The documenta-Rat consisted of 23 members who were elected by the central committee of the documenta and confirmed by the documenta society. The members were responsible for documenta 4 and therefore for selection of the program, the artists and the works of art. The selection procedure was largely democratically structured. Arnold Bode was a member of all the working committees. Other members included Herbert Freiherr von Buttlar, director of the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Hamburg, Alfred Schneider, president of the regional government, and Ernst Schütte, minister of education and cultural affairs. The documenta-Rat only appeared in this form at the fourth documenta. The concept of the council was already discussed at documenta 3.