Wittenberg Council Archives
The Council Archive of Wittenberg is a historic archive documents, which continues to the present day and so the administrative operations of the city since the late 13th century. The archive is open to the public. The director of the archive is Andreas Wurda.
history
It is assumed that the archive had a permanent location within the city as early as the Middle Ages. The earliest evidence of the archive proves its placement in the town hall at the latest from the end of the 16th century. In addition to documents on parchment and paper, it also stores objects such as seals and insignia, which in turn are documents of historical administrative and political processes. The city archive has been open to both laypeople and experts since the early 20th century. The visitors to the archive are both local researchers and scientists from all parts of the world.
Content profile
The Council Archives contain documents of very different ages, contents and sizes. What they all have in common is that they essentially deal with matters affecting the administration of Wittenberg, including its council villages and other external properties. The oldest documents, which testify to the activity of the administration of the city council of Wittenberg, are over 700 years old; the youngest come from the immediate present and are only a few years old. This historical depth is remarkable for a “living archive”. The entire stock currently comprises around 547 running meters.
Spatial situation
After the council archives had been housed in the town hall for centuries, after the First World War it was relocated to Wittenberg Castle, partly also to the Melanchthon House . With its renovation and redesign from 2012 onwards, it was temporarily housed in the armory. Since 2015 the archive has been housed in the town hall close to the historical town information center. The archive thus creates a potential for opening up the city's other historical collections and for making them into museums, especially in the museum of the city collections in the armory, with which it is institutionally and personally associated.