Where to find Die Deutsche Wochenschau? German newsreels?

[sfk20]

Does anyone have a good source for high resolution copies of German wartime newsreels? I'm aware of IHF, but most of their products are terrible VHS transfers from the 1980s (as far as what I've bought anyhow).

For a few years a company called Pieces of History was putting out chronological HD quality transfers of the weekly newsreel "Die Deutsche Wochenschau". They produced around 25 volumes before stopping (I guess they ran out of money), so the DVDs span 1939 to early 1942. Ideally I'd like to find something like this that spans the entire war, but I'm hoping the Bundesarchiv isn't the only place to find it.

Anyway if anyone has any recommendations, let me know!

Thanks

[Remy Spezzano]

The entire catalog of wartime Wochenschaus are housed at the Bundesarchiv in Berlin. But the cost of transferring them to video is not practical or profitable for anyone to attempt.

The Pieces of History was a rare situation where a US WWII veteran shipped back home a ton of original films he acquired at the end of the war. They were 35mm prints which is why the quality is excellent. But as you already figured out, the company eventually went out of business and no one knows what ever happened to the rest of the films. It was in no way a complete set.

International Historic Films obtained quite a few original 35mm films from Eastern Europe back in the 1980s and he offered them in packaged complications with English subtitles on VHS. The quality is actually pretty good when compared to the junk that's out there. The ones you want to look for are FORTRESS EUROPE, AFIKAKORPS, and KHARKOV. The series you mention which IHF offers for sale on DVD are transfers made from old videos and the quality is not great, but better then nothing.

There are also the RZM HOME VIDEO series which were released on VHS. There are about 12 titles in the series titled THIRD REICH 1940 through 1945. These films were made from original 35mm masters and have English subtitles. You can still find them for sale here and there on eBay.

And lastly there are a handful of Wochenschaus on YouTube posted by the US National Archives and these are made from the original 35mm prints they have in their collection.

The only place I see online selling some interesting wartime Wochenschaus worth checking out is Filmhauer https://filmhauer.net/index.php Spend some time going through their offerings. You will be pleasantly surprised and everything is available as a digital download.

[sfk20]

The entire catalog of wartime Wochenschaus are housed at the Bundesarchiv in Berlin. But the cost of transferring them to video is not practical or profitable for anyone to attempt.

The Pieces of History was a rare situation where a US WWII veteran shipped back home a ton of original films he acquired at the end of the war. They were 35mm prints which is why the quality is excellent. But as you already figured out, the company eventually went out of business and no one knows what ever happened to the rest of the films. It was in no way a complete set.

International Historic Films obtained quite a few original 35mm films from Eastern Europe back in the 1980s and he offered them in packaged complications with English subtitles on VHS. The quality is actually pretty good when compared to the junk that's out there. The ones you want to look for are FORTRESS EUROPE, AFIKAKORPS, and KHARKOV. The series you mention which IHF offers for sale on DVD are transfers made from old videos and the quality is not great, but better then nothing.

There are also the RZM HOME VIDEO series which were released on VHS. There are about 12 titles in the series titled THIRD REICH 1940 through 1945. These films were made from original 35mm masters and have English subtitles. You can still find them for sale here and there on eBay.

And lastly there are a handful of Wochenschaus on YouTube posted by the US National Archives and these are made from the original 35mm prints they have in their collection.

The only place I see online selling some interesting wartime Wochenschaus worth checking out is Filmhauer https://filmhauer.net/index.php Spend some time going through their offerings. You will be pleasantly surprised and everything is available as a digital download.

Remy, glad I checked back on this post. Thanks very much for the information. Interesting to know the source of the POH releases, I was always curious where they came from. It's too bad the Bundesarchiv doesn't take the time to transfer any of their archive to video in the way the Imperial War Museum and US National Archives have, but I can understand that making Nazi propaganda more easily accessible probably isn't their priority.

I'll definitely check out the titles you mentioned as well as the Filmhauer site.

Thanks again!

[Aiceman]

I saw on the ebay Deutsche Wochenschau 16-18 DVD (not today)I don't think its complete collection, I have 23 DVD digitalized material (black and white) from early times to the end.(maybe this is not complete too) Very good research material about equipment, award ceremonies battlefield situations. I made notes about it for my collecting and amateur research hobby. The "popular" episodes can be seen on youtube (colorised)

[Todd Holmes]

PZG carries a huge array of National Socialist propaganda films (Videos/CD;s) Including the complete Deutsche Wochenshau. Michael Kelly is a great guy, and I don't mind throwing business his way.

[sfk20]

Hmmm Michael Kelly seems a little anxious for the fourth reich, no thanks