Open Password – Tuesday, May 7, 2022
#1082
Estate of the Society of Friends of French Culture eV Stuttgart – France Library – Martin Villinger – Baron d’Huart – Else Herta Krafft – Institute for Foreign Relations – Loïc Letilly – Une Grande Dame – German-French Institute
Postbank Digital Study 2022 – Corona – Digital payment methods – Berlin – Smartphone – Bank card – Mobile payment – Age groups – Digital natives – Contactless payments – Thomas Brosch – Speed and easy handling – Bremen – North Rhine-Westphalia – Bavaria
WhatsApp Business App – WhatsApp for small and medium-sized businesses – Individualized communication – Best practices – OMR – Hofladen Sauerland – Christian Schulte – YOU LOVE IT STOFFATELIER – Mikaela Ioannou
Retro Special GDR – BAK Information – ARD-Retro – Tanja Estler-Ziegler – Symposium on scientific and media documentation – Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences – Veit Scheller – Geribert Jakob
- Title
Estate of the Society of Friends of French Culture eV Stuttgart in the France Library
Cardboard boxes in the basement – what to do with unopened items?
II.
Postbank Digital Study 2022
Corona surge in digital payment methods continues – 60 percent of Germans pay mobile or contactless with card – Berliners are at the forefront of new payment options
III.
WhatsApp business app
From private to business use: WhatsApp for small and medium-sized businesses
- Events
Retro Special GDR
Symposium on scientific and media documentation
Estate of the Society
of Friends of French Culture eV Stuttgart in the France Library
Cardboard boxes in the basement – what to do
with unopened items?
By Martin Villinger
Some people who work in a (special) library may be familiar with this moment: They come into their basement, see a constantly displaced, disorganized collection of files and unopened boxes, think to themselves: “We should take care of that” and are After this moment of shock, you’ll be happy when you can get back to everyday things in the warm and reasonably tidy office. We experienced this again and again in the France Library when we stumbled across the estate of the Society of Friends of French Culture eV (GFfK) Stuttgart in our archive.
The GFfK was founded on August 28, 1947 by citizens of Stuttgart who wanted to « familiarize themselves with the cultural life of France after the years of isolation as a result of the war » and « draw the attention of young people in particular to the fact that the German and French spirit is different « have always enriched each other ». It was the first organization in the bizone to try to bring the two countries closer together.
The French Consul General in Tübingen at the time, Baron d’Huart, supported this initiative with great benevolence, but did not want to give the GFfK a completely free hand in shaping its activities: in a speech on June 30, 1947, he demanded that it be included in its statutes should decide not to concern itself with questions of the “lesser sciences” of economics and politics. He was sure that its “cultured and witty members” would not feel any desire for it in the evening of their busy days.
Figure 1: Bust of Else Krafft in the basement of the France Library
One of the founders of the GFfK was Else Herta Krafft, who determined its direction and organized its activities with great commitment as general secretary and deputy chairwoman from 1947 – 1952 and as chairwoman from 1952 until its dissolution.
In 1994, at the age of 95, Ms. Krafft decided to step down as chairman of the society for health and age reasons. Since it appeared very difficult to find a suitable successor due to the age structure of the GFfK membership, the society dissolved at a final meeting on March 14, 1994. In the invitation, she also justified this with the fact that « her statutory tasks can be viewed as fulfilled after decades of successful work. »
When Else Krafft died in 1999 at the age of 100, she left thousands of letters, programs, activity reports, speeches and invoices as evidence of the society’s activities in an office of the Institute for Foreign Relations (ifa) in Stuttgart, which she had used for decades. From there, all of their files were transferred to the German-French Institute (dfi) in Ludwigsburg in the early 2000s, where they were stored in a basement shelf in the dfi’s France library.
It is hardly possible to consistently process such an estate alongside ongoing everyday business, and it is difficult to apply for funding for a special project with an unclear outcome. That’s why the documents would probably still be in the dfi today, unseen, if an application hadn’t come in the spring of 2020 from a young man who studied political science at the universities of Lille and Münster. The common question in this context, “What do we give him to do?” was answered very quickly in view of the pandemic situation and his profile: He was supposed to bring order to the chaos of the GFfK files, which are available for posterity with each passing year became more incomprehensible.
Loïc Letilly processing the estate in the France Library.
The fact that Loïc Letilly, as he was called, had no prior library training did not seem to be a hindrance. What was much more important to us was that he could read German and French, had knowledge of the German-French rapprochement after the Second World War and so knew how to read the documents in both languages and classify the content. When processing the estate, the aim was not to formally record each document individually, but rather to describe the processes in a finding aid and record in which archive folders the respective source material was stored.
In the course of looking through the many papers, questions naturally arose that required a good knowledge of the local historical circumstances and that only employees of the France Library could answer. There was also a growing need to speak to someone who knew Else Krafft and could describe the person who had written so many letters to German and French public figures. It took a private detective initiative and a lot of phone calls to finally find two women who had met Else Krafft at the VHS Stuttgart, where she had taught conversation courses in French until she was in her 90s.
They described Else Krafft as a “power woman”, “an institution in Stuttgart’s cultural life” and “une grande dame”. These were statements that of course cannot be used in an official presentation of the estate, but they did help with the classification. Both contemporary witnesses agreed to support anyone who wanted to work through the GFfK with their memories.
Figure 3: One of the few photos that could still be found in the estate: Else Krafft in 1972 at the reception to mark the 25th anniversary of the GFfK in the Wilhelmspalais in conversation with the then Mayor of Stuttgart Arnulf Klett (left)
In a similar way, contact came about with a former lecturer at the University of Stuttgart who had led a seminar on legacies in the early 2000s, the result of which was a website for which she also took photos from the GFfK estate. Unfortunately, this project website was not transferred during a restructuring of the University of Stuttgart’s website, and so this material is lost to posterity. Proof that long-term security of digital content is important and sensible!
Unfortunately, the result of the three-month source work was not a spectacular find, but at least the finding aid of the “ Estate of the Society of Friends of French Culture eV Stuttgart in the France Library of the German-French Institute ” and a selection of some particularly impressive documents on the work of the GFfK the dfi website: https://www.dfi.de/gffk
The source material itself has now found an orderly place in the mobile shelving system of the France Library and is waiting for scientists who want to pursue questions such as the following: “How did Else Krafft manage to make the GFfK an important player in the world with very limited resources to build up the cultural life of Stuttgart? » or « What were the reasons why the society, unlike the dfi, was unable to create professional structures and ultimately had to disband due to the aging of its members? » Fortunately, the everyday life of a special library offers, in addition to questions about metastructures, e- Book packages or cross concordances still give you the opportunity to get to grips with the content.
Postbank digital study 2022
Corona surge in digital payment methods continues
60 percent of Germans pay mobile or contactless with a card
Berliners are at the forefront
of new payment options
Digital payments continue to increase: six out of ten Germans already pay contactlessly with their smartphone or card. In 2021 it was 56 percent, in 2020 just before the pandemic it was only 47 percent. The Corona crisis has clearly driven the trend forward: 30 percent of mobile payment users say that they are handling cash less because of the pandemic and that the shops they visit encourage cashless payments. However, these arguments have decreased compared to the first Corona year; currently “quick and easy” is the main reason. These are the results of the representative Postbank digital study 2022.
The pandemic is the reason, especially for those over 40, to try out digital methods; 35 percent want to handle cash less. Among 18 to 39 year olds, the so-called digital natives, it is only 24 percent. They are already more used to modern payment systems; 24 percent of them have also linked them to discount systems.
« Even more exciting than the increased usage data are the reasons for digital payment. After the survey in 2021, we couldn’t say with certainty whether it was only the hygiene rules during the pandemic that gave digital payment methods a strong boost. Now we know: even without them In recent years, mobile payments and contactless payments have become widespread – because they work more easily, » says Thomas Brosch, Head of Digital Sales at Postbank. « Waiting for customers to count their change is becoming increasingly rare. Speed and ease of use are impressive even after Corona. This is a clear signal for retailers that paying with cash at the checkout is on the decline. »
59 percent of Germans argue that digital payment methods are easier and faster than cash – a year earlier, 50 percent said this. According to 49 percent of those surveyed, the argument in favor of mobile payment is that they always have their smartphone with them anyway and sometimes save themselves having to take it with them or look for their bank card. However, a quarter of Germans who would like to pay digitally in the future do not know in which stores this is possible.
_____________________________________________________
People under 30 in particular pay contactless and mobile
_____________________________________________________
Digital natives in particular pay conveniently in passing: 71 percent of those under 40 use digital payment methods – 36 percent of them even use mobile payment and contactless payment with cards at the same time. Across all age groups it is 21 percent. Contactless payment with a bank card is currently more popular than paying with a smartphone: While 32 percent only choose the former, seven percent only pay using mobile devices. A total of 27 percent of those surveyed have already tried mobile payment. Before the pandemic it was only 19 percent.
_____________________________________________________
Berlin is also the capital of digital payments
_____________________________________________________
Berliners are the leaders in mobile and contactless payment: 71 percent use at least one of these digital methods, which corresponds to an increase of seven percentage points compared to the previous year. In Bremen, 67 percent pay this way, an increase of six percentage points. Digital payments have increased particularly strongly in North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria (plus nine percentage points each) – currently 60 and 58 percent there pay mobile or contactless with card.
Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are at the bottom when it comes to modern payment methods; in both federal states, 55 percent of residents use apps or the NFC chip on their card to pay.
For the “Postbank Digital Study 2022 – The Digital Germans” 3,050 Germans were surveyed in January and February of this year. With this study, Postbank is examining for the eighth year in a row what developments are emerging in the various areas of life of German citizens with a view to digitalization in general and particularly on financial topics. In order to reflect a population-representative structure, the sample was weighted
Federal state (proportionalization), age and gender. The 2011 census from the Federal Statistical Office was used as a reference file.
WhatsApp business app
From private to business use:
WhatsApp for small and medium-sized businesses
Sauerland farm shop
(WhatsApp) With the new campaign « WhatsApp Business Model », WhatsApp announces a partnership with OMR to introduce small businesses that use WhatsApp Business to increase their customer base.
The WhatsApp Business app helps companies manage their customer communications and reach both new and existing customers quickly and easily through a service they already use and value. Features such as company profiles, quick replies and automated messages, and catalogs allow companies to easily showcase and share their products and services with their customers. The app has proven to be a lifeline for millions of businesses during the pandemic, allowing them to maintain relationships with their customers even when they couldn’t meet in person, using individualized communications. Today, more than 175 million people send a message to a business account on WhatsApp every day and over 40 million browse a product catalog in the app.
In the campaign, WhatsApp gives top tips and presents best practices on how companies can use the WhatsApp Business app to increase the growth of their company – for example with a video with stories from the everyday life of small businesses with the WhatsApp Business app. OMR and WhatsApp are also hosting a virtual roundtable to introduce the campaign.
The campaign’s stories primarily show how small businesses grow by integrating digital platforms and apps into their business model. Here are two examples:
HOFLADEN SAUERLAND , an online shop for regional farmers based in Arnsberg. Hofladen-Sauerland.de receives over 20 messages per day from customers, and owner Christian estimates that he has gained 30 new customers per month since using the WhatsApp Business app. Overall, 30% of his customers now communicate with his team via the messaging service.
Owner Christian Schulte said: “WhatsApp Business helped us not to lose contact with customers during the pandemic. Our B2B customers now use WhatsApp and just send us a picture of the product and place an order with us within a few seconds. Customers appreciate the uncomplicated and private way of contacting us via WhatsApp. »
YOU LOVE IT STOFFATELIER , a fabric shop in Cologne. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the team has increasingly relied on digital communication and sales channels and has been using the WhatsApp Business app since the end of 2020. Founder Mikaela Ioannou says: « With WhatsApp Business, my customers can contact me at any time. This means I can respond flexibly to their questions and advise them. Since almost everyone communicates with family and friends via WhatsApp every day, it is already a familiar environment available, so that sales are concluded much more quickly compared to a normal online shop. »
On this WhatsApp website, small businesses in Germany can explore WhatsApp Business success stories (https://www.whatsapp.com/stories/business/Germany).
Letters (1)
Retro Special GDR: To make
historical television contributions accessible
Dear ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues,
The board of BAK Information cordially invites you to our next online event in 2022, which will deal with the following topic:
From the film canister to the ARD media library. Insights into the accessibility of historical television contributions through Retro Spezial GDR
Retro Spezial DDR is an offer from the German Broadcasting Archives that makes videos from GDR television available in the ARD media library. Since October 2020, users have been able to access television reports from the years 1952-1965 online. Retro Spezial DDR is part of the ARD-Retro network, in which the media archives of all ARD broadcasters are represented.
Brigitta Hafiz and Jens Kleinschmidt will first present the archive opening project and address the legal and archival framework before taking a look at the content of the media library offering. Individual work steps from digitization to rights clearance to the provision of video content are then explained. The last part shows aspects of editorial work and curating.
The historian Jens Kleinschneider completed a traineeship as a scientific documentarian at the DRA in 2021. Brigitta Hafiz, historian and scientific archivist, has been working in television documentation for over ten years. Both have been working in the editorial team of “Retro Spezial DDR” since 2020.
The lecture will take place on Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. The event is free. Please register by June 19, 2022 at bak@ub.tu-berlin.de . We will send you the access details for the Zoom event by email one day before the event. We look forward to welcoming you to our event.
Kind regards, Tania Estler-Ziegler, Berlin Information Working Group (BAK)
Letters (2)
Symposium on scientific and media documentation
Save-the-Date: h_da symposium on scientific and media documentation 2022
For anyone interested, please note: the “Symposium on Scientific and Media Documentation” at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences will take place this time on November 9th, 2022 .
The current planning status can be viewed here: http://mediendocumentation.h-da.de/doku.php?id=wd:start#ankuendigungh_da-symposium_zur_studien_und_mediendocumentation_2022
Best regards Veit Scheller on behalf of Prof. Geribert Jakob
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