The history of the TU Braunschweig's university archive began almost 45 years ago with five filing cabinets and five steel card cabinets. At a meeting in November 1977, the TU's library committee stressed the need to set up an archive. Norbert Kamp, Rector and Professor of Medieval History, then proposed to the Board Council of the Braunschweig University Association that an archive be set up "to collect material on the history of the Carolo-Wilhelmina": This "is to collect and catalogue important documents from the historical development of the university in close cooperation with the library, in intensified continuation of the previous collection and publication activities, and thus make it possible to work on the history of the university in the near future" (UABS E 2 No. 18). The upcoming 250th anniversary of the Carolo Wilhelmina in 1995 was already in sight.

From the very beginning, the archive has considered the transfer and indexing of administrative documents that are no longer needed, as well as the acquisition of realted collections. Nevertheless, due to its historical agenda within the framework of the anniversary project, for a long time the archive was more of a documentation centre for university history, supervised by the Department of History. In 1997, it became the responsibility of the University Library and moved into the expanded UB building on the main campus. Since then, the holdings have been continuously expanded and the indexing has been improved step by step. Today, our finding aids are available in the Arcinsys archive portal. In addition, we make holdings and indexing units to which access is not restricted available in the Archivportal-D.

At present, we store about 1,100 linear metres of archival material in our repository. Our records date back to 1745, when the Collegium Carolinum was founded, a higher educational institution that eventually became today's TU. The temporal focus is on the 20th century. The letters and company documents of the well-known Vieweg publishing house form a special part of the archive (fonds V 1 and V 3).

And the archive is constantly growing: after the expiry of the retention periods, we assess the documents that are no longer needed in the administration, evaluate and take over the material that is important for the future and ensure that it can be used and is permanently secured. We also collect various other materials to supplement the records: printed matter, flyers, posters, private documents, as well as scientific papers and bequests, photos and films, but also digital objects. Only in this way can research on university history build on diverse perspectives in the future.

In order to make the transfer of material from the university administration, business units, offices and institutes as smooth as possible, we advise our colleagues at the university on the management of written material. This includes, for example, maintaining the catalogue for retention periods, but also advice on structured record keeping and filing. The creation of records is a process that does not begin with the handing over of documents to the archive.

We also promote research into university history by providing advice and making sources available and develop as well as present aspects of the TU's rich past in our own publications.

The holdings of the University Archive of Technische Universität Braunschweig in Archivportal-D.

Contact:

Universitätsarchiv der Technischen Universität Braunschweig,
Universitätsplatz 1,
38106 Braunschweig

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