Reich Association of the German Press
The Reich Association of the German Press ( RDP ) was a professional representation for journalists in the German Reich from 1910 to 1945 .
On November 20, 1910, the Reich Association of the German Press was founded in Berlin . It was structured on a federal basis and saw itself as the general organization of the full-time editors and journalists in the German press. The association represented the professional interests of its members, granted legal protection , a pension plan and other social benefits. During the Weimar period, Heinrich Rippler , Paul Baecker , Georg Bernhard and Wilhelm Ackermann, among others , headed the association.
After Hitler came to power , the association was brought into line by Goebbels' confidante Alfred-Ingemar Berndt , subordinated to the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda and affiliated to the Reich Press Chamber as a professional association . On April 30, 1933, at a meeting of delegates, the journalists present unanimously voted Otto Dietrich as the new chairman of the association. The outgoing incumbent, Wilhelm Ackermann, publicly but cautiously named the consequences:
- " As for all professions, this means a certain narrowing of the bed in which the current of journalistic work has flowed for German journalists, but, I hope, at the same time a deepening ."
Dietrich's successor was Wilhelm Weiß in 1934 , who headed the association until it was dissolved in 1945. The chief executives were Alfred Herrmann (1933–1934), Wilhelm Ihde (June 1935 - May 1937) and Hans Henningsen (May 1937 - December 31, 1944).