Photography, an inestimable cultural asset that is simultaneously material object and visual content, makes a fundamental contribution to the recording and understanding of our history in all its dimensions. The diversity of photographic media, the ongoing technological development and the requirements of communication form the cornerstones of the preservation of this complex medium.

Numerous radio broadcasts and recordings of music and speech mean that our country's multifaceted history and its cultural diversity are still audible. They need to be copied and restored to preserve them for the future; sound recordings and sound technology are short-lived: decay and obsolescence affect both old analog recordings and modern digital media.

The wealth of our cinematographic cultural heritage – feature films, animation films, commissioned films, experimental films, documentaries, etc. – is still largely based on film material, whose long-term preservation, restoration and communication present major challenges in the digital age. The disappearance of analog film, together with the specialist laboratories and corresponding know-how, also raises urgent questions.

In the digitized, networked information society video and television are omnipresent and indispensable. Countless analog and digital recording techniques have emerged in the 60 years of this medium's history. Many have already disappeared or soon will. The future use of content depends on, among other things, the on-going transfer to suitable formats.