United Press Department of the Reich Government

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The United Press Department of the Reich Government was the central institution of the press policy of the Reich Government in the Weimar Republic . Its task was to centralize, coordinate and filter the press work of the authorities of the Reich government in order to avoid parallel and contradicting statements.

founding

After discussions by Chancellor Georg von Hertling , the press department was founded on October 1, 1919. The previous institutions, such as the Foreign Office's news department and the previous head of the press at the Chancellor's office, were transferred to the new press department. The management was handed over to a press chief of the Reich government - who was appointed on the proposal of the Reich Chancellor - who carried the rank of Ministerial Director and was directly responsible to the Reich Chancellor. He had the duty to attend the meetings of the Cabinet of the Reich Government. The Foreign Office provided his deputy , which was thus closely integrated into the press department.

Personnel and headquarters

The seat of the press department was in the Ordenspalais at what was then Wilhelmplatz 8/9 in the center of the government district. The management of the press department was the responsibility of the so-called Reich Press Chief.

For an overview of the heads of the press office, see the list of Reich press chiefs .

Hermann Katzenberger held the post of head of the domestic department at that time . Well-known personalities who were at times as speakers at the Reich Press Office include:

organization

The press department was divided into eleven sections . Six of them included abroad in accordance with the structure of the Foreign Office. Another department was responsible for the transmission of messages abroad. The Reichszentrale für Heimatdienst comprised a different unit. An independent unit was set up for staff, administration, finance and organization tasks, and another for reading and archiving services. The central work of the press department took place in the domestic department, to which all announcements and publications had to be submitted before publication. The texts were checked there and, if necessary, a correction was made in the form of a revision of the wording.

Press work

Practical press work was carried out through press conferences at the headquarters of the press department six days a week. The Reich Press Chief or the Head of the Domestic Office held the so-called press receptions for three days each, on the other days the chair was chaired by a representative of the journalists. The conference began at 12.15 p.m. This was preceded by an internal press department conference at which the results of the ministerial rounds were announced. The composition of the participants in the press conference was strictly handled by a committee and the participants were strictly checked. Since confidential information was sometimes passed on in the meetings of the conference, a breach of trust could lead to exclusion from the conference. About sixty press institutions were registered for the conference at the time.

The press department financed its current direct expenses from certain and limited own funds. The budget of the press department was normally allocated to the budget of the Federal Foreign Office.

literature

  • Ulrich Heitger: From time signals to political means of leadership. Development tendencies and structures of radio news programs in the Weimar Republic 1923–1932 . Lit, Münster et al. 2003, ISBN 3-8258-6853-2 , ( Communication history 18), (At the same time: Münster (Westphalia), Univ., Diss., 1998).
  • Cuno Horkenbach : The German Empire from 1918 to today . Publishing house for press, economy and politics, Berlin 1930.
  • Helga Wermuth: Dr. hc Winkler. An assistant to state press policy in the Weimar Republic . Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich 1975, (Munich, Univ., Diss., 1975).
  • Walter Zechlin: Press chief at Ebert, Hindenburg and Kopf. Experiences of a press officer and diplomat . Schlueter, Hamburg 1956.
  • Peter Bauer: The organization of the official press policy in the Weimar period. United Press Department of the Reich Government and the Foreign Office . Berlin 1962, (Berlin, Freie Univ., Diss., 1962).
  • Johannes Karl Richter: The Reich headquarters for homeland service. History of the first political education center in Germany and investigation of its role in the Weimar Republic . Berlin 1963, (Berlin, Freie Univ., Diss., 1963).

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