Leipzig City Archive
Team WissensSpuren and City Archive
The Leipzig City Archive is one of the largest communal archives in Germany. It offers comprehensive research services to its visitors, and invites them to “dive into the memory of the City.” Predominantly, it preserves information about the communal administration and material to track the evolution of the city. They are bundled into 500 collections that comprise records of various kinds. Presently, it is storing more than 4,000 certificates, 12,500 shelf meters of documents, books of accounting, newspapers, and pamphlets, 90,000 maps and plans, 350,000 photos and postcards, as well as collections on the history of Leipzig since the founding of the city in 1165 intil its recent past.
Education and Research
The Leipzig City Archive is a key pillar of historical education and plays a crucial role in supporting research. Through its close cooperation with the University of Leipzig, HTWK, schools, and other educational institutions, it actively contributes to academic teaching. This includes courses on archival science topics, special tours, and seminars that focus on source analysis and the practical handling of archival materials. As the ‘guardian of sources,’ the City Archive provides the foundation for scientific research and continuously works to make archival materials accessible to the public. Today, numerous documents are already available through the ever-expanding online research portal.
Outreach
One of the archive’s key priorities is to share knowledge gained from research with the public. This is achieved through thematic tours, lectures, exhibitions, and publications. A particular focus is placed on engaging students: through interactive approaches such as ‘The Living Book’ and the multimedia station, young people are introduced to research-based learning and encouraged to explore the city’s history. These hands-on experiences offer an engaging overview of the archive’s diverse activities, its varied collections, and the crucial area of digitization.