Staging West German Democracy : Governmental PR Films and the Democratic Imaginary, 1953-1963

__Staging West German Democracy__examines how political "founding discourses" of the nascent Federal Republic (FRG) were reflected, reinforced, and actively manufactured by the Federal government in conjunction with the West German, state-controlled newsreel system, the Deutsche Wochenschau. By looking at the institutional history of the Deutsche Wochenschau and its close relationship to the Federal Press Office, Jan Uelzmann traces the Adenauer administration's project of maintaining a "government channel" in an increasingly diverse, de-centralized, and democratic West German media landscape.__Staging West German Democracy__reconstructs the company's integral role in the planning, production, and dissemination of pro-government PR, and through detailed analyses reveals the films to celebrate the FRG as an economically successful and internationally connected democracy under Adenauer's leadership.Apart from providing election propaganda for Adenauer's CDU party, these films provided an important stabilizing factor for the FRG's project of explaining and promoting democracy to its citizens, and of defining its public image against the backdrops of the Third Reich past and a competing, contemporary incarnation of German nationhood, the German Democratic Republic (GDR). In this regard,__Staging West German Democracy__adds in important ways to our understanding of the media's role in the West German nation building process. Cover page 1 Series page 2 Title page 6 Copyright page 7 Epigraph 8 Contents 10 Acknowledgments 11 Introduction Governmental PR in the “Chancellor Films”: A Sociopolitical Archeology of the Adenauer Period 14 Precursors of the PR Films: Newsreel, Kulturfilm, and Propaganda 21 Political PR as Special Case of Propaganda in the West German Context 23 Reading the PR Films as a Sociopolitical Archeology of the Adenauer Years 27 PR Films as “Deliberate Combination of Image and Word” 29 PR Films as Products of the West German Newsreel Industry: Definitions and Distinctions 31 The Deutsche Wochenschau as the Preferred Producer of Government PR 33 The Origins of this Study 35 The Archival Situation 36 The Selection of Archival Material 37 The State of the Research 38 The Structure of this Study 40 One Foundational Narratives 46 Introduction 46 The Road to Nationhood 47 The Deutsche Wochenschau as an Instrument of Nation-Building 51 The Federal Government’s PR Needs: Managing Conflicting Desires 53 Staging Democracy: Promoting Foundational Values through Adenauer 57 Staging Democracy: The PR Films’ Underlying Foundational Values 63 Two The Deutsche Wochenschau as “Government Channel” 70 Introduction 70 The Need to Exert an Influence: Adenauer’s Views on the West German Media Landscape 72 The Founding of the Federal Press Office 77 The “Büro Otto Lenz” and its Concept of Political PR 85 The Founding of the Deutsche Wochenschau through the Federal Government 93 The PR Films’ Production Process 102 Conclusion: The PR Films as “Government Channel” 112 Three Stability Discourse: The US State Visit Films 114 Introduction 114 Humble Beginnings of a Partnership: A Man Advocates for his People (1953) 117 Diplomatic Routine has Arrived: America Revisited (1955) and Aside of Diplomatic Protocol (1955) 128 Diplomacy, Seemingly Eye-to-Eye : Partners in Freedom (1957) 132 Rewriting the US from Occupier to Cold War Ally: Visit of Trust (1959) 135 A Meeting among Friends and Family: Welcome Dr. Adenauer (1961) 139 “Let Them Come to Berlin”: Adenauer’s Departure from the PR Films in The Federal Republic Greets President Kennedy (1963) 145 Conclusion: Advertising a Political Path Towards Security, Stability, and Prosperity 157 Four Cold Warrior Discourse: The Return of the “Hero-Father” in Meeting in the Kremlin (1956) 160 Introduction 160 Planning the Report on a “Trip into the Unknown” 166 Conclusion: A Failed PR Film? 189 Five The Reconciliation Discourse: The PR Films on the Rapprochement with France 194 Introduction 194 Staging Performative Acts of Reconciliation at Franco-German Memory Spaces 196 Onward Towards Europe: Franco-German Relations in 1962 198 Staging Reconciliation in Two Nations Reconcile (1962) 200 Staging Reconciliation in The Path into the Future (1962) 215 Conclusion: Documents of the Manipulation of Collective memory 229 Six The Discourse of Connectedness: Adenauer’s Bonn as Reluctant, yet Effective “World City” 232 Introduction 232 Thematic Precursors and Contemporaries 239 Bonn as Effective, yet Provisional Capital: Visiting Bonn (1961) 241 Highlighting the Federal Republic’s International Stature: Koblenzer Strasse 99–103 (1961/3) 254 Conclusion: Two Complementary Views on Bonn 273 Seven The Father of the Nation Discourse: Building Adenauer’s Legacy 276 Introduction 276 Celebrating the Father of the Nation: The Federal Chancellor’s 85th Birthday (1961) as Filmic Tribute 280 Preparing for Adenauer’s Leaving Office: The Legacy Projects 294 In the Service of the Fatherland (1963): Adenauer’s Anticlimactic Goodbye 301 Conclusion: Staging Personal Tribute and Political Legacyon Film 314 Conclusion Staging West German Democracy Through PR Films 316 List of Illustrations 330 Archival Records Consulted 332 Bibliography 336 Index 346 "Staging West German Democracy examines how political 'founding discourses' of the nascent Federal Republic (FRG) were reflected, reinforced, and actively manufactured by the Federal government in conjunction with the West German, state-controlled newsreel system, the Deutsche Wochenschau. By looking at the institutional history of the Deutsche Wochenschau and its close relationship to the Federal Press Office, Jan Uelzmann traces the Adenauer administration's project of maintaining a "government channel" in an increasingly diverse, de-centralized, and democratic West German media landscape. Staging West German Democracy reconstructs the company's integral role in the planning, production, and dissemination of pro-government PR, and through detailed analyses reveals the films to celebrate the FRG as an economically successful and internationally connected democracy under Adenauer's leadership. Apart from providing election propaganda for Adenauer's CDU party, these films provided an important stabilizing factor for the FRG's project of explaining and promoting democracy to its citizens, and of defining its public image against the backdrops of the Third Reich past and a competing, contemporary incarnation of German nationhood, the German Democratic Republic (GDR). In this regard, Staging West German Democracy adds in important ways to our understanding of the media's role in the West German nation building process."--Bloomsbury Publishing. "Staging West German Democracy examines how political 'founding discourses' of the nascent Federal Republic (FRG) were reflected, reinforced, and actively manufactured by the Federal government in conjunction with the West German, state-controlled newsreel system, the Deutsche Wochenschau. By looking at the institutional history of the Deutsche Wochenschau and its close relationship to the Federal Press Office, Jan Uelzmann traces the Adenauer administration's project of maintaining a "government channel" in an increasingly diverse, de-centralized, and democratic West German media landscape. Staging West German Democracy reconstructs the company's integral role in the planning, production, and dissemination of pro-government PR, and through detailed analyses reveals the films to celebrate the FRG as an economically successful and internationally connected democracy under Adenauer's leadership. Apart from providing election propaganda for Adenauer's CDU party, these films provided an important stabilizing factor for the FRG's project of explaining and promoting democracy to its citizens, and of defining its public image against the backdrops of the Third Reich past and a competing, contemporary incarnation of German nationhood, the German Democratic Republic (GDR). In this regard, Staging West German Democracy adds in important ways to our understanding of the media's role in the West German nation building process"-- Provided by publisher