Coming from the Wandervogel movement, Oetke was active from 1924 as a collector of folk dances and melodies and published numerous essays on traditional folk art and folk dance collections. From 1945, together with Aenne Goldschmidt, he helped to build up the “State Folk Art Ensemble” of the GDR. He was able to publish his extensive work “Der deutsche Volkstanz” in two volumes in the GDR in 1982. His collection contains material on folk dance and Oetke’s own work.
