The German Newsreels As Agent for Europe

Before television was established in Germany in second half of the Fifties, cinema newsreels were the only way to convey current news to a wide audience through impressive moving images. They were to complete the radio and press reports. Moreover, cinema newsreels provided significant social and political ideas – such as the idea of the European Union.

The newsreel Neue Deutsche Wochenschau (NDW) was founded end of 1949 with support of the Federal Press Office (which was nearly equate with the Federal Government). Thus from the very start, it displayed Konrad Adenauer’s efforts to the European collaboration. In NDW-editions the European idea was turned out in a wide variety of topics, visual and aural material (films with background sound and music) as well as spoken comments. Even critical issues were convincingly represented, e.g. the signature of the Schumann-Plan in Paris (in the edition NDW No. 64 of April 17, 1951, see figure).

Almost 65 years later, I would like to trace actors and events that could have shaped the awareness of European identity. Therefore, I will use not just the original newsreel films with diverse forms of reporting (e.g. interviews) but also letters, meeting minutes of the production firm’s supervisory board and contemporary reviews.

Within the meanings of ‘Visual History’ (Gerhard Paul) that images are objects but also sources, I would like to present the way, newsreel films brought the European challenges – and even the threats – in German peoples’ mind.