Guide to the Kuratorium Unteilbares Deutschland photograph collection, 1959-1964 C0061
Kuratorium Unteilbares Deutschland photograph
George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center
Fenwick Library, MS2FL4400 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
Administrative Information
Use Restrictions
There are no restrictions.
Access Restrictions
Collection is open to research.
Custodial History
Shortly after the KUD ceased to exist in 1991, Thomas Hill acquired the photograph archives from a former KUD member.
Preferred Citation
Kuratorium Unteilbares Deutschland photograph collection, Collection #C0061, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.
Acquisition Information
Purchased from Thomas Hill in 2009.
Processing Information
Processed by Jordan Patty in 2010. EAD markup completed by Eron Ackerman and Jordan Patty in 2010.
Historical Information
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.
Scope and Content
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.
Arrangement
Organized by subject.
Related Material
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.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
- Adenauer, Konrad, 1876-1967
- Berlin (Germany : East)
- Berlin (Germany : West)
- Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany, 1961-1989
- Brandt, Willy, 1913-1992
- Löbe, Paul, 1875-1967
- Lübke, Heinrich, 1894-1972
- Mende, Erich, 1916-
- Photographic prints
- Photographs
- Portraits
- Protest movements
- Schütz, Wilhelm Wolfgang, 1911-
- Wehner, Herbert, 1906-1990
Significant Places Associated With the Collection
- Berlin (Germany : East)
- Berlin (Germany : West)
Container List
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 Crossection1959-1964Scope and Contents note
200 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 2 folder: 1-3
Dramatic Crossection1959-1964Scope and Contents note
200 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 2 folder: 4-6
Building of the Wall1959-1964Scope and Contents note
100 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 3 folder: 1-2
Building of the Wall1959-1964Scope and Contents note
83 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 3 folder: 3
Refugees and Escapes1959-1964Scope and Contents note
55 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 3 folder: 4-6
East Germany Views and Daily Life1959-1964Scope and Contents note
134 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 4 folder: 1
Dresden1959-1964Scope and Contents note
51 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 4 folder: 2
Campaign: "Youth Speaks for Germany,"1959-1964Scope and Contents note
16 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 4 folder: 3
Campaign: "Children's Airlift,"1959-1964Scope and Contents note
6 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 4 folder: 4-5
Campaign: "Open the Gate" (The Brandenburg Gate)1959-1964Scope and Contents note
111 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 4 folder: 6
Konrad Adenauer (German Chancellor)1959-1964Scope and Contents note
44 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 4 folder: 7-8
Willy Brandt (Mayor of Berlin, German Chancellor)1959-1964Scope and Contents note
98 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 5 folder: 1-2
Heinrich Lubke (German President)1959-1964Scope and Contents note
116 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 5 folder: 3
Herbert Wehner (leading Social Democrat (SPD) and member of the Kuratorium)1959-1964Scope and Contents note
25 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 5 folder: 4
Erich Mende (leading Liberal Democrat (FDP) and member of the Kuratorium)1959-1964Scope and Contents note
30 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 5 folder: 5
Visiting Heads of State1959-1964Scope and Contents note
49 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 5 folder: 6
Diverse Portraits1959-1964Scope and Contents note
48 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 5 folder: 7
Public Rallies1959-1964Scope and Contents note
79 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 6 folder: 1-4
Public Rallies1959-1964Scope and Contents note
200 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 6 folder: 5
Wall Memorials1959-1964Scope and Contents note
23 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 6 folder: 6-7
Memorials and Monuments1959-1964Scope and Contents note
105 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 6 folder: 8
Exhibitions on the Division1959-1964Scope and Contents note
50 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 7 folder: 1-3
Exhibitions on the Division1959-1964Scope and Contents note
173 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 7 folder: 4-6
Art Against the Division1959-1964Scope and Contents note
179 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 8 folder: 1
Various Campaigns of the Kuratorium1959-1964Scope and Contents note
85 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 8 folder: 2-6
Campaign: "Christmas Trees for Berlin,"1959-1964Scope and Contents note
268 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 9 folder: 1-5
Various Personalities1959-1964Scope and Contents note
400 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 9 folder: 6
Paul Lobe (first President of the Kuratorium)1959-1964Scope and Contents note
29 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 10 folder: 1
W. W. Schutz (second President of the Kuratorium, since 1967)1959-1964Scope and Contents note
57 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 10 folder: 2-3
Conferences and Conventions1959-1964Scope and Contents note
181 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 10 folder: 4-6
Berlin1959-1964Scope and Contents note
185 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 11 folder: 1
Factories and Production (in East Germany?)1959-1964Scope and Contents note
40 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 11 folder: 2
West Germany Views and Landscapes1959-1964Scope and Contents note
42 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 11 folder: 3
Pommern - Buildings and People1959-1964Scope and Contents note
31 photographs
- Mixed Materials box: 11 folder: 4
Clippings, Ephemera, and Other Images1959-1964Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 11 folder: 5
"It Happened at the Wall,"1959-1964Scope and Contents note
book