On July 13, 2022, Toni Bernhart from the Institute for Literary Studies presented the Stuttgart Media Archive as part of the "Lunch Lectures". This is an extensive collection of literature-related film and audio carriers and associated playback equipment. The collection was created around 1970 by the departments of Modern German Literature for teaching and research purposes and continued and maintained until the turn of the millennium. Bernhart explained the history of the collection's creation and use, which has lain unnoticed in cabinets for two decades.
From today's perspective, the collection offers impressive insights into the history of media and technology, the reception history of literature in film and television, historical practices of university didactics and, last but not least, the history of our university for research and teaching. An attractive addition to modern digital media technology are the numerous historical recording and playback devices, some of which are still in working order. For example, the use of analog tape technology can be tried out and experienced in practice.
A special highlight of the collection is a sound wire device from the 1950s that records sound on a steel wire. The device is currently being restored by the Computer Museum of the University of Stuttgart and may be able to be demonstrated and used again in the future.
The film "The Stuttgart Media Archive" was also presented. Here students explain their handling of and experiences with objects from the Stuttgart Media Archive in the winter semester of 2021/22.
