43 II. See R 43 II/664 a. (21) See the annual budget negotiations on increasing the number of posts in R 2/4752 - 4762. (22) R 55/862, Statistical overview of monetary transactions. Accordingly, 88,5 % of the expenditure was covered by the licence fee. It remains unclear whether the old budgetary expenditure has been taken into account. (23) R 55/1314 According to this schedule of responsibilities, the files held in the Federal Archives were essentially classified. (24) Newsletter of 13 Sept. 1944 in R 55/441. Inventory description: Inventory history The RMVP records have suffered substantial losses, although the main building of the Ministry, the Ordenspalais am Wilhelmplatz, was destroyed relatively late and almost accidentally in March 1945. Large parts of the old registries, including the previous files from the Federal Foreign Office and the Reich Ministry of the Interior (1), had already been destroyed by air raids in 1944. Moreover, in the last days of the war before and during the conquest of Berlin by the Soviet Russian army, files were also systematically destroyed. (2) In view of the total collapse and devastation of Berlin by the air war, it is not surprising that hardly any manual or private files of RMVP employees have been handed down. Notable exceptions are, in particular, documents from Ministerialrat Bade (press department) (3) and hand files of the head of the broadcasting department, Ministerialdirigent Fritzsche. In this context, the diaries of Goebbels should also be mentioned, which, with the exception of those edited by Lochner in 1948, had been lost for almost 30 years. (4) The bulk of the volumes available in the Bundesarchiv Koblenz until 1996 was transferred from Alexandria (cf. Guide No. 22) and from the Berlin Document Center to the Bundesarchiv in the years 1959 - 1963. The personnel files still held back were added to the portfolio in 2007. The RMVP files kept by the Ministry of State Security of the GDR (mainly personnel files, personnel processes of the theatre, music and defence departments), which were stored in the so-called NS archive until 2006, are also assigned to the holdings. Not in Allied hands was only a small collection from the Music Department and some documents from the German Press Department, which were transferred to the Federal Archives in 1969 as part of the land consolidation with the Secret State Archives of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. Some original RMVP files can still be found at the Hoover Institution Standford, the Yivo Institute New York and the Wiener Library London. Fortunately, all three institutions were willing to produce microfilms for the Federal Archives (5). In 1974, the Rijksinstitut voor Oologsdocumentatie Amsterdam (Rijksinstitut for Oologsdocumentatie Amsterdam) kindly handed over some original fragments of files to the Federal Archives. In 1946, officers of the French and Soviet secret services found films of about 35,000 documents that had been filmed in the RMVP and buried near Potsdam at the end of the war with the help of an American mine detector (6). The films were taken to Paris to make re-enlargements of them, and it is possible that they will still be kept in the French secret service. The Americans apparently did not receive copies because they had withheld from the French documents of other provenance found in the CSSR. Only incomplete information is available about the content of the films; it can be assumed, however, that not exactly unimportant files have been filmed. Notes (1) Only a few handfiles and a few volumes on the promotion of music have survived. (2) Files of the Reichsfilmarchiv that had been moved to Grasleben/Helmstedt were even to be destroyed by agents of the RSHA when they threatened to fall into the hands of the English (cf. R 55/618). (3) Cf. Kl. Erw. 615, which is a selection of the bath papers from the time around 1933 in the Hoover library. (4) Frankfurter Allgemeine, 21 Nov. 1974, reader's letter. Insignificant fragments from Goebbels' estate from his student days can be found in the Federal Archives under the signature Kl. Erw. 254. (5) A collection of newspaper clippings concerning Goebbels in the amount of 82 Bde for the years 1931 - 1943 was not filmed at the Yivo-Institut. (6) See the documents in: National Archives Washington, RG 260 OMGUS 35/35 folder 19. Archival processing The order and indexing work on the holdings was relatively time-consuming and difficult, as the order of the files was extremely poor. On the one hand there were no detailed file plans or other registry aids for the mass of files from the budget and personnel departments, on the other hand the file management in the ministry, which at least in its development phase was always deliberately unbureaucratic, left a lot to be desired. Especially during the war, when inexperienced auxiliaries had to be used more and more during the war, the Ministry's staff often complained about the inadequacy of the registries. The organisation of the RMVP's records management showed typical features of office reform (1): Registries were kept on a departmental basis, with each registry having a "self-contained partial list of files". The documents were stored in standing folders (System Herdegen). Instead of a diary, an alphabetical mailing card was kept, separated according to authorities and private persons. The reference numbers consisted of the department letter, file number, date as well as an indication, on which card of an order file the procedure was seized. All in all, the files of the Budget and Human Resources Department were in a certain, albeit unsatisfactory, state of order when they entered the Federal Archives. Numerous volumes from the other departments, on the other hand, were formed in a chaotic manner, possibly as a result of a provisional recording of loose written material when it was confiscated. These were often amorphous and fragmentary materials that lacked the characteristics of organically grown writing. So it was practically impossible to form meaningful band units in all subjects. In the case of some "mixed volumes" with written material on numerous file numbers, only the most frequent ones were noted in the finding aid book. Due to the high loss of files, no strict evaluation standard was applied to the files. The main items collected were volumes from the budget department on preliminary checks in the subordinate area and individual procedures for the procurement and management of managed goods for the purposes of the Ministry. Formal records of non-compliant positions in the business division and a number of unarchivalable documents from the Human Resources Department will still be kept for the foreseeable future for the purpose of issuing service time statements. It is not listed in this guide. Preparatory work for the indexing of the Koblenz part of the stock was carried out by Mr. Oberarchivrat Regel (1967) with regard to the files of the budget department on the Reich's own film assets, Mr. Ltd. Archivdirektor Dr. Boberach (1966) with regard to correspondence and the reference files of the head of the broadcasting department, Hans Fritzsche and Ms. Archivoberinspektorin Schneider, née Fisch (1966) for files of the propaganda department. In 2005, the inventories of the finding aids of both sections of the Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda were imported into the database of the Federal Archives via a retroconversion procedure. The data records were then combined in a classification. Despite the inhomogeneity of the traditions of most specialist departments, it was advisable to maintain the division by departments. (2) Within the departments, the structure was essentially based on file numbers and factual contexts. The file numbers used in the RMVP were - as far as possible - used as aids for further subdivision. The final step was the integration of the personnel files and personal documents from the NS archive (approx. 5000 individual transactions) and the former Berlin Document Center (approx. 700 transactions). The documents taken over are mainly documents from the personnel department (in addition to personnel files also questionnaires and index cards), theatre (applications, appointments, confirmation procedures) and imperial defence (applications in propaganda companies). The personal records also contain isolated documents on denazification from the period 1946-1950. Since a relatively large number of individual transactions from the NS archives were often only a few sheets, transactions that objectively related to one transaction (e.g. applications for interpreting) were merged into one file. The names of the individual persons as well as the old signatures from the NS archive can still be traced via the BASYS-P database. Both the files from the NS archive and those from the former BDC are not always filed according to the provenance principle. However, the files were not separated again. Most of the files taken over from the former BDC are personal files and questionnaires as well as personnel index cards of individual employees of broadcasting stations. A search is still possible via the BASYS-P database. The procedures for the donation "Artist's thanks" still present in the personal records of the former BDC concerning the Theatre Department were not adopted in this context (approx. 15,000 procedures). The names are entered in the BASYS-P database and can be searched there. Notes (1) Rules of Procedure and Registration of 8 May 1942 in R 55/ 618. (2) The structure of the business distribution plan of Nov. 1942 was used as a basis. Abbreviations AA = Federal Foreign Office Department A = Department Abroad AP = Foreign Press BDC = Berlin Document Center BdS = Commander of the Security Police ChdZ = Chief of the Civil Administration DAF = German Labour Front DASD = German Amateur Broadcasting Service e.V. DNB = Deutsches Nachrichtenbüro DRK = Deutsches Rotes Kreuz Dt. = Deutsch DVO = Durchführungsverordnung french = French Gestapo = Geheimes Staatspolizeiamt KdF = Kraft durch Freude KdG = Kommandeur der Gendarmerie KdS = Kommandeur der Sicherheitspolizei Kl. Erw. Small acquisition KLV = Kinderlandverschickung LG = District Court MA = Military Archives, Department of the Federal Archives MdR = Member of the Reichstag MinRat = Ministerialrat MdL = Member of the Landtag NDR = Norddeutscher Rundfunk NSV = National Socialist Volkswohlfahrt o. Az. = without file number or date = without date OKW = Oberkommando der Wehrmacht OLG = Oberstes Landesgericht OLT = Oberleutnant ORR = Oberregierungsrat OT = Organisation Todt PG = Parteigenosse PK = Propagandakompanie RAVAG = Österreichische Radio-Verkehrs-AG Reg. Pres. RMI = Reich Ministry of the Interior RMJ = Reich Ministry of the Interior RMK = Reich Ministry of Justice RMK = Reich Chamber of Music RMVP = Reich Ministry of Education and Propaganda ROI = Reichsoberinspektor RPA = Reichspropagandaamt RPÄ = Reichspropagandaämter RPL = Reichspropagandalleitung RR = Regierungsrat RRG = Reichsrundfunkgesellschaft RS = Reichssender RSHA = Reichssicherheitshauptamt RSK = Reichsschrifttumskammer SBZ = Soviet Occupation Zone SD = Security Service SD-LA = SD-Leitabschnitt SDR = Süddeutscher Rundfunk Sipo = Security Police STS = Secretary of State and a. = among others v. a. = above all VGH = Volksgerichtshof VO = Regulation WDR = Westdeutscher Rundfunk ZSTA = Zentrales Staatsarchiv (Potsdam) citation method: BArch R 55/ 23456 Content characterization: Rounded delivery complexes are available only from the budget department and from the personnel department. From the point of view of financing and personnel management, they illuminate almost all areas of the Ministry's activities. From the specialist departments, the volumes from the Propaganda Department should be emphasized, which document above all the design of propaganda and the propagandistic support of foreign workers and resettled persons in the last years of the war. Also worth mentioning are mood and activity reports of individual RPÄ and suggestions from the population for propaganda and for leading the total war. In the Radio Department there is some material about the design of the radio program and the propaganda reconnaissance with reports about the opposing propaganda, which were compiled from the bugging reports of the special service Seehaus. A separate complex of this department are 14 volumes of pre-files from the RMI with handfiles of the Oberregierungsrat Scholz as representative of the Reich in supervisory committees of broadcasting companies in Berlin from 1926 - 1932. Of the film department there are only a few, but interesting volumes about the film production of the last war years with numerous ministerial documents. The majority of the theatre department's traditions are based on documents on professional issues and the Reich's dramaturgy. From the music department the promotion of musical organizations from the years 1933 - 1935 with pre-files from the RMI, the support and job placement of artists as well as material about the musical foreign relations is handed down. The files of the Department for the Occupied Eastern Territories offer rich sources for questions of Eastern propaganda. The losses are greatest in the departments Law and Organization, Magazine Press, Foreign Press, Foreign Countries, Tourism, Literature and Fine Arts. State of development: Publication Findbuch (1976, reprint 1996), Online Findbuch (2007). Citation style: BArch, R 55/...