On 1 July 1935, Himmler organised a meeting at the Berlin headquarters of the SS where he discussed his desire to launch a prehistoric research institute.[26] Both Wirth and the agriculturalist Richard Walther Darré were present, and both responded with enthusiasm to the idea.[26] The group was launched as a department of RuSHA.[27] Wirth became the group's president, while Himmler took the role of superintendent, a position entailing considerable control by placing him in charge of its board of trustees.[27] Its formal goal was "to promote the science of ancient intellectual history".[27]