Music and Voice in German Newsreels of the 1950s/1960s

Newsreels, Cold War, Germany, Continuities, 1950s/1960s. Newsreels. Cold War. Germany. Continuities. 1950s/1960s. Since the newsreels were the only source of news prior to the spread of the television, they actively shaped the collective memory. Pieces of music were not only used as background music, but also to convey political messages and ideological meanings as well as to clarify national and international relations. On the one hand, there are numerous continuities from previous decades regarding the music used or the music of relevant composers. On the other hand, it can be shown that the handling of the acoustic elements expresses a change in purpose – i.e. no longer purely for propagandistic purposes, but as subtle mediation on the economic upswing and the Cold War. Besides the characteristic style of the commentary, ‘speech acts,’ used for expressing a declaration or a directive, may have had an impact on people’s political opinion and their view on the world. The format of newsreels followed traditional proceedings in production but in the post-war period developed into a skilful concept with voice and music in order to remain a relevant and important element in the media system.


INTRODUCTION
Franz Liszt's preludes from the intro of the Nazinewsreel and a rigid, stylized, shouting voice corresponds to most people's idea of German newsreels as a means for expressing propaganda and praising heroism. But there are explicit differences between the war and post-war newsreels because the purpose has changed. After the Second World War, the audience did not tolerate obvious propaganda anymore, the producers had to think about suitable strategies for mass communication.
During and after the Second World War, researchers tried to find out more about the relevance of various ways of communication in order to influence the peoples' opinion. Paul Lazarsfeld's discovery of the two-step-flow of communication (1944) drew attention to the connection between media and interpersonal communication, Carl I. Hovland 's experiments (1949) produced results on the best way to arrange persuasive arguments and the role of fear in the communication process, while Leon Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance (1957) 1 In sense of intentional political persuasion and agitation: "Propaganda It aims at generating, confirming, strengthening or weakening, shaping or changing opinions, attitudes, attitudes, value architectures, ways of perception and interpretation, longterm behaviour or action (or omission)." (cf. Zywietz, 2018). Propaganda in a wider or a narrower sense (cf. Bussemer, showed that recipients do not expose themselves to messages that fundamentally contradict their values (Bussemer, 2007).
According to Zywietz (2018), "propaganda" from a media-scientific point of view refers to texts or text actions that are particularly aimed at politicalideological persuasion or have such a high persuasive potential. An object of investigation must first be considered from the point of view of its propagandistic suitability or qualities. 1 The Ufa-Wochenschau was criticized in 1959 because it gave the impression of having been conceived directly by the Federal Press Office. The critic speaks of an "abuse of film theatres", since a newspaper whose political stance one does not agree with, can be unsubscribed. But this is not possible with a cinema newsreel, and one has to "put up with the sprinkling of political propaganda". 2 Nevertheless, Heinz Wiers, managing director of the NDW, assumed that the newsreels had "political significance in every respect" and that they were "potentially truly dangerous tools". It depends "on personality, character and moral attitude", on the "awareness of the obligation within a social 92 community and towards other peoples" -which applies to newsreel producers especially (Wiers, 1954, 38). Political convictions and ideologies were nevertheless conveyed as they had been since the early days of film history when films were shown at fairgrounds and varietés. The format of newsreels developed since then and newsreels were shown in cinemas 3 all over the world -and in Germany until the 1970s. Since silent films were not really silent but accompanied by a piano player or an orchestra, our experience with film music has been shaped since the very beginning. Neurological research has shown that music can evoke memories, overcome psychological barriers and enable communication.
Music has an effect on all levels of the brain and helps us to get in touch with our emotions in a world primarily shaped by language and comprehension (cf. Herden, 2011). When I ask elderly people what they remember from newsreel-presentations, they usually comment on the impressive music and the uniquely spoken commentary. The theory of speech acts as devised by John L. Austin and John Searle in the 1950s and 1960s, for example, allows us to analyse and classify linguistic actions and their implications in both ways. The purpose of West German post-war newsreels was to present the resurgence of Germany and its friendship with other Western countries. The purpose of East German post-war newsreels was also to show the resurgence, but contrastingly to the western coverage, to convince people to follow the ideological and economical model of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries.
Different political and cultural purposes were not only expressed through the pictures and the text, but also through the patterns of music. Music and voice were undoubtedly very important elements of the extraordinary newsreel style which has often been mentioned (cf. Steinle, 2003, p. 47), but never been explored in detail. The article shows how the weekly newsreel drew from traditional aspects of film music, but in the post-war period, with its skilful conception of voice and music, they developed a style that impressed viewers -although the new medium of television was quickly established with its unbeatable topicality and expandability of the program. 4 3 Between 1906 and 1910, a boom in the establishment of cinemas began, covering all German cities (cf. Müller, 1996, p. 313-314). 4 The official program started in 1952 in West Germany (FRG) and in 1957 the first million viewers were registered. In East Germany (GDR), the test program started in 1952 and 130.000 viewers were counted in 1958. 5 Inhabitants in 1955: 45,5 % male, 54,5 % female (cf. Noelle & Neumann, 1957 3), Cinema visitors: Increasing until 1956: 817,5 Mio, 1957: 801 Mio, 1958: 750 Mio., 1959: 671 Mio., 1960: 605 Mio. until 1965: 294 Mio. (cf. Roeber and Jacoby, 1973, source: SPIO-Statistics for West Germany and West Berlin).

PRESENTATION AND IMPACT OF POST-WAR NEWSREELS
Before television was established in Germany at the end of the 1950s, cinema newsreels were the only medium to provide news through moving images. In the 1950s, people usually visited a cinema once a week to watch the latest film and the newsreels in the interludes. 5 The heyday of the German post-war newsreels was the 1950s -but the presentation of the weekly newsreel in the interludes of the cinema did not end until the 1970s. Although, the effect on viewers is no longer verifiable, 6 it is very likely that the newsreel's strategy of communication had the potential to shape the viewer's opinion and could give the viewers the impression of being on the spot when news was happening. Each newsreel edition contained about eight to 15 reports and ten minutes viewing time. The story topics were entertaining and informative and covered politics, economics, inventions, foreign countries, animal stories, disasters, and sports, among others. Sometimes, the reports were separated by intertitles. Almost every 'story' 7 was underscored by music, sound and commentary text. The order of the stories was intentionally chosen, and the transitions from one story to the next and associations supported the viewers' understanding and interpretation. In this way, a newsreel edition was a composition itself. Due to the weekly production, the topicality was low, 8 so the reports needed to be attractive and exclusive instead and this was supported by both music and sound.
After the Second World War, the Allies introduced their own newsreels in their occupation zones in Germany or commissioned newsreel productions, using them for re-education matters -particularly the British-American Welt im F ilm was created for this purpose. But in 1949, the Federal Government sought to inform people with a new newsreel which was directed only by Germans -without any foreign influence from the former Allies. So, at the end of 1949, the Neue Deutsche Wochenschau (NDW) was founded. Furthermore, the Welt im B ild (the successor of Welt im Film) still existed and in 1956, this newsreel turned into the Ufa-Wochenschau and both were produced at Deutsche Wochenschau GmbH in Hamburg. 9 Additionally, the private American Fox tönende Wochenschau and French-6 Some empirical studies and surveys have been conducted in the 1950s, they focused on the attitude towards newsreels in general and the topics preferred by the viewers (cf. Hagemann, 1959), but they didn't focus the effect on the peoples' opinions. 7 Newsreel cinematographers used the term 'story' as a synonym for report. 8 Additionally, not all cinemas could play the latest newsreel, as after the week the film reels were passed to cinemas, e.g. in rural areas, which only afforded to order a cheaper edition. 9 The editions of the West German Newsreel produced at Deutsche Wochenschau GmbH are available at: www.filmothek.bundesarchiv.de.
influenced Blick i n d ie W elt joined a competitive market. Whereas in West Germany a number of different newsreel productions existed, in East Germany, there was only Der A ugenzeuge, which was produced by the state production company Deutsche Film AG (DEFA). 10 The producers wanted the newsreel to be an educator for the people ("echter Volkserzieher") (editor in chief Kurt Maetzig, cit. after Jordan, 1990, p. 102). One of the specialties of Der Augenzeuge were well-designed political reports ("gestaltete politische Sujets") (Jordan, 1990, p. 93), which were used to make political statements -be it directly or indirectly. From 1957 to 1960, DEFA produced two editions per week (Version A and B). In East and West German newsreels, political associations were also expressed through music and sound.

NEWSREEL MUSIC
The newsreel sound was clearly used for the purpose of attracting the viewers. A very special feature of newsreels is that the music and sound fit perfectly to every individual report and its pictures. This is not only audible, but also visible, as for each newsreel edition the featured pieces of music were listed. The lists include the title and length of the report, the composer's name, title and length of the music piece and its archival data (see as an example music list in fig. 1). 11

Figure 1: Music-list for NDW No. 6 from March 1950
These lists were drawn up for the collecting society GEMA's 12 accounting. The music comes from different sources, such as radio stations, and sometimes several pieces were joined together to underscore a single report. The listed pieces often come from famous composers who worked in the Nazi-era to produce film music. Some of the composers, whose music was used for underscoring NDW No. 6 from March 1950 (see fig. 1), are introduced: Firstly, Franz R. Friedl (born in 1892)a famous film music composer during the Nazi-era, and Wolfgang Zeller (born in 1893) who wrote the music for the antisemitic film Jud Süß (1940,10  directed by Veit Harlan) -both of whom also worked for the post-war film industry. Friedl was the first composer to work for Neue Deutsche Wochenschau and composed the music for the intro. 13 Lotar Olias was younger (born in 1913) and specialised in music for the popular Circus films (Artistenfilme) in the 1950s. He composed the music for a report about the 100,000 th Volkswagen car and that lively sound accompanies a raffle in which one of the workers won the car. Beginning with NDW Nr. 14, that music became the intro sound -and it seems, in this sense, it referred to the fun fair tradition of newsreels. The music for a report on a film scene with Spanish bull fighting, contains pieces from three composers: Erich Bender who worked also for radio and documentary film; Hubert Pataky (born in 1982) one of the elder composers with Nazi-erabackground; and Guiseppe Becce (born in 1877), composer for the famous film company Ufa (Universum Film AG). He is one of the co-authors of the book Allgemeine Handbuch der Film-Musik from 1927 (Erdmann, Becce and Brav, 1927). It is almost impossible to separate the pieces since the music editor obviously mixed them very well. Pieces of "Sturmmusik" (storm-music') 14 and a music piece titled "Unwetter" (thunderstorm) alternated with 'Allegro' by Becce (see fig. 1).
The question is, why did they use music by apparently long forgotten composers in the 1950s? To explain the 'old' music in the 'new' newsreels, it is important to note that the music editor of the Nazinewsreel and of the Neue Deutsche Wochenschau was the same person: Carl-Walther Meyer. He knew a lot of composers, like Franz R. Friedl, and was responsible for the music archive, 15 which he collected according to the reference book Allgemeines H andbuch d er F ilmmusik by Hans Erdmann, Guiseppe Becce and Ludwig Brav from 1927. As the NDW-team had only six weeks to release the first edition, music was urgently needed. In Berlin, Franz R. Friedl found some tapes in an old building belonging to the former the copying company of Ufa (Afifa) 16 and told Carl-Walther Meyer about them. Meyer flew to Berlin and took the damaged tapes and had them restored. Until November 1950, NDW was allowed to use the music archive belonging to the radio station Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR) for free, 17 but then this permission was withdrawn. 18 Records with famous pieces were used as well. If a background sound was recorded and was useful for further reports (e.g. noise of motor race) it was taken over in the archive. But due to the ongoing newsreel production, the need for modern music grew at an 14 "eig. Aufn." (own recording) in the column of "Herkunft" (origin) at the music list, indicates presumably that Bender wrote the piece exclusively for the newsreel production company. 15 1. Protokoll der Aufsichtsratssitzung am 28.1.1950, folder Protokolle Aufsichtsratssitzungen, FFMH. 16 In November in 1943, because of bombs damages, the production company of Deutsche Wochenschau had to move from the Ufa-Building in Berlin to a barrack in the suburbs. As it was not possible to take the whole music archive with them, but heroic and victory pieces -so in the last war time editions the pieces were often repeated. 17 That's why one sees "Ufa" and "NWDR" being two of the sources on the music list of NDW No. 6. 18 Cf. Protokoll 9. Sitzung der Aufsichtsratssitzung am 15.11.1950, folder Protokolle Aufsichtsrat, FFMH. 19 Trede lived from 1913 to 1996. He wrote up to 100 titles a year. This resulted in the largest one-stop music archive. It comprises music of all styles and instrumental compositions and, thanks to its thematic categorisation and accessibility, is still the basis of many documentaries, productions and series. Gerhard Trede's complete oeuvre comprises over 3,000 pieces of music, cf. Gerhard Trede Stiftung. Available from: https://gerhard-trede.com/ (Accessed: 16 April 2019). increased rate. In 1953, Gerhard Trede 19 started to compose at least 50 new pieces per year for the Hamburg newsreel productions. If one of his pieces was used and entered on the music lists, he received remuneration from GEMA fees. In the early 1960s, further music was purchased from special music publishers such as De Wolfe in London. 20 At the East German newsreel Der A ugenzeuge, Walter Raatzke in the 1950s as well as Kurt Grottke and Kurt Zander in the 1960s were the most important music editors. They were also composers for feature films and propagandistic documentaries. By using the film music and remaking small parts from famous music pieces, the DEFA saved on paying fees to the collecting societies. 21 That's probably the reason for the frequent repetitions of tiny pieces in a single report. 22 They also used classical pieces from e.g. Beethoven and Tschaikovsky and traditional folk music from records.
In reports about economic achievements, for example in Der A ugenzeuge No. 45/1962, increasing productivity and quality in producing lorries and increasing shipping of barges is presented, followed by a report about the Spiegel-Affaire 23 in West Germany. The music and male voice express pride in presenting the achievements and the workers. The music list for this edition reveals that the music for the intro is from Walter Raatzke, followed by a Jazz piece from the Austrian composer Peter Igelhoff, 24 used for the report about the lorries' test drives, and a composition by Kurt Zander (like Raatzke one of the music editors) titled Schwimmfestmusik (Swimming Party) with South-American sound, used for the report about new methods to couple tugboats. The music for the 'Spiegel'-Story is from a DEFA film titled Bevor der Blitz e inschlägt (Before t he l ighting s trikes) from 1959, written by Hans-Hendrik Wehding, Zander's friend. about a resilient journalist who works incognito in an engine factory and helps to improve the production -so the newsreel editors seem to assume that the viewers might know the film and are able to make associations between the film and the report. So the music not only supports the mood of a report, but in a way has hidden meanings that the audience may not have noticed.
The authors of the Allgemeine Handbuch der Film-Musik in 1927 found a simple system for categorising the music by combining moods with pace and other characteristics (cf. Lehnert, 2017). The NDW music lists reveal -similarly to the Handbuch -that the archive contains pieces of music styles from lively to serious, lyrical to heroic, as well as specialties such as 'Sturmmusik' (storm music) and 'Maschinenmusik' (machine music) of different kinds. Gerhard Trede gave the pieces clear titles so that the music editor could easily select the right music for the right mood for each reported event or occasion. Therefore, it makes sense to categorize the music according to the most common topics of the 1950s and 1960s. For example: 1. Homecoming: Reports about refugees underscored with "Klage-Marsch" (lamentation march), Rhapsodies or the piece "Heimkehrer" (returnees) composed by Gerhard Trede 2. Political acts of state and state visits: Polonaise, classical pieces, jubilant march, and hymns 3. Sports: "Sportgalopp" und "Sportmarsch" (sport marches) or for motor sport "Höllenfahrer" (hellcat driver) by Gerhard Trede 4. Industry and forces of nature: Titles like "Walzwerk" (steel mill) "Werkhalle" (factory hall), "Tagebau" (opencast mining), "motorisches Allegro" (motoric allegro)machine music 5. Fashion shows and beauty contests: Bob Bounce, Modern Jazz, Fox in F, Samba, and "Vielleicht, Madame" (Maybe, madam) by Gerhard Trede 6. Trade fairs: Fox in different tones and paces, like "Sensationsboogie" (sensational boogie) 7. Museums and art exhibitions: mostly underscored by classical pieces Interestingly, the NDW film editor in chief, Marcel Cleinow, had worked for the 'old' Nazi-newsreel Deutsche W ochenschau and knew the tradition of newsreel style and design, of course. After the selection of the suitable piece, the music had to be implemented strategically, as the reports were not fully underscored. The music was inserted in different ways: 1. As introductions and endings: A fanfare as an introduction (e.g. up to the original tone of a speech) and music at the end to accompany the last scene. 2. Parenthesis: The same music is used in the introduction and at the end. 3. Subdivision: The music subdivides the report and this way, it emphasises the change of the setting (change of location, of actions, from factual reporting to action). 4. Connection: The music illustrates the connection between two reports, if we hear it at the end of the first and at the beginning of the second report or both reports are underscored with the same music. 5. Focus: The piece of music focuses on something different than the theme the subject suggests. 6. Punctual impulse: The music starts by accompanying a certain keyword and thus emphasizes the meaning of the whole subject. 7. Imitation: Mickey-Mousing, imitation of movements and the dynamics of a certain object or person in the report.
So, the music highlights special details in the film sequences or influences the mood by providing meaning. The lists of music show the new conception of the newsreel as influenced by older traditions since the 1920s. In general, however, it is the context that matters when determining how the music should be interpreted. It was not just the underscored music that controlled the mood, but also the voice and the tone of the off-commentary.

VOICE AND TONE OF POST-WAR NEWSREELS
The voice was presumably too important for the newsreel producers to take risks with. Harry Giese, the voice of the Nazi-newsreel, was not hired for Neue Deutsche Wochenschau in 1950. 25 Radio and television are regarded as live media and thus their continuities, like the continuities from theatre to cinema occur through the style of performance. The "Mediendispositiv" as an interplay of technical conditions, social orderly conceptions, and cultural factors effects the habits and awareness of the people -radio and cinema seem to be contrary due to their "Dispositiv" (cf. Hickethier, 2012, pp. 20-21). But in terms of the voices of the newsreel, there were obvious links between radio and cinema presentations. For the new West German newsreel, a speaker from the radio station NWDR -Hermann Rockmann (see fig. 2) 26 was hired (as the main speaker from 1950 to 1963).  In the beginning of post-war newsreel production, the style and tone of speaking was similar to that in the Nazi-newsreel (even in the British-American newsreel Welt im Film) -to create a sense of familiarity, and thus help the newsreels to be accepted by the audience, as the Allies wanted to "sell the contents, that contained a whole portion of re-education as well as possible -they should trigger effects" (Hallig, 1983, p. 47). They needed to make sure that the Germans were watching the newsreels and realized the importance of democratic thinking. The voice was considered as a "bridge" (Hallig, 1983, p. 47) and efforts were made not to overwhelm the audience with a completely new style.

Figure 2: Speaker Hermann Rockmann
But in the course of the next few years, the hard, authoritarian and shouting style of speaking wore off, it was less rigid, less stylized. Instead, the most important thing was the credibility of the voice. In the East German newsreel two female and three male voices existed -each with different tonalities, 27 they alternated even within in a single report. Voices of young and cheeky, or elderly and experienced women spoke about topics related to family or children, but we hear female voices in industrial reports as well. In the West German NDW, female voices existed only for a few years in the 1950s. The Additionally, speeches and voices in original tone were part of newsreel stories. In the 1950s, it was quite complicated to record the sound on the spot: therefore, special heavy equipment and a responsible person for the sound were needed. In general, the use of original sound and interviews increased when smaller and hand-held equipment became available in the 1960s. The rhetoric of the reports varied throughout the decades. It is very striking that in the 1960s in the East German newsreel, interviews could even convey critiques on the state system, mostly indirectly or expressed as wishes for improvements. For example, in a report about a vending machine for small spare parts in Der Augenzeuge No. 10/1956. The machine was presented as a new, convenient and cheap solution, but a female and a male voice comment that die central trade organisation (Handelsorganisation, young and enthusiastic and a cultivated voice (cf. Jordan, 1990, p. 108). 28 In the GDR, women had to work and were therefore more autonomous, but not completely equal, although this was claimed by the SED and presented in the newsreel (cf. Würz, 2016). HO) do not care for those machines. 29 The pictures shows in a close up the automat, from which after insertion of coins, insulation tape and fuses are removed from a flap.
In the 1950s, John Langshaw Austin (cf. Austin, 1962) began to create a theory of speech acts, which John Searle developed further in the 1960s (cf. Searle, 1969). According to this theory, every time a person speaks, a speech act is performed, so that an intentional behaviour is expressed in the language. And the newsreel producers clearly had intentions, e.g. for educating the people. The illocutionary act is the core of Searl's speech act theory. The perlocutive acts (Austin) or propositions (Searl) is the intention expressed by the speech acts. They are particularly interesting in the case of the newsreel: Beliefs (assertive speech acts) -are usual for journalistic work to determine, confirm, deny, explain, describe. Even instructions (directive), obligations (commissive), emotional expressions, for example, thanks (expressive) or making statements (declarative) were communicated by the newsreels. Speech Acts need to be applied to newsreel commentary, original sounds (e.g. talks, interviews) and paraphrases of original sounds.
In addition, in the case of the East German newsreel Der A ugenzeuge, it is particularly important to differentiate between the ways the commentary is speaking on behalf of the crowd of the viewers. For example, the East German newsreel promised to fulfil the economic plan as an obligation (commissive mode), to represent all 'working people' in the GDR. Besides the assertive mode through journalistic phrasing, the commentary also indirectly expresses demands (directive mode), e.g. an ironing service for travellers was criticised as being too slow and thus, a demand for good services was highlighted (Der Augenzeuge No. A 101/1959). In this case, Der Augenzeuge took on the role of being an advocate of the viewers. State guests were welcomed (expressive mode) and even declarative statements are made, e.g. the commentary of the West German Ufa-Wochenschau No. 136 of March 1959 sets the statement: "Europe's coal mining industry is fighting for its existence". And state guests were welcomed as friends (expressive mode), when Khrushchev visited the GDR, the five-minute report was accompanied by the 3 rd Symphony (Eroica) by Beethoven, who is considered a revolutionary (Der Augenzeuge No. 27/1963). The music identities Khrushchev as being heroic. In addition, not only is the pure text to be considered, but also the interplay between the image, text and picture differences, omissions at certain points of the assembly. The 'communication' with the audience was either direct 29 Male comment: "In Luckenwalde vending machines are produced." Female comment: "Very good, only pity that the HO sets up so few automats." Male comment: "It wouldn't be bad if you could fix a short-circuit on Sundays." or indirect and could be factual or express opinions, or ironic and sarcastic, all depending on the tone of voice, accentuation of single words or phrases, for example through pauses before a word. Additionally, the speaker's text was often written in rhyme for the purpose of entertaining the viewers.

CONCLUSION
The newsreel sound distinctly expresses the atmosphere in the era of the Cold War and economic resurgence in the 1950s and 1960s in Germany. Music and voice were most important newsreel elements, which followed special rules in use and implementation. They conveyed political and cultural associations, ideological meanings as well as national and international relations. The usefulness of the music pieces is characterized among other things by economic aspects: to acquire economically (saving of fees) or by clear archive designations comfortably and easy to select. The music used in the newsreels reflects the music styles widely accepted at that time and music styles from decades ago were given a modern face. In contrast to the Nazi-newsreel, the tonality of the voice in the 1950s was more relaxed and less rigid, although it had to be similar at first. The verbal messages in newsreels stem from different sources: commentary text, original sound or paraphrases by the speaker. Patterns as well as functions are recognizable: Speech acts have very strong meanings, such as presentation (in the sense of public relations) and propaganda (in the sense of political persuasion). Due to speech acts, the newsreel commentary spread information or differentiated opinions. Speaking 'between the lines' was also possible, e.g. expressing hopes and wishes for economical improvements in the GDR.
Although television was soon established, the newsreel was able to contribute to the media system and complemented news on radio and newspaperbringing catchy and entertaining information to the people. Finally, I would like to state that the important elements of newsreel style: pictures underscored with music, voice and sound -shaped and still shape the collective memory, as pieces are still inserted in documentary film and historical television shows. Even today the style is imitated in the Podcast Die tönende Wochenschau, 30 in which current events of the past days presents in the acoustic style of the economic miracle period. This way, another connection between radio and cinema is set up -after a radio man in the 1950s was hired to lend his voice to the newsreel news.