The office was founded on June 26, 1934, and was headed by Kurt Gauger, a member of the Nazi SA and the Volkssturm.
[1] By 1944 the Reichsanstalt had produced some 900 films; over 270 of them were for schools, the rest were for research and teaching purposes at universities.
The office also served as a lender for teaching media such as films and light pictures as well as for demonstration devices.
On Feb. 6, 1935 a "Abteilung Hochschule" - university division - was established within the Reichsstelle, and in 1936 it absorbed the Deutsche Gesellschaft für wissenschaftliche Filme.
In December 1945, the Institut für Film und Bild in Wissenschaft und Unterricht (FWU) was founded as a successor organization immediately after the capture of the inventory by US soldiers.