George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center
Fenwick Library, MS2FL 4400 University Dr. Fairfax, Virginia 22030 Business Number: 703-993-2220 Fax Number: 703-993-8911 speccoll@gmu.edu URL: https://scrc.gmu.edu
FINDING AID AUTHOR
Repository
George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center
Identification
C0061
Title
Kuratorium Unteilbares Deutschland photograph collection 1959-1964
The Kuratorium Unteilbares Deutschland (KUD) photograph collection consists of approximately 3,400 photographic prints that
document the activities of the KUD, a West German organization that campaigned for reunification. Many of the photographs
document the construction of the Berlin Wall and the response of West German citizens, including campaigns, memorials, and
exhibitions. There are also photographs of KUD leaders and visits by foreign political leaders. The photographs are almost
all black and white prints and range in size from 3 x 4" to 11 x 17" with most measuring approximately 5 x 7".
The KUD was organized on a national, state, and local level and cooperated with all institutions concerned with the "German
Question": schools, universities, unions, industry, youth organizations, and the media in Germany and internationally. It
functioned as an above party lines platform to discuss perspectives of reunification and to organize various campaigns to
express the collective desire for unification. Leading members included important ministers of successive governments from
all of the main political parties. The work of the KUD focused particularly on Berlin because the organization wanted the
West German capital to move from Bonn to Berlin in order to more directly confront the Soviet sphere of influence. The KUD's
influence diminished with the advent of Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik in which the two-state status quo was accepted as a fact
and basis for a policy of detente in the late 1960s. In 1991 the KUD ceased to exist.
The Kuratorium Unteilbares Deutschland (KUD) photograph collection consists of approximately 3,400 photographic prints that
document the activities of the KUD, a West German organization that campaigned for reunification. Many of the photographs
document the construction of the Berlin Wall and the response of West German citizens, including campaings, memorials, and
exhibitions. There are also photographs of KUD leaders and visits by foreign political leaders. The photographs are almost
all black and white prints and range in size from 3 x 4" to 11 x 17" with most measuring approximately 5 x 7".
Some of the most spectacular and dramatic images are found in the first three boxes that contain photographs of the Wall's
construction and subsequent events that took place during the time of the Cuban missile crisis. Approximately half of the
photographs are from professional news agencies, including the Associated Press, the Deutche Presse-Agentus, Aktueller Bilderdienst,
and Telegraf/Bankhardt. The KUD members are responsible for the most of the remaining photographs that document their various
activities and events. Each subject category represents a textbook illustration of the existence and activities of this important
organization from the late 1950s through the early 1960s.
Special Collections and Archives also holds a large collection of posters that document the history of East Germany from the
1940s through the first elections in the 1990s.
Consists of approximately 3,400 photographic prints that document the activities of the KUD, a West German organization that
campaigned for reunification. The photographs are almost all black and white prints and range in size from 3 x 4" to 11 x
17" with most measuring approximately 5 x 7". There are also other materials, including ephemera and a book that features
some of the photographs from the collection.
Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 1-6
Dramatic Crossection
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
200 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 2 folder: 1-3
Dramatic Crossection
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
200 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 2 folder: 4-6
Building of the Wall
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
100 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 3 folder: 1-2
Building of the Wall
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
83 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 3 folder: 3
Refugees and Escapes
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
55 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 3 folder: 4-6
East Germany Views and Daily Life
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
134 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 4 folder: 1
Dresden
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
51 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 4 folder: 2
Campaign: "Youth Speaks for Germany,"
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
16 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 4 folder: 3
Campaign: "Children's Airlift,"
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
6 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 4 folder: 4-5
Campaign: "Open the Gate" (The Brandenburg Gate)
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
111 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 4 folder: 6
Konrad Adenauer (German Chancellor)
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
44 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 4 folder: 7-8
Willy Brandt (Mayor of Berlin, German Chancellor)
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
98 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 5 folder: 1-2
Heinrich Lubke (German President)
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
116 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 5 folder: 3
Herbert Wehner (leading Social Democrat (SPD) and member of the Kuratorium)
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
25 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 5 folder: 4
Erich Mende (leading Liberal Democrat (FDP) and member of the Kuratorium)
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
30 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 5 folder: 5
Visiting Heads of State
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
49 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 5 folder: 6
Diverse Portraits
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
48 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 5 folder: 7
Public Rallies
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
79 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 6 folder: 1-4
Public Rallies
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
200 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 6 folder: 5
Wall Memorials
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
23 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 6 folder: 6-7
Memorials and Monuments
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
105 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 6 folder: 8
Exhibitions on the Division
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
50 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 7 folder: 1-3
Exhibitions on the Division
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
173 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 7 folder: 4-6
Art Against the Division
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
179 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 8 folder: 1
Various Campaigns of the Kuratorium
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
85 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 8 folder: 2-6
Campaign: "Christmas Trees for Berlin,"
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
268 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 9 folder: 1-5
Various Personalities
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
400 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 9 folder: 6
Paul Lobe (first President of the Kuratorium)
1959-1964
Scope and Contents note
29 photographs
Mixed Materials box: 10 folder: 1
W. W. Schutz (second President of the Kuratorium, since 1967)