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2025-05-17T16:39:12Z

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{{Short description|Film regulating company in Nazi Germany}}
{{refimprove|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox government agency
| name = Reich Chamber of Film
| native_name = Reichsfilmkammer
| type = Statutory corporation
| seal = Reichsadler der Deutsches Reich (1935–1945).svg
| seal_width = 100px
| seal_caption =
| logo =
| logo_width =
| logo_caption =
| image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H29353, Joseph Goebbels im Arbeitszimmer.jpg
| image_size =
| image_caption = Reich Minister [[Joseph Goebbels]] has a meeting with State Secretary [[Walther Funk]] in his office. In the background, Goebbels' assistant [[Karl Hanke]] takes a call.
| formed = {{Start date|1933}}
| preceding1 = Spitzenorganisation der Filmwirtschaft
| preceding2 = 
| dissolved = 1945
| superseding1 =
| superseding2 = 
| jurisdiction = [[Nazi Germany]]
| headquarters = [[Wilhelmplatz]], [[Berlin]]
| coordinates = 
| motto =
| employees =
| budget =
| minister1_name = [[Joseph Goebbels]]
| minister1_pfo = [[Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda|Reich Minister of Propaganda]]
| minister2_name =
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| public_protector =
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The '''Reich Chamber of Film''' ('''''Reichsfilmkammer''''', abbreviated as '''RFK''') was a [[government agency]] which operated as a [[statutory corporation]] controlled by the [[Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda|Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda]] that regulated the film industry in [[Nazi Germany]] between 1933 and 1945. Membership in the association was obligatory for everyone in the [[German Reich]] who wanted to work on films in any capacity; lack of membership meant in effect a ban on employment. Based in [[Berlin]], the establishment of the RFK was an important element of the ''[[Gleichschaltung]]'' process and [[Nazism and cinema|Nazi film policy]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Reich Chamber of Film {{!}} filmportal.de |url=https://www.filmportal.de/en/topic/the-reich-chamber-of-film |access-date=2025-05-12 |website=www.filmportal.de}}</ref>

== History ==
The predecessor of the RFK was the ''Spitzenorganisation der Filmwirtschaft'' (SPIO; English: "Film Industry Summit Organisation") founded by [[Erich Pommer]] in 1923. Established as an interest group of film producers, the association was dissolved after the [[Adolf Hitler's rise to power|Nazi seizure of power]] and re-established in [[West Germany]] in 1950.

The ''Reichsfilmkammer'' was established on the basis of the ''Gesetz über die Errichtung einer vorläufigen Filmkammer'' ("Law for the Establishment of a Temporary Film Chamber") of 14 July 1933. Under the ''Reichskulturkammergesetz'' ("Law of the Reich Culture Chamber") of 22 September 1933 the Film Chamber was integrated as a subdivision of the newly founded [[Reich Chamber of Culture]] (''Reichskulturkammer'') corporation. The establishment of the RFK was preceded by an ordinance of the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, which prohibited [[Anti-Jewish legislation in prewar Nazi Germany|Jews]] and foreigners from any participation in the German film industry.

The RFK edited the journal ''Film-Kurier'', a leading film magazine founded in 1919 and "[[Aryanization (Nazism)|aryanized]]" in 1933. In addition, the most popular ''Illustrierter Film-Kurier'' [[programme (booklet)|programmes]] were sold in the German cinemas million fold.

The ''Reichsfilmkammer'' was officially dissolved by Law no. 2 passed by the [[Allied Control Council]] on 10 October 1945; the "Law for the Establishment of a Temporary Film Chamber" was repealed by Allied Control Council Law no. 60 on 19 December 1947.

== Functions ==
The ''Reichsfilmkammer'' had a key role in the film-related politics of [[Propaganda in Nazi Germany|Nazi propaganda]]. Its mission was principally:
* the establishment of compulsory control over all those active in any aspect of film production (production, distribution, cinema) organised in the ''Reichsfachschaft Film'' (RFF);
* the regulation of the cinema industry (e.g., admission prices, composition of programs, advertising and so on)
* the regulation of contracts, for example between filmmakers and film producers, or between theatre owners and tenants
* supervision of the Film Credit Bank (''Filmkreditbank GmbH'', FKB) for the financing of projects
* regulation of film exports

== Direction ==
The presidents of the ''Reichsfilmkammer'' reporting directly to the Reich Chamber of Culture, chaired by Minister [[Joseph Goebbels]], were as follows:
* Fritz Scheuermann, lawyer, (1933–1935)
* [[Oswald Lehnich]], also economics minister in [[Free People's State of Württemberg|Württemberg]] (1935–1939)
* [[Carl Froelich]], film director (1939–1945)

Members of the Presidential Council (''Präsidialrat'') were, among others: [[Karl Ritter (director)|Karl Ritter]], [[Karl Hartl]], [[Carl Auen]], and [[Theodor Loos]]. The RFK had branches in [[Wrocław|Breslau]], [[Düsseldorf]], [[Frankfurt]], [[Hamburg]], [[Königsberg]], [[Leipzig]], [[Munich]], and [[Vienna]].

== Departments ==
The ''Reichsfilmkammer'' comprised 10 departments:
# General Administration
# Politics and Culture
# Artistic Care of Filmmaking
# Film Industry
# ''Reichsfachschaft Film''
# Film Production
# Domestic Film Distribution
# Movie Theaters
# Film and Cinema Technology
# Cultural and Commercial Film

== See also ==
* [[Department of Film (Nazi Germany)]]
* [[Nazism and cinema]]
* [[List of German films 1933-1945|List of films made in the Third Reich]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{in lang|de}} [http://www.verfassungen.de/de/de33-45/filmkammer33.htm Gesetz über die Einrichtung einer vorläufigen Filmkammer vom 14. Juli 1933] (text of law)
* {{in lang|de}} [http://www.verfassungen.de/de/de33-45/kulturkammer33.htm Reichskulturkammergesetz vom 22. September 1933] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070216025225/http://www.verfassungen.de/de/de33-45/kulturkammer33.htm |date=2007-02-16 }} (text of law)
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Film organisations in Germany]]
[[Category:Nazi propaganda organizations]]
[[Category:Nazi culture]]
[[Category:Mass media of Nazi Germany]]

Reich Chamber of Film - Revision history

imported>Rfl0216 at 16:39, 17 May 2025