Archives and Study Centers

If you plan to do research about East German Cinema, in addition to inquiring about the services the DEFA Film Library offers, please contact the following locations:

Bundesarchiv - Abteilung Filmarchiv
Mailing address: Postfach 31 06 67, 10636 Berlin
Location: Fehrbelliner Platz 3, 10707 Berlin
Phone: +49-30-8681-1
Fax: +49-30-8681-310
Specialization: documentary and narrative cinema, especially DEFA film
Holdings: film, magnetic sound tape, screenplays, scripts, subtitle texts, story boards, photographs (negatives and prints), sketches (incl. animation), props, puppets, posters, advertising and promotional materials, contracts, purchasing and distribution records.

Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv
Location: Marlene-Dietrich-Allee 20, 14482 Potsdam-Babelsberg
Phone: +49-331-5812-222
Fax: +49-331-5812-199
E-Mail: info@dra.de
Specialization: GDR television 1952-1991 (incl. DEFA coproductions), GDR radio 1945-1991

Filmmuseum Potsdam
Location: Marstall am Lustgarten, 14467 Potsdam
Phone: +49-331-27181-0
Fax: +49-331-27181-26,
Infos: +49-331-27181-12
E-Mail: info@filmmuseum-potsdam.de
Holdings: collections and estates related to persons, production design, costume design, photos, posters, programs, models, written and printed resources, film and cinema equipment, collection of written and printed sources on technical objects, library and video library

Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen "Konrad Wolf" - Bibliothek, Videothek, Zeitungsausschnittarchiv, AV-Medienarchiv
Location: Marlene-Dietrich-Allee 11, 14482 Potsdam
Phone: +49-331-6202-401
Fax: +49-331-6202-400
Specialization: film studies, film production (early silent film to present)
Holdings: nearly all screenplays from DEFA films, all film-related publications printed in the GDR, dissertations, theses, publications from Eastern Europe, over 450 journals, over 6,000 videos, reviews, newspaper clippings, students' films

Filmmuseum Berlin - Deutsche Kinemathek
Location: Potsdamer Str. 2, 10785 Berlin
Phone: +49-30-300-903-71
Fax: +49-30-300-903-13
E-Mail: bibliothek@filmmuseum-berlin.de
Holdings: 20,000 screenplays, 12,500 films, stills, estates, graphic works, printed material, special effects, film technology, sound & record archive

Akademie der Künste Berlin - Abteilung Film- und Medienkunst
Location: Hanseatenweg 10, 10557 Berlin
Phone: +49-30-3907-6162
E-Mail: lehnert@adk.de
Holdings: printed material about DEFA directors and actors

Universität Oldenburg
Location: Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, FB 3, Institut für Politikwissenschaft II, Ammerländer Heerstraße 114-118, D-26111 Oldenburg
Phone: +49-441-798-2177
Fax: +49-441-798-5180
E-Mail: defa@uni-oldenburg.de 
Holdings: 770 35mm DEFA films, 400 screenplays, 700 posters, 6,000 movie programs, reviews, publications

Centre for East German Studies, Reading, UK
Location: Dept. of German Studies, The University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 218, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 6AA, United Kingdom.
Phone: (0118) 931 8331
Fax: (0118) 931 8333
E-Mail: p.j.barker@reading.ac.uk
Holdings: journals, newspapers, pamphlets, books, dossiers on politics and society, literature and culture, economics

For further information on hundreds of other archives see:
Mählert, Ulrich, ed. Vademekum DDR-Forschung. Ein Leitfaden zu Archiven, Forschungseinrichtungen, Bibliotheken, Einrichtungen der politischen Bildung, Vereinen, Museen und Gedenkstätten. Opladen: Leske and Budrich, 1997.

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