Archive donation: The illustrated press from the GDR now almost complete at the University Library Freiburg
Freiburg, 20/05/2025
Dirk Schindelbeck is handing over the Kultur- und Werbegeschichtliches Archiv (KWAF – Freiburg Cultural and Advertising History Archive), which he established, to the University Library. In this interview, he talks about how the archive came into being, the research it has made possible, and his decision to donate it.
Historian, Germanist and cultural scientist Dr. Dirk Schindelbeck is donating a large part of the Freiburg Cultural and Advertising History Archive to the University Library. The collection has been compiled and maintained by him and his fellow authors since the mid-1980s. Thanks to his donation, the archive is now available to students, researchers and the general public. Over the past few months, staff at the University Library have processed and catalogued a total of 30 West and East German consumer magazines, women’s, satirical and youth magazines, as well as advertising publications, amounting to around 50 metres of shelving. “As an institution that promotes science and archived memory, it is the task of the University Library to accurately and sustainably catalogue the collections entrusted to it, as well as to archive them permanently and make them accessible,” explains Dr. Marcus Schröter, Head of the Special Collections, Digitisation and Preservation Division at the University Library Freiburg. “We are very pleased about the donation. The collection is exceptionally comprehensive, both scientifically and librarianship-wise, and is a relevant addition to our primary sources in the humanities. It will not only enable new research questions to be addressed at the university, but will also attract users from specialist communities outside the region to Freiburg.”
“The archive was created as a result of the history workshop movement, which was increasingly turning its attention to questions of everyday life and mentalities and did not want to rely exclusively on established sources. However, as there were hardly any everyday documents to be found in libraries at the time, we had to take the initiative ourselves.”
Dr. Dirk Schindelbeck
Historian, Germanist and cultural scientist
Freiburg Cultural and Advertising History Archive (KWAF) – Everyday resource for historical research
University of Freiburg: Mr Schindelbeck, the Freiburg Cultural and Advertising History Archive now contains almost the entire illustrated press of the GDR. How did that come about?
Dirk Schindelbeck: After getting my degree at the University of Freiburg, my fellow historians Rainer Gries and Volker Ilgen and I came up with the idea of compiling an archive of printed everyday sources in the mid-1980s. This led to the creation of the Freiburg Cultural and Advertising History Archive, or KWAF for short, in the following years. We collected the holdings from the estates of advertising professionals and through private purchases. The project “Propaganda History of the Two German States in Comparison between 1949 and 1971/72,” funded by the DFG from 1992 to 1997 and involving collaborators in Freiburg and Leipzig, played a special role in this. It was probably only possible to carry out such a project without links to the local university during these years of political change. With the help of DFG funding, we were able to significantly expand the collection with GDR magazines during this period. Today, in addition to a number of West German magazines, it mainly comprises GDR titles such as NBI (Neue Berliner Illustrierte), Freie Welt, Das Magazin, Jugend und Technik, the satirical magazine Der Eulenspiegel and women’s magazines such as Frau von heute, Sibylle, but also Kultur im Heim and others.
University of Freiburg: That sounds like it took a lot of initiative and commitment. What motivated you, what was your goal?
Schindelbeck: The main objective of the KWAF was to preserve everyday sources on advertising history, such as advertisements, brochures and flyers, for historical research purposes – not least, of course, in order for people to be able to write their own texts on these topics. The archive was created as a result of the history workshop movement, which was increasingly turning its attention to questions of everyday life and mentalities and did not want to rely exclusively on established sources. However, as there were hardly any everyday documents to be found in libraries at the time, we had to take the initiative ourselves. At that time, the history workshop movement brought together many self-organised research groups and citizens’ initiatives far removed from the universities. Looking back, it is clear that we were making a contribution that would be felt in the long term. Over the years, numerous cultural history publications, contributions to anthologies and articles for journals and history magazines have been produced that would not have been possible without the KWAF.
University of Freiburg: What topics did you mainly focus on in your work with the archive?
Schindelbeck: A recurring theme in my work is the examination of historical advertising as a subject of West and East German cultural history. To be effective, advertising must understand and condense people’s needs, while at the same time it can be used as a propaganda tool – which is why advertising is always also a narrative of the zeitgeist. Advertisements in the GDR, which were not intended to increase sales but rather to steer demand and maintain the illusion of supply, and thus always served as propaganda for the state, provide particularly interesting avenues for research.
University of Freiburg: The University Library Freiburg is delighted to acquire the archive. Why did you decide to donate it?
Schindelbeck: Since the turn of the millennium, I have been the sole sponsor of the Cultural and Advertising History Archive. In 2023, I decided to donate the collection of public and specialist journals to the University Library. It is wonderful that the collection will not be lost or fragmented. I am also very pleased that it will now be available to the general public and can continue to be used for historical advertising and GDR research in the future.
Further information
- More information about Dirk Schindelbeck and a list of his publications can be found on his website
- The University Library has created a separate page for the Cultural and Advertising History Archive.
- Part of the collection is already available in the catalogue of the University Library Freiburg.