For more than 60 years, thousands of feature films, documentaries and short films, as well as trailers and accompanying materials, have undergone FSK age checks for cinema and video. Every day, up to three committees meet in parallel at the Deutsches Filmhaus in Wiesbaden, the headquarters of the Voluntary Self-Regulation of the Film Industry, to issue the familiar FSK ratings (free from 0, 6, 12 or 18 years). Although there is no legal obligation to submit films, in practice all films shown in cinemas in Germany are submitted for FSK review. The committees assess films and other media that are "likely to impair the development of children and young people or their education to become responsible and socially acceptable individuals" in accordance with the legal requirement that they must not be released for their age group. The more than 250 voluntary reviewers work independently and free from instructions in accordance with the FSK principles.

The FSK, a subsidiary of the umbrella organization of the film industry (SPIO e.V.), was founded in Wiesbaden after the end of the Second World War by Erich Pommer, Curt Oertel and Horst von Hartlieb, among others. The founding fathers were guided by the American model: the film industry undertakes to monitor itself, and the FSK decisions are implemented by the federal states in administrative acts. This principle has proved its worth and has been adopted by other self-regulatory bodies.

The FSK began its work at Biebrich Castle in 1949. The first film to be examined was "Intimitäten" by Paul Martin, which was approved for public screening from the age of 16. The FSK later moved to the Kreuzberger Ring, where "Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage" was the 100,000th film to be screened in 2004. In 2009, the FSK moved to the newly built Deutsches Filmhaus on the Schlachthof site, which offers modern office and screening rooms. In the Murnau-Filmtheater, which is also housed there, the FSK can not only review films in a cinema atmosphere, but also present its work to the public.