The Reichsanstalt für Film und Bild in Wissenschaft und Unterricht (English: Reich Institute for Film and Images in Science and the Classroom), before 1940 known as the Reichsstelle für den Unterrichtsfilm (English: Reich Office for Teaching Films) was a branch of the
Reich Ministry of Science, Education and Culture which was charged with the creation of
educational films
Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education also fo ...
in
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
. The office was founded on June 26, 1934, and was headed by
Kurt Gauger, a member of the Nazi
SA and the
Volkssturm
The (, ) was a ''levée en masse'' national militia established by Nazi Germany during the last months of World War II. It was set up by the Nazi Party on the orders of Adolf Hitler and established on 25 September 1944. It was staffed by conscri ...
.
By 1944 the Reichsanstalt had produced some 900 films; over 270 of them were for schools, the rest were for research and teaching purposes at universities. A total of more than half a million film copies were delivered. How many of these films were actually used is unclear. The office also served as a lender for teaching media such as films and light pictures as well as for demonstration devices. In 1943, there were 36 provincial authorities and 1243 administrative centers in the occupied territories. It also edited a series of media pedagogical writings and from 1935 to 1943 also the magazine ''Film und Bild in Wissenschaft, Bildung und Volksbildung''.
On Feb. 6, 1935 a "Abteilung Hochschule" - university division - was established within the Reichsstelle, and in 1936 it absorbed the
Deutsche Gesellschaft für wissenschaftliche Filme. In December 1945, the
Institut für Film und Bild in Wissenschaft und Unterricht (FWU) was founded as a successor organization immediately after the capture of the inventory by US soldiers. The division into district areas was maintained.
Further reading
*
Adolf Reichwein: ''Film in der Landschule. Vom Schauen zum Gestalten''. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart u. a. 1938, (''Schriftenreihe der Reichsstelle für den Unterrichtsfilm'' 10, (Neuauflage in:
Wolfgang Klafki u. a. (Hrsg.): ''Schaffendes Schulvolk. Die Tiefenseer Schulschriften''. Beltz, Weinheim u. a. 1993, ).
* Michael Kühn: ''Unterrichtsfilm im Nationalsozialismus. Die Arbeit der Reichsstelle für den Unterrichtsfilm / Reichsanstalt für Film und Bild in Wissenschaft und Unterricht''. Septem Artes, Mammendorf/Obb. 1998, , (Zugleich: München, Univ. der Bundeswehr, Diss., 1997),
(faktenreiche, aber etwas undistanzierte Arbeit).
* Malte Ewert: ''Die Reichsanstalt für Film und Bild in Wissenschaft und Unterricht. (1934 - 1945)''. Verlag Dr. Kovač, Hamburg 1998, , (''Schriften zur Kulturwissenschaft'' 15).
* Malte Ewert (Hrsg.): ''Neue Dokumente zur Geschichte der Schulfilmbewegung in Deutschland''. Band 2: ''Die Rundschreiben der Reichsstelle für den Unterrichtsfilm (RfdU) und späteren Reichsanstalt für Film und Bild in Wissenschaft und Unterricht (RWU)''. 2 Teile. Verlag Dr. Kovač, Hamburg 2003, , (''Studien zur Zeitgeschichte'' 35)
Rezension
References
External links
*In Ausschnitten digital verfügbar
Sammlungeiner Reihe von der RWU produzierter und vertriebener wissenschaftlicher Filme und zugehöriger Publikationen im
Virtual Laboratory The online project Virtual Laboratory. Essays and Resources on the Experimentalization of Life, 1830-1930, located at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, is dedicated to research in the history of the experimentalization of life. T ...
des
Max-Planck-Instituts für WissenschaftsgeschichteMalte Ewert (Hg.): Neue Dokumente zur Geschichte der Schulfilmbewegung in Deutschland II(Buchrezension)
Ulf Schmidt, Der medizinische Forschungsfilm im "Dritten Reich"www.fwu.deIMDB page for Reichsanstalt für Film und Bild in Wissenschaft und UnterrichtIMDB page for Reichsstelle für den UnterrichtsfilmPage at Filmportal
Government agencies established in 1934
Government agencies disestablished in 1945
Educational organizations established in 1934
Educational institutions disestablished in 1945
1934 establishments in Germany
1945 disestablishments in Germany
Educational film production companies
Education in Nazi Germany
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