FAQ

On our website you will find films from the World War I Era (1914-1918) from the German Federal Archives Film Collection. These include:

• Official Documentary Reports
• Newsreels from the war
• War bond propaganda films

The material contains about 120 films with a runtime of more than 21 hours.

The web portal also presents films from the Weimar Republic era (1919-1933). These works focus on:

• Weekly newsreels (e.g. Messter-Woche, UFA-Wochenschau, Deulig-Woche and Emelka-Woche)
• Official productions (commissions)

Approx. 100 films from this era, with a total running time of more than 12 hours, are available online. The content of the selected films covers a broad spectrum of the Weimar Republic in moving images, ranging from important political events in Germany and abroad, to events from sports and culture.

The World War I collection contains about 100 films with a running time of more than 20 hours.

The website also provides access to German Federal cinema newsreels and productions that were commissioned by the German Federal Press Office from 1945-1999, such as

• The newsreels Welt im Bild, Welt im Film, Neue Deutsche Wochenschau, Die Zeit unter der Lupe, UFA-Wochenschau, El Mundo
• Deutschlandspiegel and additional magazines and documentaries by the German Federal Press Office

These holdings contain 2,300 works of film with a running time exceeding 500 hours, along with detailed information that optimize your research and viewing the works. 100 hours of these 500 hours are already available in HD.

Additional information can be found in the Film Collections.

Films and newsreels from the years 1933 - April 1945 from the Federal Archives’ stock are currently not available on this website. These materials will become available online as soon as the digitization and processing are complete.

This includes:

• Sound film weekly newsreels (e.g. UFA-Ton-Woche, Deutsche Wochenschau, Deulig-Ton-Woche)
• Documentary films

For inquiries regarding research and material please contact the German Federal Archives:
filmbenutzung[at]bundesarchiv.de

For matters relating to the licensing of the clips please contact Transit Film:
footage[at]transitfilm.de

The digital film collections currently does not offer a connection of content details with anchor tags to the searched segment in a work of film. In our expansion phase we will add story sequencing, meaning the search results lead to the specific segment of a video. To sequence by shot would require a great amount of manual effort, which is why it won’t be part of our website expansion.

However, our website technology helps you to find your search results within a video:

• the keywords in the search are highlighted in the detailed information of the films and the speaker text.
• the video player enables you to fast forward and rewind.
• the section “play story” contains keyframes for each segment. By clicking the keyframes the story starts playing in the video player. The section “play scene” contains a keyframe for each scene in the video. By clicking the keyframes you can choose a specific film scene.

You can cache all search results in your favourites.

To access your favourites between sessions you need to create a bookmark. Please be aware that you won’t be able to change the content of your favourites once you accessed them via bookmark.

We are still working on the registration process, it will be available soon.

You use the shopping cart to collect all film works, clips and/or stills that you would like to order, prior to sending in your order request.

To access your shopping cart in a later session you need to bookmark your shopping cart. Please be aware that you won’t be able to change the content of your shopping cart once you accessed it via bookmark.

Representatives from the area of film, television, press, PR and entertainment need to send a request/order request to Transit Film using the contact form. Once your order request has been verified you will receive an order confirmation that must be signed and returned to Transit Film. As soon as we receive your signed order confirmation we will place the order with the printing lab. You can find additional information regarding the right of use in the Transit Film General Terms and Conditions. A complete online-workflow will be available soon.

For orders for a non-profit scientific, private and official use as well as historical-political educational work please use the contact form for the German Federal Archives. The German Federal Archives requires a usage request and an approval form before sending any material. A complete online-workflow will be available on our website soon. Until then the German Federal Archives will contact you before the order can be confirmed. The request for use can be found here:

Link Request for use

Please complete and sign the form and send it to the German Federal Archives via mail, pdf or fax.

After your request has been approved the German Federal Archives will send a release to Transit Film, the technical service provider. For all other steps the Transit Film General Terms and Conditions apply. Once we expand our website the complete order process can be done online.

Transit Film will charge you for any technical costs (copy service) and if applicable, the shipping of physical data storage devices. For more in depth information please check the German Federal Archives Terms of Use.

Clients of Transit Film may receive preview material with the Federal Archives Logo and TC free of charge (mp4-container format). Select the clips you want and add them to the shopping cart. Select „Internet/preview formats“ when you e-mail your request.

Fees for the use of the film material, that can be ordered through our website, are calculated as follows:

• Film and television, press, PR and entertainment projects incur licensing fees, technical fees (copy service) and shipping costs, if any.
  
  Any preview material with the Federal Archives Logo and TC is free of charge.
  
  Link Rate sheet Licences Transit Film
  Link Rate sheet copy service
• Non-profit scientific, private and official uses as well as historical-political educational work only incur technical costs (copy service) and shipping costs, if any. In individual cases fees may incur on the German Federal Archives side, which would send any invoice directly to the client.
  
  Link Rate sheet copy service

Broadcast quality 2K Material:

• 2K ProRes 4444

2K-copies can only be ordered from 2K source masters. These are marked with . The 2K data rates are 8 times higher than the HD and SD options (see below).

Broadcast quality HD Material:

• XDCam HD, 50 Mbit, MXF
• ProRes HQ

HD-masters are marked with .

Broadcast quality SD Material:

• IMX D10, PAL, 50 Mbit/s, MXF
• ProRes HQ

Internet formats HD:

• H264, AAC, 1920x1080 px, 5.000 kbit/s, MP4
• WMV9, 1920x1080 px, 5.000 kbits/s

Additional Internet formats:

• mp4-Container (H.264 + AAC), 1 Mbit/s, resolution 640x480 px (preview files)
• WebM-Container (VP8 + Vorbis), 1 Mbit/s, resolution 640x480 px
• WMV9, 640x480 px, 1128 kbit/s

For additional information and rates please check out our cost calculator.

The following band/disc formats are available for order:

• HDCAM-SR
• HD-CAM
• Beta Digital
• Beta SP
• Blu-ray
• DVD
• CD
• VHS

For additional information and rates please check out our cost calculator.

If you are interested in material that is not digitally available yet please contact us.

The following formats are available for audio recordings (without image transmission), e.g. for radio:

• wav
• aiff

When you place an order of audio recordings please make an entry in “your message” in the contact form.
For additional information and rates please check out our cost calculator.

The following formats are available for photos, for e.g. publishing companies or the press:

• JPG
• TIFF

The maximal resolution for exported images is 72 dpi.

SD material:
720 x 576 Pixel

HD material:
1920 x 1080 Pixel

2K material:
2048 x 1556 Pixel

For additional information and rates please check out our cost calculator.

The Transit Film General Terms and Conditions contain the guidelines for cancellations (§ 12) and withdrawals (§ 17).

We are working on setting up an online payment system. For the time being Transit Film will send you and invoice once your order has been delivered.

• Clients of Transit Film incur licencing fees and technical fees, as well as shipping costs, if applicable.
• Users of the German Federal Archives incur technical costs (copy service) and shipping costs, if applicable. Transit Film will send the invoice. In individual cases fees may incur on the German Federal Archives side, which would send any invoice directly.

• After clients of Transit Film have signed and returned their order confirmation (= usage authorization) to Transit Film, Transit Film will forward the order to PHAROS – The Post Group. Transit Film will send you the download link via E-Mail, any physical data storage media will be shipped directly by PHAROS – The Post Group.
  
  For further information please check out Transit Film General Terms and Conditions.
• Users of the German Federal Archives need to sign and return a usage request, once it has been approved the German Federal Archives will send an approval form to the client and to Transit Film. Subsequently you will receive an order confirmation from Transit Film. Once you signed and returned it to Transit Film the technical order will be forwarded to PHAROS – The Post Group. Transit Film will provide you with the download links, any physical data storage media will be shipped directly by PHAROS – The Post Group.
  
  For further information please check out German Federal Archives Terms of Use.

• Download: if you want to download the requested material our media server at PHAROS – The Post Group will transcode it into the format you chose. You can download the link via Webgate.io. Depending on the type and size of your order and the workload of the server it should usually be ready within 48 hours (within one work week).
• Delivery of physical data storage carriers: If you order physical data storage carriers the material will be delivered to you by a mail delivery service, usually within two working days (within one work week). The copy process may take longer if you placed a large order. Other shipping options may take more time as well. Deliveries outside of Germany are likely to take longer.

The film scenes you ordered will be made available for you as a download link. Transit Film will send you an E-Mail with the login data. The clips you ordered will be available for 48 hours. Film scenes that are not downloaded within this timeframe will be lost. After 48 hours your order will be automatically deleted from the server. On a case by case basis it may be available longer, please contact us for details.

Clients of Transit Film may receive preview material with the Federal Archives Logo and TC free of charge (mp4-container format). Access data to download the preview files is available for 1 week.

You can purchase the following non-exclusive licences, either individually or as a package:

1. TV-rights
2. Home-Video-rights
3. Theatrical rights
4. Internet rights
5. Entertainment rights, e.g. airlines and other target groups (hotels, retirement homes, hospitals, etc.)

For preview purposes you may receive material with logo and timecode display in advance.

For additional information and rates please check out our cost calculator.

Foreign reports are marked with “Source Foreign Material” and may be ordered with restrictions.

Projects for private, scientific, official or historical-political educational purposes are not obliged to pay Transit Film. They are subject to the German Federal Archives Terms of Use.

Film and television projects, as well as press, PR and entertainment projects are subject to a licence agreement.

• Clients of Transit Film (film and television, press, PR, entertainment) must cite the following credits in all publications (film credit, publication, internet,…):
  German Federal Archives, Film Collection/ Transit Film GmbH
• Clients of the German Federal Archives must include as a source:
  German Federal Archives, Film Collection

The following citation rules apply:

• Newsreels and Commissioned Productions, Federal Press Office 1945-1999

  a) Citation Rule for Streaming Files
  [Title of the work], German Federal Archives, Film Collection: [Videolink]
  Example:
  The streaming file of UFA newsreel number 414/1964 is cited as follows:
  German Federal Archives, Film Collection:
  http://www.filmothek.bundesarchiv.de/video/584604

  b) Citation Rule for Copies (Films, Excerpts, Stills)
  The signature, which is relevant for the citation of copies, will be shown in the opening credits of the provided file.
  Example:
  The copy of a film/film clip from UFA newsreel, number 414/1964 is cited as follows:
  UFA newsreel 414/1964, Source: German Federal Archives, Film Collection: F 001711

• World War I

  a) Citation Rule for Streaming Files
  [Title of the work], German Federal Archives, Film Collection: [Videolink]
  Example:
  The film “Rentier Kulicke’s Flug zur Front“ is cited as:
  “Rentier Kulicke’s Flug zur Front“, German Federal Archives, Film Collection:
  http://www.filmothek.bundesarchiv.de/video/570618

  b) Citation Rules for Copies (Films, Excerpts, Stills)
  The signature, which is relevant for the citation of copies, will be shown in the opening credits of the provided file.
  Example:
  The copy of a film/film clip from “Rentier Kulicke’s Flug zur Front” is cited as follows:
  Rentier Kulicke’s Flug zur Front, Source: German Federal Archives, Film Collection: F 008533

• Weimar Republic

  a) Citation Rules for Streaming Files
  [Title of the work], German Federal Archives, Film Collection: [Videolink]
  Example:
  The streaming file of „Anna Müller-Lincke kandidiert“ is cited as follows:
  German Federal Archives, Film Collection: Anna Müller-Lincke kandidiert
  https://www.filmothek.bundesarchiv.de/video/37299

  b) Citation Rule for Copies (Films, Excerpts, Stills)
  The signature, which is relevant for the citation of copies, will be shown in the opening credits of the provided file/the image border of the provided still.
  Example:
  The copy of a film/film clip/film still from „Anna Müller-Lincke kandidiert“ is cited as follows:
  Anna Müller-Lincke kandidiert, 1919, Source: German Federal Archives, Film Collection: 4513

The User is obliged to make sure that the origin of the used film material is properly credited during and after the production process, in particular in their production databases and archives. In addition to the origin „Bundesarchiv, Abt. Filmarchiv“ it must always contain the full title of the film work. In case of films at least the tile and the year of production must be listed, and in case of newsreels the full title including the periodical indications (year of release, issue number, week, etc.) must be listed. This is important, especially in order to be able to trace the origin of the material for subsequent licencing.

It is not permitted to copy videos and images without the authorization of Transit Film or the German Federal Archives. Any authorization must be in writing. You may use and copy meta data and film info texts, but the source must be credited and the above citation method must be observed.

If you have problems properly viewing our website we recommend you download the most current version of your browser. If the problems subsist please send us an E-Mail to support[at]transit-digital.de and include a brief description of your problem with the name of your operating system and browser and which version you are using.

What player is best for viewing your download file depends on the format you ordered. If you cannot view a downloaded video, please make sure that you have installed the required video codec on your system. For example, for a IMX-D10-format video you need the „OP1a-GC-D10“ codec.

To view the videos on your computer we recommend these video players, which you can download with the following links:

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
https://support.apple.com/quicktime

We will send you and E-Mail with access information to Webgate.io, where the material you ordered is available for download. Please follow these steps:
1. Access the server with the login information provided in our E-Mail..
2. Save the provided film scenes on your computer.
3. Open the film scenes that you have saved on your computer.

What player is best for viewing your download file depends on the format you ordered.
To view the videos on your computer we recommend these video players, which you can download with the following links:

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
https://support.apple.com/quicktime

Transit Film’s business hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m to 5 p.m., during which they provide service and technical support.
Phone: +49-89-59 98 85-0
Fax: +49-89-59 98 85-20
info[at]transit-digital.de

If you cannot reach Transit Film during their business hours please send a request.

The business hours of the German Federal Archives are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Phone: +49 30 18 7770 1172
filmbenutzung[at]bundesarchiv.de