The manifesto was a call to arms to establish a "new [West] German feature film".
It was initiated by Haro Senft and among the signatories were the directors Alexander Kluge and Edgar Reitz.
The signatories to the 1962 manifesto became known as the Oberhausen Group and are seen as important forerunners of the New German Cinema that began later in the decade.
A second 'Oberhausen manifesto' was published in 1965, partly in reaction to perceptions of continued conservatism in the German film industry.
[2] Led by the radical French director Jean-Marie Straub, this declaration was also signed by Rudolf Thome, Dirk Alvermann, Klaus Lemke, Peter Nestler, Reinald Schnell, Dieter Süverkrüp, Kurt Ulrich, and Max Zihlmann.