A skilfully edited reality

Historian Dr Georg Eckert on the first Ufa newsreel in German cinema

On 17 September 1925, the first Ufa newsreel was shown in cinemas as a supporting programme to films. What was shown in these newsreels?

Georg Eckert: The Ufa newsreel offered a similar programme to other newsreels. The genre had already emerged before the First World War, during which it had experienced rapid expansion as part of war propaganda. After the war, the content changed. In part, producers learnt from national and international competitors, in part they exchanged material, which was expensive to produce. The programmes, which usually lasted around ten minutes and each featured a one-minute topic, were shown over several weeks or even months so that they could not be bound to the current affairs of the day. Serious topics such as major politics or technical developments were included, but also less serious ones such as sport and entertainment of all kinds - both of which could even be highly political in their own way, if you think of the 1936 Olympics, for example. Until 1929, by the way, the entire programme ran without a soundtrack, the introduction of which was accompanied by a consolidation of the market.

A newsreel could influence the masses. How did that happen?

Georg Eckert : It is not possible to precisely measure the extent to which the respective newsreels influenced public opinion; it is almost impossible to compare their reach with that of newspapers and magazines. The newsreels were not available nationwide anyway and mainly covered urban centres. They only reached a fraction of cinemas. The Ufa newsreel had 100 copies in 1929. Nevertheless, it can be said that film recordings initially had a sensational character for viewers, which they played out here. Before the fiction of the film, a newsreel in the cinema showed a skilfully edited "reality" with a forcefulness that went far beyond the usual absorption of news through reading: for example, by making more and more audible an original soundtrack that had initially only been underlaid with music or a speaker's voice.

One of the first German newsreels was Eiko-Woche, which ran from 1914 to 1918. It was also used for propaganda purposes during the First World War, wasn't it?

Georg Eckert : It was not only Eiko-Woche, which appeared from March 1914, that changed its character after the outbreak of the war. It developed from entertainment (which can be a particularly sophisticated medium for political messages) into elaborately post-produced war reporting. The war was also a media war. It is instructive to look at contemporary actors such as Oskar Messter, who described his experiences in August 1916 in an article entitled "Film as a political advertising medium" and claimed to have reached more than 34 million people at home and abroad with his "Messter Wochenschau", which had been produced since October 1914 and was later interpreted by Ufa as the origin of its own activities. He called on the Reich to support more propaganda: "For years, the enemy abroad, led by England, had encircled us and used lies in the press and in film as a means of war. We do not have enough equivalent, defensive measures to counter this. The main thing is for Germany to finally do something radical". He also gave very practical examples of "how we imagine mass suggestion. The enemy claims that we are in the habit of slaughtering women and children, destroying babies in particular. We show our exemplary facilities for infant and children's homes".

The Ufa newsreel was launched in 1925, but very quickly took a right-wing nationalist turn. How did that come about?

Georg Eckert : It's no coincidence that Ufa's name is reminiscent of the Bufa, the "Bild- und Filmamt" (picture and film office) created in January 1917. Ufa, which was founded in December 1917, was not an authority, but rather a joint initiative of commercial film companies that shared a patriotic concern. There was money to be made from propaganda, but hardly any after the end of the war. The film business was now facing fierce competition. Ufa ran into difficulties on the entertainment market, especially because of expensive productions, which were soon exacerbated by a fatal marketing contract with American studios. Ufa's economic survival was finally secured in 1927 when it was bought out by Alfred Hugenberg, a wealthy mining and media entrepreneur who had already called for far-reaching war aims during the First World War and was one of the founders of the DNVP (German National People's Party) in 1918, of which he was elected chairman in 1928. Nevertheless, party political interests did not dominate. Ufa achieved its greatest successes with entertaining sound films such as "The Three from the Petrol Station". The modern image of women in this film also shone through in newsreels, even if they tended towards the right in their reporting.

The introduction of sound film opened up new possibilities, but also opportunities for manipulation. From 1935, all newsreels were under the control of the Ministry of Propaganda. That meant stricter censorship, didn't it?

Georg Eckert : From the very beginning, the Nazi regime carried out an "intellectual mobilisation", as Goebbels did as head of the newly established "Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda". In part, this meant direct censorship. However, two other mechanisms were no less important. Not only unwelcome content was prevented, but also disagreeable artists, whether because of their (Jewish) origins or their convictions; conversely, this exclusion also created opportunities for advancement for those with convictions and careerists who knew how to make a name for themselves with desirable topics, as well as niches for those who somehow tried to come to terms with the system. Both a surge in ideologisation and professionalisation can be observed. The Wehrmacht's propaganda companies, which supplied a great deal of material for newsreels during the Second World War, are evidence of such mechanisms. Many post-war media makers served in these companies, for example Henri Nannen ("Stern"), Manfred Schmidt (cartoonist for "Nick Knatterton") or Erich Welter (FAZ): some more voluntarily, some more involuntarily, some with more, some with less enthusiasm.

From 1940, there was even the first special newsreel cinema in Berlin, where only newsreels were shown. The Ufa newsreel was then the only production under Nazi control, and towards the end of the war, defeats were also sold as victories. But the audience realised that too, didn't they?

Georg Eckert : Not every audience trusted it equally. In general, it is a great challenge for researchers across all media and genres to understand the effectiveness of Nazi propaganda. If you had opinion polls from the Nazi era, you could hardly trust them for obvious reasons. The frequently cited reports of the Security Service of the Reichsführer SS must also be read with a critical eye. In any case, it is difficult to judge in isolation whether the newsreel, which was brought into line at the beginning of the war, or films such as "Kolberg", or radio, or the daily press, or magazines, or others, particularly strengthened "war morale" or rather weakened it with the foreseeability of defeat and the greater reach of Allied media. However, the newsreel did experience certain wear-and-tear effects. Viewers tended to tire of the programme, which had long since been reduced to political propaganda, either because expenditure on newsreel cinemas was extended to up to 45 minutes and the prescribed newsreels kept delaying the start of the longed-for entertainment film, or because credibility dwindled more rapidly the more obvious defeats were sold as victories. Goebbels had therefore argued in favour of a more realistic portrayal, but Hitler did not listen. The fact that both personally dealt with the details of individual issues shows the importance of the medium. The highly professional production, in which effective effects were later created more through the suggestive editing than through the withdrawn speakers, has also ensured an enormous impact to this day. Even documentaries about the Nazi era or the Second World War often use newsreel material without commentary.

The newsreel remained in state ownership after the war and was used by the Adenauer government to control public opinion. It was, so to speak, the showcase of the economic miracle. Was it intended to sell the new Germany to foreign countries?

Georg Eckert : The fact that the public had to be informed or that public opinion had to be steered in some way was a basic assumption that was already shared by the occupying powers. New newsreels were produced under their sovereignty: in East Germany (DEFA), but also in the western occupation zones, including Munich (USA) and Baden-Baden (France), with the intention of re-educating the public. The Neue Deutsche Wochenschau GmbH in Hamburg (in today's Warburg-Haus) produced programmes from 1949 onwards, in which a great deal of continuity can also be observed. However, the Nazi ideology was no longer the guiding principle; instead, the logic of the Cold War dominated the reports on both sides of the Iron Curtain. There were still potpourris with politics, sensations of all kinds and entertainment, all of which were told in terms of the systemic conflict. The German government sponsored the "Neue Deutsche Wochenschau", while "Der Augenzeuge" supplied East German cinemas; for the sake of language alone, the effect was intended to be more inward than outward. The programmes were aimed at a German audience, which they were supposed to convince of the advantages of parliamentary democracy and communism respectively; a report from the Paris fashion show then illustrated capitalist consumer culture. However, pluralism quickly emerged in the West: The "Fox Tönende Wochenschau", for example, was commercial, and entertainment themes became more important for young cinema-goers.

The era of the newsreel ended with the advent of television. Why?

Georg Eckert : In the history of newsreels, it can be observed that topicality became an increasingly important concern: Once broadcast over a period of several months, they had long been appearing weekly or even more frequently. However, the success of the newsreels was already in decline - they could not possibly be more up-to-date than the daily television news broadcast in more and more living rooms. The "Tagesschau" replaced the "Wochenschau", just as news programmes now lag behind digital tickers. In addition, with the founding of ZDF in 1961, a second broadcaster was available in Germany alongside ARD, and soon the third channels were also offering a wide range of programmes from information to entertainment. The newsreels had long since attracted cultural criticism. Hans Magnus Enzensberger attacked the format, which was increasingly turning into entertainment and was "journalistically without value" and "an instrument for paralysing, not for developing consciousness".

Today, of course, old newsreels are also used in research. Where are they stored today and how do you access them?

Georg Eckert : There is no central archive of all newsreels, neither analogue nor digital. However, the latter is in the works. The archiving situation is complex. The newsreel editions from the Second World War can be viewed in the Federal Archives, which also have a lot of material from the period before 1939, some of which can be viewed in the "Digital Reading Room"(https://www.bundesarchiv.de/im-archiv-recherchieren/archivgut-recherchieren/nach-medienart/filme/). Issues after 1945 are usually not available online for copyright reasons. The "Neue Deutsche Wochenschau", on the other hand, is available in full from a commercial provider, namely the former producer, which continues to exist as a limited company. "Der Augenzeuge", on the other hand, is available from the film distributor that exploits the DEFA production.

Uwe Blass

Dr Georg Eckert studied history and philosophy in Tübingen, where he completed his doctorate with a study on the early Enlightenment around 1700 with a British focus, and habilitated in Wuppertal. He began working as a research assistant in history in 2009 and now teaches as a private lecturer in modern history.