Reichsschrifttumskammer

Reichsschrifttumskammer
Name	Reichsschrifttumskammer
Native name	Reichsschrifttumskammer
Formation	1933
Founder	Adolf Hitler
Type	Organization
Headquarters	Berlin
Region served	Germany
Parent organization	Reichskulturkammer

Reichsschrifttumskammer

The Reichsschrifttumskammer was a state body created in 1933 to regulate authors and publishing in Germany under the Nazi Party, instituted as part of the Reichskulturkammer by decree of Adolf Hitler and administered through figures connected to Joseph Goebbels and the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. It functioned within the legal framework of the Enabling Act of 1933 and the Nuremberg Laws period, interacting with publishing houses, writers' associations, and cultural institutions such as the Prussian State Library and the German Publishers and Booksellers Association. The office influenced the careers of writers like Thomas Mann, Ernst Jünger, Bertolt Brecht, and Stefan Zweig, while targeting others through blacklists associated with contemporary measures including the Book Burning (1933) and the Reichskulturkammer's broader enforcement.

History and Establishment

The body was established in October 1933 by decree of Adolf Hitler following initiatives by Joseph Goebbels, enacted under the Reichskulturkammer law and linked to the powers afforded by the Enabling Act of 1933 and precedents from the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service. Early organizational setup involved personnel from the Prussian Ministry of Science, Art and Culture, the German National Library, and associations such as the Reichsverband deutscher Schriftsteller. Initial measures echoed earlier cultural interventions seen in the Kulturkampf and reflected ideological currents from movements like the Völkisch movement and figures including Alfred Rosenberg and Hans Fritzsche.

Organization and Membership

Administratively the body sat under the Reichskulturkammer headquartered in Berlin and reported to the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda led by Joseph Goebbels, with leadership drawn from individuals connected to the National Socialist German Workers' Party and literary administration networks including the Reichsschrifttumskammer executive and regional chambers in cities like Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt am Main, and Leipzig. Membership was mandatory for authors, journalists, translators and publishers and intersected with professional registers such as the Reichspressekammer and the Reichskammer der bildenden Künste, affecting careers tied to organizations like the German PEN Club, the Prussian Academy of Arts, and the German League of Writers.

Functions and Activities

The institution oversaw accreditation, licensing, and the issuing of permits for publication and distribution, coordinating with censorship organs linked to the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, enforcement units of the Gestapo, and municipal police authorities in cities such as Dresden and Cologne. It compiled lists of approved and banned authors and titles, regulated translation projects involving languages of interest in diplomacy with regimes such as Fascist Italy and monitored publishing contracts with firms like S. Fischer Verlag, Rowohlt Verlag, Kiepenheuer Verlag, and printers in the Frankfurt Book Fair. Activities included organizing readings, prize administration tied to awards like the Goethe Prize and interactions with institutions such as the German Academy for Language and Literature.

Censorship and Control of Literature

The body implemented exclusions and censorship targeting authors of Jewish background, political dissidents, émigrés and modernists, cooperating with lists and campaigns that produced public events like the Book Burning (1933) and policies reminiscent of earlier moral regulations such as the Lex Heinze. Mechanisms included registration denial, revocation of publication permits, coordination with trials and seizures by the Gestapo and judicial measures under laws passed in the Reichstag; affected writers included Karl Marx-influenced critics, émigrés such as Thomas Mann (who went into exile), avant-garde figures like Bertolt Brecht, and others tied to movements opposed by the regime such as Expressionism and Dada. The body also supervised school and youth reading lists linked to programs run by the Hitler Youth and cultural education alongside the Ministry of Science, Education and Culture (Prussia).

Role in Nazi Cultural Policy

As an instrument of Nazism the organization served ideological aims articulated by Joseph Goebbels, Alfred Rosenberg, and the Nazi Party leadership to create a racially and politically homogenous literary sphere, working in tandem with propaganda campaigns around events like the 1936 Berlin Olympics and foreign policy narratives about Lebensraum and the Antisemitic policies institutionalized in the Nuremberg Laws. It shaped journals, newspapers, and publishing networks that produced content aligned with cultural projects promoted by institutions such as the Reichstag propaganda apparatus, municipal cultural offices, and allied organizations including the German Labour Front and the Strength Through Joy program.

Impact and Legacy

The dissolution of the institution occurred with the fall of the Third Reich in 1945, producing postwar consequences in denazification processes overseen by the Allied Control Council, debates at the Nuremberg Trials, and archival research in repositories such as the Bundesarchiv and German National Library. Its legacy affected postwar publishing reconstruction in cities like Frankfurt am Main, influenced restitution issues for exiled authors including Stefan Zweig and Lion Feuchtwanger, and remains a focus of scholarship by historians referencing strands in works on Totalitarianism, cultural policy studies of Nazi Germany, and archival projects at institutions like the Institute for Contemporary History and universities including Humboldt University of Berlin.

Category:Censorship in Nazi Germany