Hans Joachim Ring Collection of East German Cinema
Born in Germany on Aug. 4, 1934, Hans Joachim Ring was a film enthusiast with an encyclopedic knowledge of German cinema. During the Second World War, movie theatres became a refuge for the young boy, whose family was forced several times to flee due to Allied bombing. The hardships of post-war life cemented the role of film in his life and as he grew older, he became an ardent collector of materials relating to film.
The Ring Collection includes hundreds of programs, fliers, and handbills published by the official East German film distributors Progress Film-Vertrieb and the Deutsche Film Aktiengesellschaft (DEFA) and sold to patrons at theatres. This extraordinary assemblage includes several hundred programs covering the immediate post-war period (1945-1950) and hundreds more relating to films released up to and beyond the end of the Communist era. Offering insight into the evolution of graphic design in East Germany and the marketing of film, the collection is one of the largest of its kind in the United States.
Born in Germany on Aug. 4, 1934, Hans Joachim Ring was a film enthusiast with an encyclopedic knowledge of German cinema. During the Second World War, movie theatres became a refuge for the young boy, whose family was forced several times to flee due to Allied bombing. The hardships of post-war life cemented the role of film in his life and as he grew older, he became an ardent collector of materials relating to film.
The Ring Collection includes hundreds of programs, fliers, and handbills published by the official East German film distributors Progress Film-Vertrieb and the Deutsche Film Aktiengesellschaft (DEFA) and sold to patrons at theatres. This extraordinary assemblage includes several hundred programs covering the immediate post-war period (1945-1950) and hundreds more relating to films released up to and beyond the end of the Communist era. Offering insight into the evolution of graphic design in East Germany and the marketing of film, the collection is one of the largest of its kind in the United States.
Among the highlights of the collection are over 500 handbills (effectively miniature posters) of Progress films issued during the height of the Cold War (1954-1961) and nearly 250 handbills for children’s films (1958-1972) reflecting a variety of cultural influences in poster design. The collection also includes a lengthy run of film programs for films distributed by Progress (Progress Illustrierte Film Revue and its successor Progress Film Programm), including nearly complete runs for the period 1950-1965 and 1978-1990, as well as a strong run of the early East German film periodical Neue Film-Welt.
Items within the collection are arranged by series title and, within each series, variously by publication number (when applicable), by title, or date. The dates listed in the inventory generally refer to the date of publication of the program, rather than the date of release of the film. We have listed the titles of all individual films released before 1950 and children’s films released before 1980. The majority of films represented in the collection were made or produced in East Germany, but there are also programs for a number of Soviet, American, and Eastern Bloc films.
The collection is open for research.
Cite as: Hans Joachim Ring Collection (MS 566). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Purchased in May 2008.
Processed by C.K.D. Haven, June 2008.