15.4.2024: New construction for the state archive Würzburg in Kitzingen

Bavaria’s building minister Christian Bernreiter, represented locally by Ministerial Director Ingrid Simet, expressed his congratulations: “Modern archival work requires modern spaces, because despite digitization, the storage of archived goods is indispensable. I am therefore pleased that the work is on the cost and timetable. ‘ Director-General of the State Archives, Dr. Bernhard Grau, expressed great joy in his greeting that the State Archive for Lower Franconia in Kitzingen receives an architecturally impressive service building that fully meets the high demands of modern archive construction. He stressed the importance of the new building for the historical tradition of Unterfranken and pointed out that the oldest document in state ownership will be preserved here in Kitzingen in future. Spatial engraving for the construction project was in May 2023, the completion of the building is planned for the end of 2025, the state archive is expected to commence its operation at the new site at the end of 2026. Press release of the Bavarian State Ministry for Housing, Construction and Transport >>> Created on 17.4.2024    

08.09.2022: Change at the top of the Bavarian State Archives

The Directorate-General of the Bavarian State Archives is the State Department for all questions of archives. You are following the Bayerische Hauptstaatsarchiv (Munich) and the Staatsarchive Amberg, Augsburg, Bamberg, Coburg, Landshut, Munich, Nuremberg and Würzburg. Dr. Margit Ksoll-Marcon has been at the forefront of the Bavarian archive management since 1 March 2008, so over 14 years was responsible for their skill. During this period she also led the Bavarian Archive School. Their active service period ends on 31 August 2022. Dr. Bernhard Grau worked in various functions in the Bavarian Archive Administration after his lecture on the scientific archivist at the Bavarian Archive School, and since 1 February 2018 he was head of the Bavarian Main State Archives. On 1 September 2022, the Directorate-General will be headed. Press release of the State Ministry for Science and Art>> Posted on 02.09.2022, last updated 19.09.2022

14.3.-4.4.2023: Cannon bells. Bell seizure and restoration in Bavaria 1917–1922

The 14th. March 2023 became the small exhibition “Glocken zu Kanonen. Bell seizure and restoration in Bavaria 1917–1922” opened in the Bavarian Main State Archive. The exhibition was developed as part of the current archiving training for the 3rd level of qualifications at the University of Applied Sciences in Bavaria (HföD). Bells have shaped our everyday life as a clock generator for centuries. In their ornamental and sound art, they testify not only to the worship of God and the saints, but also to the craftsmen of their founders. In the First World War, about one third of the Bavarian bells were crushed and melted to cover the metal requirements of the armaments industry. Despite these massive losses, the “Glockenland Bayern” succeeded better than other countries of the German Reich to preserve its bell stock as far as possible and in particular to preserve historical bells from destruction. The exhibition is dedicated to the processes and actors of bell events during the First World War in Bavaria. Finally, the question of state compensation or restoration of bells after the end of the war. The exhibits originate mainly from the collections of the Bavarian Main State Archives, the city archives Augsburg and Rosenheim have provided digitalisate. accompanying exhibition is a leaflet available on this page under 'Family files' and under https://www.gda.bayern.de/publikationen/lehrausstellungen-der-bayerischen-archivschule/ available for download. The exhibition can be visited from 14 March to 4 April 2023 in the Bavarian Main State Archives (Treppenhaus, 1st OG), Schönfeldstraße 5, 80539 Munich. Opening hours: Monday to Thursday 8.30 – 18.00, Friday 8.30 – 13.30. Guided tours for groups can be found under oeffentigkeitsarbeit@gda.bayern.de to be agreed. Posted on 13. March 2023

21.06.2022: Cooperation Agreement between the University of the Federal Armed Forces of Munich and the Directorate-General for State Archives of Bavaria signed

21. In June 2022, the President of the University of Bundeswehr Prof. Dr. Merith Niehuss, whose Vice President Prof. Dr. Uwe Borghoff and the Director-General of the State Archive Dr. Margit Ksoll-Marcon signed a cooperation agreement at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich. The aim is to co-operate the Institute of Software Technology and the datArena of the University of the Bundeswehr Munich with the state archives of Bavaria in data backup and long-term data storage. The contract includes the cooperation of the two institutions with the organization and support of student projects and internships in order to close students with forms, methods and instruments of archival information management, as well as to give insights into the field of archives and the challenges of digital long-term archiving. Focus: Recovering old records and long-term archiving The intention of the agreement is that both partners develop joint projects, scientific meetings and workshops. For this purpose, the stock of the Bavarian State Archives can be used for research purposes by students and lecturers of the Institute for Software Technology. Research projects as well as project or master's work are intended primarily to restore and interpret older data stocks of the Bavarian State Archives, document formats and digital long-term storage and long-term preservation. Software solutions that can be created in research and used for the purposes of archiving are released for use by the State Archives. “The cooperation with the state archives is of particular importance for the University of the Bundeswehr Munich and the work in the datArena. This gives our researchers access to authentic and historically valuable data material as well as close personal contacts to internationally identified experts of long-term digital archiving,” explains Prof. Dr. Borghoff. Dr. Ksoll-Marcon said: “Enge contacts to the Institute of Software Technology at the University of the Bundeswehr have existed for many years and are intensified by this cooperation. The aim is to make research data readable and usable and to further develop the necessary technologies." The datArena: A forum of encounter The signing of the cooperation agreement took place in the new premises of the datArena on the grounds of the University of the Bundeswehr Munich. The datArena is a teaching, research and exhibition centre that conveys between technical, cultural and social history and will also offer researchers, students and the public a forum for encounters. The datArena was founded jointly by Prof. Dr. Borghoff and John G. Zabulitzky. At present, a move on the grounds is completed. In addition to valuable, technology-historical, representative electronic computers, the datArena houses a software archive of international rank and one of the largest collections of historical digital media. Since the software and media can be used on functional devices from the respective era, historical software and digital documents can be brought back to life. Thus, datArena offers an excellent infrastructure for research in the field of digital long-term archiving and preservation of digital cultural heritage. In conjunction with the datArena, courses and internships of the Bayerische Archivschule will be organized and conducted in the future.

15.09.2022: Digitization program NEUSTART CULTURE - Alpenkorps

With its own digitalization project, the Bavarian State Archives participate in NEUSTART CULTURE>>, in which the German Digital Library is also supported. The collection “Alpenkorps” of the department IV (war archive) of the Bavarian Main State Archive was selected. Not only because the “Kommando des Alpenkorps” briefly resided in the premises used today by the departments III and V of the Bavarian Main State Archive in 1915, this inventory is of particular importance for the Bavarian military history. In the spring of 2015, the Alpine Corps was the subject of a teaching exhibition by the Bavarian State Archives. The exhibition catalogue is ANNEX free of charge. When it was set up on the occasion of the war in Italy in 1915, the Alpine Corps was a new special military unit, since until that time the German Empire had no troops for the mountain struggle. The unit belonged to several elite troops of the Empire, including the Bavarian Infantry Legacy Regiment. More than half of the units of the Alpine Corps consisted of Bavarian troops.Some later officers of the Wehrmacht, but also leading National Socialists sometimes belonged to the alpine corps. Examples are only Erwin Rommel, Heinz Guderian, Ferdinand Schörner or Franz Ritter von Epp. The unit, contrary to its name, was not only used on the “Alpenfront” but was also used on the western and eastern fronts, e.g. in the “Schacht bei Hermannstadt” in Romania in September 1916. With the exception of a small number of documents that had to be reset by digitalization for conservation reasons, the entire inventory was digitized. It includes over 1840 files (about 42 running meters). A total of 307,655 images were produced. All areas of the corps are covered over the entire period of its existence. The following are mentioned by way of example: war diaries, chief shares, documents from departments Ia (Operative and Tactical) and Id (news officer), department III (field officer), the medical field (Korps doctor, Corps veterinarian) or also the area of postponement, stage and settlement. Digitization was made possible by the German Digital Library within the framework of the "Restart Culture" programme funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media (BKM). BKM: www.kulturstaatsministerin.de NK: https://neustartkultur.de DDB: https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/ You can find the digitized inventory of Alpenkorps in the online database of the Bavarian State Archives ANNEX Link to the publication of the data at the DDB/Archivportal D: Bayerischer Hauptstaatsarchiv, Alpenkorps>> Published on 15.09.2022, supplemented on 19.12.2022

27.2.-26.5.2023: Vaccines in Bavaria at the beginning of 20. Century

The small teaching exhibition "Impfgegner in Bavaria at the beginning of the 20th century from 27 February to 26 May in the State Archive Munich. Kevin Beesk's exhibition was launched as part of the current preparation service 2021/2024 for the start in the 3rd. Qualification level of the field of education and science, specialized focus on archives at the University of Applied Sciences in Bavaria, was developed from the 7th January to 7 Feburar in the Bavarian Main State Archive. Vaccinary scepticism and vaccination are not phenomena of the corona pandemic and associated discussions about vaccines or a general vaccination obligation. There have been reservations and resistance to vaccinations since the end of the 19th century. Century. The impfgegneric movement in the German Reich experienced a spy supply, especially since the introduction of a general vaccination obligation against the Pocken 1874. The small exhibition takes a look at the impfgegneric movement, its activity in Bavaria and main actors at the beginning of the 20th century. The nearly 30 exhibits originate mainly from the collections of the Bavarian State Archives. The Bayerische Staatsbibliothek and the German Medical History Museum in Ingolstadt have provided digitalisate. accompanying the exhibition is a booklet available on this page under 'Family' files and under Publications available for download. Digitalized archives for exhibition: Exhibition 23: BayHStA, MK 16653: Dr. Heinrich Molenaar, Personalakt (412 Digitalisate) >> Opening hours: Monday to Thursday: 8:30 am to 4 pm Posted on 17.01.2023

01.08.2022: Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv acquires collection to the Bayreuth Festival

Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv acquires collection to the Bayreuth Festival Since its foundation by Richard Wagner in 1876, the Bayreuth Festival has been one of Bavaria's outstanding cultural events with international broadcasting. After laborious years of construction and a phase of ideological segregation by the National Socialists, a new beginning was achieved after World War II. The Bayreuth Festival has been attracting political and social prominence every year since 1951. The Bavarian State Archive has now been able to acquire an extensive private collection of the Bayreuth Festivals from the post-war period. For the post-war period, the collection stock formed from it and from existing material includes all the program books of the Festival, accompanying publications such as the “Festspiel Preview” and the “Festspiel News” and other printed material that often has rarity value. The press sections and photo albums contained are of particular importance. The photo albums not only combine the official role and stage photos, but also complement them with private recordings from the social environment and the inner circle of artistic actors. In addition to the national and partly international press, the press sections also take into account the rest of the German-speaking press. The media echo of the Bayreuth Festival is thus gathered in a number of times – from pre-reporting on current reviews and reports to review. In the cultural sector – unlike in politics – there are often few official sources and usually fewer private sources. In addition, discourses were often medial. Therefore, the delivery of press in the cultural sector is of particular quality. The dense delivery to press clips in the Bayreuth Festival Collection is therefore a special lucky case. The documents were collected by Willy Wesemann (1910–1985). The violinist was a member of the Festival Orchestra for decades and was therefore closely related to all artistic participants. As an enthusiastic collector, he took great effort. During the festive season, he referred to the most important press organs himself and advertised them for his collection, as well as photographed himself. All press cutouts were finely cut, provided with source information and stored clean. His whole family was involved in these works. His daughter Astrid Zimdahl-Wesemann has now left the collection of about three shelves to the Free State of Bavaria. The new “Bayreuth Festival Collection” complements the existing collections of the Bavarian Main State Archive with reference to the Bayreuth Festival. In addition to the state tradition mainly from the Ministry of Culture, this is mainly the two estates of Wieland and Wolfgang Wagner. In their time, both of them were decisive for the Bayreuth Festival and the opera world as a whole. The Bayerische Hauptstaatsarchiv is the central archive of the Free State of Bavaria and one of the largest archives in Germany. In addition to official documents, it also retains non-state archives. These include in particular estates of important personalities and collections.

25.07.2022: Agreement for Mutual Support of Würzburg Archives Signed in Emergency

Director-General of the State Archives, Dr. Margit Ksoll-Marcon, the General Vicar of the Diocese of Würzburg, Dr. Jürgen Vorndran, the Cultural and Tourist Office of the City of Würzburg, Mr Achim Könneke, the Head of the Archives of the Julius-Maximilians-University of Würzburg, Dr. Marcus Holtz, signed on 25. July 2022 the agreement on mutual support for Würzburg archives in emergencies (“Notfallverbund Würzburg”). For the hopefully never-ending emergency, the institutions provide mutual support to bundle resources and to ensure faster and more effective recovery and initial supply of the affected archives, books and exhibits. For the institutions involved, the protection of the cultural goods they hold against fire, water, external violence or other unpredictable events is one of the most important tasks. The past has shown that the staff of the individual institutions are often overwhelmed without external assistance, which has shown impressively large disasters such as the Elbhochwasser 2002, the fire in the Weimar Anna-Amalia-Bibliothek 2004 or the collapse of the historical archive of the city of Cologne 2009. The Würzburg emergency association, established by the signing of this agreement, expressly invites the representatives of other cultural institutions in the Würzburg district to cooperate in the future. With the establishment of the emergency association Würzburg, the state archives of Bavaria have come a big step closer to their goal of establishing an emergency network at each archive location. Only the state archive Coburg is not yet integrated. Allies include Würzburg in Augsburg, Munich, Amberg-Sulzbach-Rosenberg, Bamberg, Nuremberg and Landshut. Further information on the work of emergency associations in Germany can be found at: http://notfallverbund.de/

01.07.2022: New office management in the state archive Coburg

Dr. Johannes Staudenmaier M.A. was effective from 1. July 2022 interimist to the head of State Archives Coburg ordered. He follows Dr. Alexander Wolz M.A., who has been the State Archive since the 21st. December 2017 and was transferred to the state archive Würzburg on 1 September 2021. Johannes Staudenmaier, a native of Munich, studied new history, political sciences and old history at the universities of Bamberg, Madrid and Vienna. He earned his doctorate in the early modern administrative and legislative history of the Hochstifts Bamberg. From 2010 to 2012, Johannes Staudenmaier completed the Bayerische Archivschule in Munich as a lecturer and subsequently worked in the state archives Nuremberg and Bamberg. The State Archive Coburg preserves 419,665 archives of 4.3 km. It is responsible for the archives of the state authorities and courts located in the district-free city of Coburg and in the district of Coburg, even if their jurisdiction extends beyond the territory of the district. The historical tradition extends to the former Duchy of Saxony-Coburg and its forerunners or to the Free State of Coburg, which emerged after the dissolution of the Staff Union of Saxony-Coburg and Gotha in 1919, until its integration into the Free State of Bavaria in 1920. Published on 04.07.2022, supplemented on 08.07.2022