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The Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda (Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda) ​

Overview ​

The Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda (RMVP) was responsible for directing the content of the press, literature, the visual arts, film, theatre, music and radio. The Reich Chamber of Culture (Reichskulturkammer), which was established by the Ministry in the Autumn of 1933, exercised control over all German mass media and (visual) artists. In particular the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts (Reichskammer der bildenden Künste) was responsible for the exclusion, expelsion and repression of Jewish art dealers.

Isolated files of the RMVP can still be found in their original form at the Hoover Institution Stanford, at the YIVO Institute New York, and at the Wiener Library London.

Since the selection we have made for DocQuest is strictly related to artworks and cultural goods, it does not reflect the RMVP archival collection as a whole. Please refer to the Bundesarchiv Website (Invenio.de) for a full comprehensive overview.

Content ​

  • Documents concerning the acquisitions of artworks and furniture for the minister's residencies.
  • Documents regarding cultural goods, such as musical instruments, artworks or furniture, or even grammophone records.
  • Documents relating to organisations and events connected to the RMVP and related to translocation of cultural goods: Kunst-Dienst e.V., UFA-Filmgesellschaft, Cautio Treuhand.
  • Documents concerning the Führer's Commission for Color Photographs of Important Wall and Ceiling Paintings (Führerauftrag für Farbaufnahmen wichtiger Wand- und Deckengemälde).
  • Documents regarding the confiscation of the so-called degenerate art (Entartete Kunst) in German museums.
  • Documents relating to the Great German Art Exhibition (Große Deutsche Kunstausstellung).
  • Documents concerning archeological excavations in the German Reich.
  • Documentation regarding cultural property to be reclaimed from the enemy states of the Second World War (Kulturgut, das von den Feindstaaten des WWII zurückgefordert wurde).

DocQuest Search Features ​

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122 subcollections out of the 11.145, have been chosen as relevant for provenance research, searchable through the DocQuest interface. Access the page level by choosing "Meta search". Access the collection level (the archival metadata) by selecting "Search on Collection Level".