History: World War II Photography, German Federal Archives, Germany

With the unification of the two German archives in 1990, the traditions of the East Germany state authorities were absorbed into the Federal Archives. However, legal problems were encountered during this process in securing the achieves and libraries of East Germany's political parties and mass organizations. Even though East Germany's political structure meant that these institutions had very close ties to the government, they were not public institutions. Further problems arose as these records were separated from other East German documents, resulting in the Federal Archives presenting an incomplete picture of East Germany's history. In 1991, an initiative was implemented that placed the records in question into the possession of the Federal Archives. As a result of this initiative, a bill amending the Federal Archives Act of 1988 that established the department foundation provided for the Federal Archives came into force on 13 March 1992.
Content
The collection of the German Federal Archives today includes older documents from Germany's imperial past, Nazi Germany, civilian and military records from East Germany (including East German political parties and mass organizations), and the documents inherited from West Germany's Federal Archive. In addition to state records, the Archives also contain material from political parties, associations, and societies of national prominence as well as historical collections. Besides the text documents, the Archives also keeps photographs, films, maps, posters, and electronic data in its collection.