Since the end of 2017, the Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship has acquired non-commercial user rights of approximately 6,000 digitalized negatives from the private collection of Harald Hauswald.

Currently, the foundation has 2,275 digitalized photos its digital archive and aims to create a complete digital archive of the works of the artist by the end of 2019. The current digitalized material includes negatives that show snapshots of everyday life in East Berlin from the 1970s until the beginning of the 1990s. The themes cover issues such as youth culture and the church, alternative lifestyles, snapshots of neighbourhoods in East Berlin and its crumbling architecture among many others.

Digitalization is currently carried out by the Association OSTKREUZ. Its purpose is to ensure the conservation and restoration of the material and its documentation and cataloguing. The costs for the digitalization processes are covered by the Federal Foundation.

The purpose of digitalization is to facilitate wider public access to the photographic work of one of the most significant photographer from the GDR, whose work strongly conflicted with the regime’s objectives. It aims therefore not only to ensure the preservation of such valuable works but also to contribute to youth political education.