Westphalian economic archive

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The Westphalian Economic Archive or Foundation Westphalian Economic Archive ( WWA ) in Dortmund is a regional documentation center for the economy in Westphalia and Lippe . The WWA looks after the archives of companies , chambers, associations and business figures and advises on archive maintenance issues. It cooperates with research institutions and issues scientific publications. The director of the archive is the historian Karl-Peter Ellerbrock.

History and carrier

The archive was founded in 1941 by the Economic Chamber for Westphalia and Lippe and worked after the war as a department of the Dortmund Chamber of Commerce and Industry . Since 1969 it has existed in the legal form of a foundation under private law . Its sponsors are the IHK in Dortmund, the seven other chambers of industry and commerce and the four chambers of crafts in Westphalia-Lippe, the Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe , the State of North Rhine-Westphalia , the City of Dortmund, the Savings Bank Association Westphalia-Lippe and the Society for Westphalian Economic history e. V. as the sponsoring company of the archive. The company was founded in 1951 on the initiative of the Dortmund Chamber of Commerce. Today it has around 500 institutional members from research and industry and natural persons.

In 1992 the archive moved into a new building on the premises of the IHK in Dortmund, which functionally combines user and office space with the requirements of a purpose-built archive.

Stocks

The WWA's holdings contain material on the economic, social and technical development of pre-industrial industrial regions such as the Ruhr area and its changes from the mid-19th century to the present. The branches of the Westphalian economy include the metal industry in the Sauerland and Siegerland , the textile industry in the Münsterland , bicycles and tobacco from Minden-Ravensberg .

The tradition of factories, mining companies, merchants' houses, retail and handicraft businesses is reflected in business books, sample books, posters, historical securities, films and photos as well as around ten kilometers of shelves in historical files. They prove the networking of Westphalia with Germany, Europe and overseas since the 17th century.

Replacement and supplementary documentation such as the collection on the Nuremberg industrial processes or a microfiche collection on the post-war history of OMGUS transmission are of particular national importance .

In 1999 the Westphalian Economic Archives took over valuable historical documents on the history of the Dortmund brewing industry in the course of structural changes in the brewing industry. They document the Dortmund brewery history from the 18th century to the present day. In addition to the files of the company management, the transmission includes written material on production, technology, sales and marketing, supplemented by an inventory of drawings and plans, advertising and packaging material, audiovisual collection items as well as beer mugs and historical beer bottles.

The WWA is represented on the Internet with an annotated inventory overview. The holdings can be viewed free of charge during the archive's opening hours.

Research and documentation

Since 1971 it has published its own inventory series. The WWA provides impetus for research on regional and general history, e.g. B. through scientific colloquia. Exhibitions and catalogs bring history to life. When setting up the Hoesch Museum and the Dortmund Brewery Museum , the WWA worked out the archival and technical basis for two important places of remembrance of regional industrial history.

Library

The archive's reference library comprises around 45,000 volumes. The focus is on the regional economic and social history as well as company festivals, historical statistics, company magazines and special stocks on the history of the coal and steel industry, the brewing industry and the craft. Various periodicals, especially from the coal and steel industry, go back well into the 19th century.

Support company

The Society for Westphalian Economic History eV (GWWG) was founded in 1951 on the initiative of the Dortmund Chamber of Commerce and Industry . The members of the GWWG include research institutions, companies and interested citizens who support the work of the Westphalian Economic Archives (WWA). The GWWG maintains two series of publications in which research on Westphalian economic, social and technological history appear. In the first row, 28 studies were published by 2010 .

At the beginning of the year, the GWWG traditionally invites you to an annual reception with renowned historians, where so-called annual lectures are held. These lectures have been given by Karl Schlögel , Klaus Tenfelde , Christopher Clark , Hans Mommsen , Arnulf Baring , Reinhart Koselleck , Jürgen Kocka , Hans-Ulrich Wehler , Thomas Nipperdey and Werner Conze, for example . The publication of the up to now (2010) 30 lectures took place in Ardey-Verlag, Münster, but there since 2007 under the title Kleine Schriften, possibly with appropriate additions to the topics.

See also

literature

  • Ellerbrock, Karl-Peter: Economic archives in Germany: On the beginnings and the current role of regional economic archives facing the challenges of structural change and globalization, in: Archive and Economy 1 (2005), pp. 16-25.
  • Ellerbrock, Karl-Peter and Ralf Stremmel (eds.): Westphalia and the world. Three centuries of history in pictures and documents from the Westphalian Economic Archives, Münster 2002.
  • Ellerbrock, Karl-Peter: Sources on the history of National Socialism in the Westphalian Economic Archive, in: Archive and Economy 2 (1999), pp. 70–80.
  • Dascher, Ottfried: 50 Years of the Westphalian Economic Archives in Dortmund - Balance and Perspectives, in: Heimatpflege in Westfalen. Circular letter of the Westphalian Homeland Federation (2) 1992, pp. 1-7.
  • Dascher, Ottfried and Reininghaus, Wilfried u. Unverferth, Gabriele (ed.): Debit and credit. History and stories from the Westphalian Economic Archives, Dortmund 1991.
  • Dascher, Ottfried (ed.): The Westphalian Economic Archive and its holdings, Munich, London, New York, Paris 1990.
  • Ellerbrock, Karl-Peter: Learning from history for the future: 50 years of society for Westphalian economic history, in: Archive and Economy 35 (2002), pp. 63–65.
  • Society for Westphalian Economic History eV (Ed.) 50 Years Society for Westphalian Economic History eV, Dortmund 2002.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ten shelf kilometers of economic history in: FAZ from December 1, 2011, page 22

Coordinates: 51 ° 30 ′ 11.6 "  N , 7 ° 28 ′ 50"  E