Window into dark times: University Library archives National Socialist newspaper "Donaubote"

The Eichstätt journalism student Dominik Zarychta initiated the acquisition of the archive holdings. In his Bachelor's thesis, he dealt with the "Donaukurier" between 1945 and 1949. In order to gain access to the archive material, Zarychta was in contact with the deputy editor-in-chief of the Donaukurier, Christian Fahn. Mr. Fahn not only granted the student access to the newspaper's own archive, but also pointed out that the pre-1945 holdings were not currently accessible, but that a possibility was being sought to hand them over to a scientific institution. The direct predecessor of the "Donaukurier", which appeared from September 1945, was the "Donaubote", which was discontinued in April 1945. It is probably the first Nazi daily newspaper ever and was the only daily newspaper in the Ingolstadt area after the ‘Gleichschaltung’.

"While writing my Bachelor's thesis, I gradually realized what a historically exciting construct the Donaubote is and remembered Mr. Fahn's words," says Dominik Zarychta. With the support of his professor Friederike Herrmann, he raised the issue with the KU University Library. The "Donaukurier" promptly got back to us – the KU would be prepared to take over the "Donaubote" stocks. Zarychta and Herrmann then brought the University Library on board in the summer of 2024. "Libraries and archives form a network in order to preserve heritage. The Donaubote is only available in very few places, which is why we took on the task," says Gernot Lorenz, Head of the University Library.