City Archive Aachen
City archive
Das Stadtarchiv ist die zentrale Anlaufstelle für alle Fragen zur Geschichte der Stadt Aachen. Es ist sozusagen das “Gedächtnis der Stadt”. Hier werden stadtgeschichtlich wichtige Unterlagen aufbewahrt, die bis ins Mittelalter zurückreichen, und die Sie im Lesesaal einsehen und auswerten können. Außerdem berät das Stadtarchiv die städtischen Dienststellen bei der analogen und digitalen Schriftgut- und Informationsverwaltung.
Archive of the month
The archive
What we do
- We store documents arising from the work of the city administration and its predecessor authorities: Documents, files, minutes, plans and maps, in future also electronic data and media products. We also collect photos, posters, postcards, as well as estates, company, club and association documents. You can support our work here by offering us additions to our holdings.
- We store so many archival records for you that, laid end to end, they would cover a distance of around eleven kilometers.
- We decide which documents are "archive-worthy", i.e. should be kept in the archive permanently, and which can be destroyed.
- We take over the documents worthy of being archived, restore them from a conservation point of view and store them permanently.
- We make the documents accessible using finding aids (finding files, books, lists, card indexes and databases), with the help of which you can find the right archive records for your questions.
What we offer you
- We provide verbal and written information and advise you individually in your search for sources on Aachen's history. The documents you require are available for inspection in our reading room.
- In our archive library, we provide you with an extensive collection of books (currently approx. 45,000 media units, including 145 current periodicals) on urban, regional and national history for your research. This is a purely reference collection (no lending facilities). The books are therefore always available for reference during opening hours.
- We evaluate sources ourselves, publish research findings and communicate the history of the town.
- For school classes and interested groups, we offer guided tours of the archive and its "secrets" by prior arrangement.
- School classes and study groups now also have the opportunity to work with original sources in a seminar room by prior arrangement and receive guidance and support from archive staff. Please contact us if you are interested.
Responsibility
The Aachen City Archive contains archive material (documents, files, maps, plans, photos, graphics, etc.) from the departments, offices, specialist areas, businesses and associated companies of the administration of the independent city of Aachen, insofar as the documents are no longer required for day-to-day administration and have been deemed worthy of archiving. The City Archive also preserves the records of the legal predecessors of today's City of Aachen, i.e. the former Imperial City of Aachen (including the Aachen Empire), the French municipality, the Prussian Oberbürgermeisterei and the formerly independent municipalities of Burtscheid, Forst, Brand, Eilendorf, Haaren, Kornelimünster-Walheim, Laurensberg and Richterich. These original holdings are supplemented by archives and collections of other origins with significance for the history of the town, e.g. estates, company archives, association archives, newspapers and printed matter.
Archive history
The origins of the city archive date back to the 12th century. Its oldest document of urban origin is a diploma from Emperor Frederick I dated 09.01.1166. The oldest document of non-city provenance is a document issued on 21.01.1018 by Emperor Henry II for Burtscheid Abbey...
Service
Information about the city archive and its services, e.g. file storage, file sorting or advice on records management.
Contacts and services
Contact us
Search results are loadedNo departments found.Service
Search results are loadedNo services found.
Archive pedagogy
Katharina Franke
The city archive offers teachers and pupils a wide range of opportunities to learn about history. Important and interesting reference works and books or brochures on Aachen's history are kept here.
Photographer: Peter Hinschlaeger, © City of Aachen / Peter Hinschläger
Research in the city archive
Digitized sources
Notes
You are very welcome to visit the Aachen City Archive. We will be happy to assist you with your research. However, we would like to ask you to observe a few rules of conduct, which are set out in detail in our reading room regulations.
Inventory overview
On the website of the archives in North Rhine-Westphalia you will find further information and an overview of the Aachen City Archive.
Family research
The Aachen City Archive contains the civil and personal status registers of the City of Aachen and the registry offices of the formerly independent municipalities in accordance with the statutory retention period: birth certificates older than 110 years, marriage certificates older than 80 years and death certificates older than 30 years. All more recent certificates are still at the Aachen registry office. For conservation reasons, you cannot view the registry office documents in the Aachen City Archive yourself.
Download
Contact us
Search results are loaded
No departments found.