City archive
The city archive is the central point of contact for all questions relating to the history of the city of Aachen. It is, so to speak, the "memory of the city". Documents of importance to the city's history, dating back to the Middle Ages, are stored here and can be viewed and analyzed in the reading room. The city archive also advises the municipal departments on analog and digital document and information management.
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Peter Hinschläger
The archive
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.
Responsibility
That's what we do:
- We keep so many archives that, if laid end to end, they would cover a distance of around eleven kilometers.
- We decide which documents are "worthy of archiving", i.e. which will be kept in the archive permanently, and which will 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.
This is what we offer:- 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.
- We offer guided tours of the archive and its "secrets" for interested groups (including daycare groups and school classes of all ages) by prior arrangement.
- Daycare groups, school classes of all ages 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.
Services for the administration
You will find all the information you need about the City Archive and its services, e.g. file storage, file separation or advice on records management in the handout. If you are only interested in sorting out analog or electronic documents or old files, you will find everything you need to know in our handout on the subject of "File disposal". Lists for the disposal of old files and documents that are no longer required (analog/electronic) are available in Excel format. Please contact us before working with these lists, we will be happy to provide you with further information. If you find it difficult to work with the lists provided here, we will be happy to adapt the forms to your specific situation.
Digital city archive
The municipal archive advises the administrative departments on their information management in the digital area and provides a technical solution for archive-worthy "digital born documents" with the electronic long-term archiving system "DiPS.kommunal" from the NRW Digital Archive.
Emergency archive network for the city and city-region of Aachen
The Aachen Emergency Association was founded on May 26, 2023. The aim of emergency networks is to make joint provisions for emergencies and to support each other in rescuing cultural assets. The basis for this are emergency plans drawn up by the institutions, coordination with the local emergency response and disaster control facilities, ensuring a state of alert and annual joint emergency drills. In the event of an emergency, the partners provide each other with material, personnel and, if necessary, suitable outsourcing capacities.
The association consists of the following institutions:
- Aachen City Archive
- Stolberg town archive
- Monschau town archive
- Episcopal Diocesan Archive Aachen
- Misereor Archive Aachen
- missio - Internationales Katholisches Missionswerk e.V. - Archive / Mikado
- Archive of the children's missionary organization "Die Sternsinger"
- University Archive of the RWTH Aachen and
- Archive of the FH Aachen
Volunteering and internships
Are you interested in working as a volunteer in the city archive? Then please get in touch here: stadtarchiv@mail.aachen.de
Are you looking for an internship in an archive? Then please contact us. The prerequisite for an internship is that it takes place as part of an apprenticeship, a course of study or in preparation for a course of study. Please write to us with a short CV and let us know when you would like to do your internship. Please send your application to: stadtarchiv@mail.aachen.de
Work shadowing is not offered.
© Gizem Güven
Use and stocks
The city archive is open to everyone - anyone can research in the city archive, whether for personal interest, for school or for academic research. The use of our archive is free of charge. Costs may only be incurred if you require further services.
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Archive and school
As a research institution on the city's history and an extracurricular learning location with a broad educational program, the city archive offers teachers and pupils a wide range of opportunities to engage with history.
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Restoration workshop
Peter Hinschläger
In the spacious, well-equipped restoration workshop of the Aachen City Archive, a wide variety of archival documents such as parchment documents, maps, plans, posters, manuscripts, civil registers, files, photos and negatives are conserved and restored.
Cleaning the objects and packing them in acid-free, age-resistant folders and boxes are just some of the important measures taken to protect the collections stored in the archive from mechanical damage and harmful environmental influences and to preserve them in the best possible way in order to make them permanently accessible to the public.
Individual objects are restored, for example, for exhibitions in Aachen's museums or for user requests. Only reversible materials such as Japanese paper and paste are used for this. The aim of a restoration is both to restore the usability of an object and to preserve as many original materials as possible.
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